



Produced by Annie R. McGuire








[Illustration: HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE]

       *       *       *       *       *

VOL. III.--NO. 108. PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK. PRICE FOUR
CENTS.

Tuesday, November 22, 1881. Copyright, 1881, by HARPER & BROTHERS. $1.50
per Year, in Advance.

       *       *       *       *       *




[Illustration: THE WAY THE LITTLE FOLKS KEEP THANKSGIVING.]




ELSIE'S THANKSGIVING.

BY MRS. MARGARET E. SANGSTER.


  Dolly, it's almost Thanksgiving. Do you know what I mean, my dear?
  No? Well, I couldn't expect it: you haven't been with us a year.
  And you came with my auntie from Paris, far over the wide blue sea,
  And you'll keep your first Thanksgiving, my beautiful Dolly, with me.

  I'll tell you about it, my darling, for grandma's explained it all,
  So that _I_ understand why Thanksgiving always comes late in the fall,
  When the nuts and the apples are gathered, and the work in the fields
      is done,
  And the fields, all reaped and silent, are asleep in the autumn sun.

  It is then that we praise our Father, who sends the rain and the dew,
  Whose wonderful loving-kindness is every morning new;
  Unless we'd be heathen, Dolly, or worse, we must sing and pray,
  And think about good things, Dolly, when we keep Thanksgiving-day.

  But I like it very much better when from church we all go home,
  And the married brothers and sisters, and the troops of cousins come,
  And we're ever so long at the table, and dance and shout and play,
  In the merry evening, Dolly, that ends Thanksgiving-day.

  Now let me whisper a secret: I've had a trouble to bear;
  It has made me feel quite old, dear, and perfectly crushed with care;
  'Twas about my prettiest kitten, the white one with spots of black--
  I loved her devotedly, Dolly: I've been _awfully angry with Jack_;

  So mad that I couldn't forgive him; and I wouldn't kiss him good-night,
  For he lost my Kitty on purpose, shut up in a bag so tight;
  He carried her miles and miles, dear, and dropped her down in the dark;
  I would not wonder a bit, dear, if he took her to Central Park.

  And then he came home to supper, as proud as a boy could be.
  I wonder, Dolly, this minute how he dared to be looking at me,
  When I called my Kitty and called her, and of course she didn't come,
  And Jack pored over his Latin as if he were deaf and dumb.

  When I found out what he had done, dear, it was just like lead in my
      heart,
  Though mamma is as kind as an angel, I knew she would take his part.
  Suppose Kitty _did_ chase the chickens?--they might have kept out of
      her way.
  I've been so sorrowful, Dolly, I've dreaded Thanksgiving-day.

  For I'll never pretend to be good, dear, when I feel all wrong in my
      mind;
  And as for giving up Kitty, I'm not in the least resigned.
  And I've known with deep grief, Dolly--known it a long time back--
  That I couldn't keep Thanksgiving while I hated my brother Jack.

  For you can not love God and praise Him when you're cherishing anger
      this way.
  I've tried hard to conquer it, Dolly--I gave Jack two pears to-day;
  I've mended his mittens for him.--Why, who is this creeping in?
  Why, it's surely my own white kitten, so tired and grimed and thin!

  And now we _will_ keep Thanksgiving, Dolly and Kitty and I;
  I'll go to church in the morning. I'm so glad, I'm afraid I'll cry.
  Oh, Kitty! my lost, lost treasure, you have found your own way back,
  And now I'll forget my troubles, and be friends again with Jack.




PERILS AND PRIVATIONS.

BY JAMES PAYN.

I.--THE WRECK OF THE "GROSVENOR."


On the 4th of August, "being Sunday, 1782," the _Grosvenor_, East
Indiaman, homeward-bound, was scudding, under little canvas, before a
northwest gale. She had left Madagascar to the northeast some days ago,
and was supposed by her Captain (Captain Coxon) to be at least a hundred
leagues from the nearest land. Before daylight John Hynes, a seaman,
with one Lewis and others, were aloft striking the foretop-gallant-mast,
when Hynes asked Lewis if he did not think certain breakers ahead
indicated land. The latter answering in the affirmative, they hastened
to inform the third mate, Mr. Beal, who had the watch. Mr. Beal "only
laughed at them," but in a few minutes the _Grosvenor_'s keel struck,
and "as she beat very hard, every soul on board instantly ran on deck."

[Illustration: WRECK OF THE "GROSVENOR."]

These souls, predoomed to destruction, were very many--nearly two
hundred, including, alas! both women and children and sick. If the
position of those who are well and strong in such circumstances is
pitiable, what must be that of the weak? The Captain endeavored in vain
to mitigate the universal panic; for though no water could be detected
in the vessel by the pumps, it was well understood there was a hole in
her; and since the wind was off the land, which could now be discerned a
hundred yards away, it was feared she would be driven to sea, and
founder. The gunner was ordered to fire signals of distress; but on
going to the powder-room he found it full of water. The mainmast was cut
away, then the foremast, but without easing the doomed ship, against
which the waves beat with impatient fury, as though greedy for their
prey.

To those who have only seen the summer sea at play upon our shores, it
is difficult to picture the force with which in storm every wave strikes
a vessel in this position. She shudders at every blow, and groans and
shrieks like any living creature. To the ignorant and timid, who feel
the hull quivering under them, it seems as if she were going to pieces
at every stroke. "At all hazards," they say to themselves, "let us get
out of this to land;" but when they look upon the boiling waves, that
seethe as in some bottomless caldron between themselves and the
wished-for shore, even the frail planks on which they stand seem by
comparison security. Even when a boat has perhaps with infinite
difficulty been lowered, and they see it thrown hither and thither like
a ball beneath them, and only kept from instant destruction against the
ship's side by boat-hooks, they shrink from such a means of escape, and
leave it to bolder spirits. In the case of the _Grosvenor_, the yawl and
jolly-boat, which had been hoisted out, were dashed to pieces as soon as
they touched the water. An Italian and two seamen, however, swam to land
with the deep-sea line, by help of which a stronger rope was conveyed
ashore, and then a hawser.

By this time a great crowd of natives had collected on the beach, who
helped to fasten the hawser to the rocks, and the other end of the rope
being made fast to the capstan on deck, it was hauled tight.
Communication was thus established between the ship and the land; a
perilous mode of safety, however, that could only be used by the most
agile seamen, of whom no less than fifteen out of twenty attempting to
pursue it dropped into the sea, and were drowned before the eyes of
their companions.

The people on the wreck now busied themselves in constructing a raft,
the only means of escape that was apparently left them, and it was
launched overboard, and guided to the ship's stern, so that the women
and children might be dropped into it from the quarter gallery. But
hardly had it reached the waves when it was torn asunder, "the great
ropes that bound it together parting like pack-thread," and the men in
charge of it perished. Picture to yourself, reader, how each of these
successive events must have affected the survivors, who beheld them all,
and felt them to be so many preludes to their own destruction. In
despair they all huddled together on the poop awaiting death, while with
a crash that made itself heard above the tempest, the great ship clove
asunder.

And here, as we shall find often happens in these narratives of
disaster, what would seem to have been their certain doom proved for a
time their preservation; for the wind suddenly veered round, and blowing
directly to the land, carried the starboard quarter on which they stood
into shallow water, and the whole company reached the shore.

By this time the night was falling; but the natives, who had retired
with the setting sun, had left the embers of a fire, by which means
three others were lighted, and some hogs and poultry being driven
ashore, the poor creatures made a good repast--which was their last one.
They soon learned from their companions on shore that it was from no
motives of humanity that the inhabitants had offered them assistance,
nor indeed, beyond fastening the hawser, had they given any help, but
occupied themselves in seizing whatever came to land, especially
anything in the shape of iron.

Among most savage nations iron holds the place which gold fills among
those more civilized, and a few horse-shoes or rusty nails are valued
more highly by them than pearls or diamonds. To any one who has seen the
weapons or instruments in use among the South-sea Islanders, and the
curious devices by which horn and bone and wood are made to supply the
place of the coveted metal, this will not appear strange; and as the
desire for gold too often hardens the heart among our own people, so
that for iron makes that of the savage as the nether millstone, or as
iron itself.

With the next morning a host of natives thronged the beach, to the great
terror of the castaways, who had no weapons of any kind. The former took
not the slightest notice of the new arrivals, but, knowing that they
could turn their attention to them at any time, busied themselves
exclusively with plunder. Next to positive ill-treatment, the poor
_Grosvenor_ people felt that nothing could augur worse for them than
this total indifference to their wretched condition.

A cask of beef, a barrel of flour, and a puncheon of rum they managed to
secure for themselves, and with a couple of sails they contrived two
tents for the ladies and children. This was all the provision they had,
though they were a hundred and thirty-five in number, and even the
puncheon of rum the Captain gave orders to be staved, "lest the natives
should become dangerous by getting intoxicated."

Then he called the people together, and in a pathetic speech informed
them that to the best of his belief they were on the coast of Caffraria,
and that it might be possible in sixteen or seventeen days to reach on
foot some of the Dutch settlements. As the ship was wrecked, he informed
them that his authority was at an end, but if it was their wish he would
resume it, as without discipline the difficulties of travel would be
greatly increased. Then they all answered that "he should still be their
Captain, by all means."

One man named O'Brien had a swelled knee, and elected to remain with the
natives, whom he thought he might conciliate by making them little
trinkets out of the lead and pewter cast ashore, and having recovered
from his ailment, and learned their language, might better be able to
get away. Him therefore they left (little knowing the tender mercies of
those to whom he so pitifully intrusted himself), "but Mr. Logie, the
chief mate, being ill, was carried by two men in a hammock slung upon a
pole."

The whole company then began to move westward, followed by many of the
natives, "who took whatever they chose from them, and occasionally threw
stones." Presently they met thirty Caffres whose hair, instead of being
crisp and curly like the rest, was made up in the shape of a sugar-loaf,
and whose faces were painted red. Among them was a Dutchman called
Trout, who spoke English. They offered him an immense sum if he would
conduct them to the Cape, but he replied that it was impossible. He had
murdered several of his own countrymen, and therefore could not venture
among them again; besides, having a wife and children among the Caffres,
to whom he had fled for refuge, he was averse to leave them, even if the
tribe would have let him go, which he was well assured they would not.
As to the journey, he informed them (as it turned out only too truly)
that it would be attended with unspeakable difficulties, arising from
the cruel nations through which they would have to pass, desert lands,
and wild beasts.

Greatly depressed, the party moved on, every day harassed by the
natives, who when the sun went down invariably retired. The poor unarmed
Englishmen could do little against men armed with lances and protected
by targets made of elephant's hide, and in the end they had always to
sue for peace, cutting the buttons from their coats, and offering such
trinkets as they possessed, to buy off their assailants. One day they
plundered the gentlemen of their watches, and the ladies of some
diamonds they had concealed in their hair; on another they took from
them what was far more valuable, their one tinder-box, flint, and steel.

After this loss every one travelled with a fire-brand in his hand to
guard against the wild beasts at night. Fresh-water they generally found
by digging in the sand, but their provisions were now nearly all
expended, and dissension for the first time appeared among the unhappy
band. "The fatigue of travelling with the women and children being very
great, the sailors began to murmur."

We should pause before condemning these men, though they may deserve
condemnation, to consider what some of us at least might have done in
their case. It was morally certain that to advance as they were at
present doing, by slow degrees, was to perish. Some hoped, no doubt,
that by making quicker progress they might get help, and return for the
rest, as indeed some did. Moreover, the same chivalry is hardly to be
expected (though in these narratives it will be seen that it was often
found) among uneducated persons as in those of gentler mould; it may
even be added--to be quite fair--that when it is exhibited they do not
get the same credit for it. For an officer to run away in battle is
actually more difficult, because it is more disgraceful, than for a
common soldier. In this case almost all the officers, including the
Captain, remained with the ladies and children, and "many of the
sailors, induced by the great promises made by Colonel James and others,
were prevailed to stay with them, to carry what little provision was
left, and the blankets with which they covered themselves in the night."
A Captain Talbot, three of the ship's mates, one or two gentlemen and
their servants, with the remainder of the seamen, among whom was John
Hynes, "being in all forty-three," made up the forward party.

A young boy, Master Law, a passenger, between seven and eight years old,
crying after one of these, a passenger, and having no surviving
relatives of his own, was taken with them, it being agreed that they
should carry him by turns whenever he should be unable to walk. It is
not to be supposed that this separation of the two parties took place in
anger or bad feeling on either side. Indeed, the next day, when those
who had left the Captain's company, having had to wait all night beside
a river for the ebb tide, were overtaken by the rest, the meeting
between them was most affecting, and once more they all travelled on as
before. Nay, all the shell-fish, oysters, mussels, and limpets they
could find on the sea-shore, although their other provisions were now
quite expended, were that day, we are told, reserved solely for the
women and children. Arriving at a Caffre village, where the Dutchman
Trout lived, they were wickedly ill-treated by the inhabitants; and by
his advice, since in smaller numbers they would be less likely to arouse
the jealousy of the natives, they once more separated, "never to meet
again". From this moment, unless from hearsay, we have only the record
of what may be called the sailors' party, narrated by John Hynes.

They kept along the coast-line as well as they could, but the frequent
rivers, too deep and swift to be crossed by those who could not swim
well, often compelled them to journey inland. Here we see how, not only
in time of shipwreck, but afterward, the art of swimming, so easily
acquired in youth, is so valuable. If it had not been for these
diversions from their course more lives would certainly have been saved,
as they had to take to the woods, where sorrel "and such wild berries as
they observed the birds to peck at," and which they therefore knew were
not poisonous, were their only food, and where wild beasts devoured them
at night. When the rivers grew somewhat narrower, they lashed together
all the dry wood they could collect with woodbines and their
handkerchiefs, and on the raft thus formed they set the little boy and
those who could not swim, while the others pushed it over. In this way
they sometimes crossed rivers two miles broad.

The country now grew mountainous, and much more difficult to traverse.
They saw no paths but such as were made by lions and tigers, against
which they had to make up huge fires at night; yet even these were
preferable to such fellow-creatures as were to be found in that
inhospitable land. Every morning, while their strength lasted, one of
their number climbed a tree to examine the direction of the coast-line,
to which they kept as close as was possible. They presently became too
weak to gather fuel for more than one fire, into which they put the few
oysters and mussels they could collect, as they had no other means
(having been long ago plundered of their knives) to open them. Their
watches, as I have said, were gone, and the sun was their only
time-piece. At first with a nail fashioned into a knife they cut notches
in a stick for week-days, and one across for Sundays; but they lost the
stick in crossing a river, after which "days, weeks, and months" went by
without record. One day they found a dead whale upon the shore, a sight
which filled them with ecstasy. As they had no means of cutting it up,
they made a fire upon it, after which they cut out the parts thus
grilled with oyster shells.

The sight of a fine level country now led them to hope that they had got
beyond Caffraria, and reached the Dutch settlements. This caused them to
strike inland, but they had soon to return to the coast again for food.

The strength of the whole party now began to fail. Captain Talbot sat
down several times to rest himself, and the rest did the same; "but the
Captain repeating this too often through weariness," they presently went
on and left him. His faithful servant, however, observing his master in
that condition, went back, and was observed to sit down by him. "Neither
of the two was ever more seen or heard of."

[TO BE CONTINUED.]




[Illustration: NICOLO, THE LITTLE ITALIAN BOY.]




"GRANDPA, YOU DO LOOK SWEET."

BY M. E.


  Just think of it, dear Grandpapa,
    This day belongs to me;
  My birthday 'tis--I'm four years old--
    Last time I was but three.
  And six small girls and five small boys
    Are coming here to tea,
  And you must be as beautiful
    As ever you can be.

  Teresa Grover's grandpapa
    Has got no hair at all;
  His head shines--though he's very nice--
    Just like an iv'ry ball.
  And I guess she'll be awful s'prised,
    And all those other girls,
  And small boys too, when they see you
    With lots of pretty curls.

  For to my party you must come,
    And help us play and laugh;
  I wouldn't have a birthday, dear,
    Unless I gave you half.
  And you shall have the very best
    Of everything to eat.
  And now your hair is done, and, oh,
    Grandpa, you _do_ look sweet!

[Illustration]




THE LAME TURKEY.

A Story of Thanksgiving-Time.

BY RUTH HALL.


"Childern, childern, come here quick. That 'ere lame turkey's out
ag'in."

So called Mrs. Amasa Andrews, in the kitchen doorway, and two shrill
trebles answered her from the pumpkin patch.

"Oh, Aunt Polly, where's it gone to? Out in the orchard, or across the
fields?"

"Under the hill, down by Uncle Jake's old place," waving away the
panting figures who rushed into view from behind the corn-house. "You'd
better hurry up, or he'll get clean away this time."

George and Patty needed no second warning. In the missing turkey were
bound up delightful visions of "white meat," "wish-bones," and
"stuffing," on which they had been dwelling for two months past, and
which they had no idea of losing at this late day, only one little week
before Thanksgiving. So they tore like small whirlwinds across the
kitchen yard, squeezed under the fence, and slid down the steep hill,
never stopping to take breath until they had lost sight of home, and had
"Uncle Jake's old place" in view.

"Oh, George!" gasped little Patty then, "what if we didn't find
it?--what ever would we do?"

"Wouldn't have no Thanksgivin'," replied George, stolidly.

"Oh, but I just couldn't bear that. I couldn't, truly. It is such a
awful long time since we had a taste o' turkey, George."

"Not since last Christmas, before we ever thought o' comin' here to
live," her brother mused, as he trimmed a switch with dexterous fingers.
"Pa 'n' ma was alive then, 'n' little sister, 'n'-- There's that gobbler
now!"

They were close to the house, which had long been vacant, but now showed
signs of life in open door and windows, and a faint curl of pale blue
smoke from the tumble-down chimney. In the tiny door-yard stood the
runaway, calmly picking at a few potato-skins in a rusty old tin pan.

The children crept softly up behind a brush heap, intending to rush from
thence and surprise him, and were about to carry their scheme into
effect, when George laid a detaining hand upon his sister's arm.

"Hush!" he whispered. "What's that comin'?"

"Oh, Sally," called a thin voice from the door of the little house,
"come and see what's here. A turkey, Sally--a real turkey, sure's you
live!"

"But it ain't for us," said another voice. Evidently Sally had come. "It
belongs to some 'un, 'Melia, 'n' they'll come after it. That means a
Thanksgivin' dinner for somebody"--with a heavy sigh.

"Oh dear!" went on the younger voice, "don't you wish 'twas ours, Sally?
I never tasted turkey 'n all my life, an' I _do_ hate corn meal so!"

"Turkey's for them that has fathers to buy 'em," replied Sally, with a
sob in her voice; and then some one called shrilly from an inner room:

"Come, girls, Miss Watson's washin's ready;" and the little forms, at
which our Patty and George had been furtively "peeking," disappeared.

It was the work of a few moments to catch the lame turkey, and to start
him homeward at the point of George's switch; but someway neither child
looked happy over the achievement.

"George," finally began Patty's pleading little voice.

"Well, what d'ye want?" in his gruffest manner.

"They hain't got no father, Georgie."

"No more ha' we, nor mother neither. We're orphans."

"Oh, George! when we've got such a good Aunt Polly, 'n' such a Uncle
Amasa. An' _corn meal_, George."

Now Patty's brother "hated corn meal so" too, as his crafty sister knew.
There was a little pause.

"Well, what shell we do?" he inquired, finally. "Tell Aunt Polly, 'n'
get her to send 'em something down?"

"We couldn't do that," small Patty answered, decidedly. "They can't
afford to do much extra, I'm afraid, Georgie. You know we're quite
expensive, our keepin'; I heard old Miss Crandall tell Mike so."

"Miss Crandall's a gossip, Uncle Amasa says."

"But I know we _are_," poor Patty went on. "Aunt Polly ain't had no fall
bunnit, you know, an' she does her own washin' since we come. I'm afraid
we cost 'em quite a deal."

"Well, what _shell_ we do?" George cried, desperately, and giving the
lame turkey a savage cut over his saucy tail.

"I don't know what you'll do," was Polly's calm response, "but I shell
give that 'Melia every smitch o' my turkey next Thursday. So there!"

There was another pause, and then George remarked, with a great showing
of coolness: "Well, all right. An' I'll take Sally my turkey an' _all_
my pumpkin pie!"

"Oh, you dear George!" began his sister, and then broke down and cried.

"What air you childern whisperin' about?" queried Aunt Polly, coming
upon the two, sitting side by side on the wood-pile, later in the day.

Patty hesitated. Good and kind as Aunt Polly always was, her sharp eyes
and sharper voice were awe-inspiring to her small niece. But George,
whose bravery was the glory of his sister, looked up at the tall woman
with his fearless gray eyes, and told the story of that morning's
adventures and their resolution, adding:

"An' we were just a-wonderin', Aunt Polly, how we'd get the things down
there, an' if you'd let Mike go with us, maybe, 'cause you know you say
you don't like us to go where you don't know the folks."

"That'll be all right," his aunt said, simply, "an' I'm glad you thought
of it, childern. 'It's more blessed to give,' you know. George, I wisht
you'd get me some chips."

So she turned the subject then; but that evening, as Mr. and Mrs.
Andrews sat together over the kitchen fire, with their charges asleep up
stairs, Aunt Polly retold George's story, keenly watching her husband's
face as she did so, although her eyes were apparently fixed upon her
knitting.

Uncle Amasa took his pipe out of his mouth and drew a long breath.
"Bless them childern," he said, heartily. "I vum, now, Polly, that makes
me feel putty small--don't it you? To think o' their thinkin' of it, an'
they a-lookin' forward to Thanksgivin'-day so long!"

"Well, what kin we do, Amasa?" was his wife's quiet question.

"Massy! I don't know. But we'll send that widder her dinner anyway, an'
we won't rob them little childern o' theirn neither."

"But, Amasa"--Aunt Polly laid down her knitting--"don't you see that
won't be the _childern's_ givin'? I don't want to take away their
dinners, dear knows; but 'twouldn't be right, after all, you know, for
them to be gen'rous and keep their turkey too."

Uncle Amasa mused a moment. "That's so!" he said, ruefully, at last. "I
tell ye, Polly, woman, we'll give 'em the hull turkey, an' we'll throw
in the pies. I guess we won't starve on bacon an' cabbage, an' on
Chris'mas I'll manage so's they can hev a turkey, 'n' we too. I love my
dinner's much 's the next 'un, but I swan to massy them babies o' ourn
make me feel putty small--putty small!"

And gathering up his boots and pipe, Uncle Amasa strode off to bed.

And so it came to pass that on Thanksgiving-eve George and Patty,
accompanied by Uncle Amasa, not Mike, again followed the lame turkey
under the hill to Uncle Jake's old place. But this time the recreant
fowl was borne on their uncle's shoulders, in the huge market-basket, in
company with potatoes and onions and golden pies and rosy cranberries;
in short, with the party's Thanksgiving dinner.

Uncle Amasa first placed the basket on the cracked door-step, and then
he and George concealed themselves in the darkness behind the brush
heap, while Patty, the lightest and fleetest of the three, knocked at
the door, and then ran swiftly to the common hiding-place.

A faint streak of light came from the doorway as Sally appeared holding
a tallow candle aloft. A moment's silence while she stared at the
basket, and kneeling by it explored the contents; then--

"Oh, mother! 'Melia!" she screamed, "it's a turkey, and it's pies,
an'--oh, come quick an' see!"

There was the hurry of other footsteps, and a cry from 'Melia: "Just to
look at the onions! Oh, I _do_ love them!" and then some one upset and
extinguished the candle, and under cover of the darkness Uncle Amasa
drew the eager children away.

As they went up the hill together George remarked, "I'm glad she likes
onions; so do I."

But Uncle Amasa drew his rough hand across his eyes, murmuring, in a
choked sort of voice: "Well I swan, if between them two sets o'
childern, them that gives 'n' them that takes, I don't feel putty small!
Yes, I do that, put-ty small!"




BITS OF ADVICE.

BY AUNT MARJORIE PRECEPT.

A TALK ABOUT SURPRISE PARTIES.


"What's this?" said I. "Let me put on my glasses, please," as a bevy of
nieces and nephews clustered around me, holding out square-shaped notes,
which bore a resemblance on the outside to invitations. Invitations they
were, to a surprise party at the residence of Miss Nellie E----, to be
held on an appointed evening. Four or five signatures in rather scrawly
hands were appended to them, and at the bottom of each billet I read a
mysterious word, as, for instance, on Cora's, the word Lemons; on
Kitty's, Sugar; on Rebecca's, Cake; and on Edwin's, Money. These were
the articles which, it was explained, the guests were to bring with them
to furnish the entertainment. Miss Nellie knew nothing about the honor
in store for her, although an elder sister, who had been consulted, "did
not object," said Alfred, "to our coming."

"But," added honest little Mary, "she did not seem very glad to have
us."

"Children," said I, "there are several objections to surprise parties.
People who wish to give parties usually prefer to name the time and
select their guests themselves. It may be very inconvenient to a little
girl's mother to have her house seized by a merry set of young folks,
who enter it for the purpose of having a good time. The parents who are
to provide lemon, sugar, and cake, or to supply the young gentlemen with
pocket-money, may not wish to have their money or their goods used in
that way. And, as a rule, gay evening parties, surprise or otherwise,
interfere seriously with school duties, and therefore are not precisely
the right things for boys and girls.

"Still, if you must surprise any one, Aunt Marjorie would advise you to
politely decline these invitations, and look about for the poorest and
neediest person you can find. Take the sugar, the lemons, the bread, the
ham, and the little packets of pocket-money, put them safely in a
basket, and set them down at the door of the crippled girl, or the
lonely boy whose mother and father are dead. You will enjoy such a
surprise party for months after it is over."




THE FALL OF A MOUNTAIN.

BY DAVID KER.


Some seventy years ago an old man sat at the door of his cottage in the
Swiss village of Goldau enjoying the warmth of the summer sunshine, and
the view of the fresh green valley dappled here and there with dark
clumps of trees. All around the great purple mountains stood up against
the sky, as if keeping guard over the pretty little village in their
midst, with its tiny log-huts clustered beneath the shadow of the neat
white church, like chickens nestling under the wing of the mother hen.

A big, florid, jolly-looking man came striding up the path, and held out
his hand to the old peasant, with a hearty "Good-day, Neighbor Kraus."

"Good-day, Neighbor Schwartz. Fine weather to-day."

"Beautiful. We'll have a famous harvest this year, please God."

"I hope so, neighbor. Won't you sit down a minute? It's warm walking."

"Thanks; I will. Holloa! what's the matter over yonder?"

Right opposite them, five thousand feet overhead, towered the dark mass
of the Rossberg, the highest of the surrounding mountains. Just as
Schwartz spoke, its huge outline seemed to be agitated by a slight
tremulous motion, like the nodding of a plume of feathers.

"Well, my friend, what are you staring at? Did you never see the trees
shaking in the wind before?"

"Of course; but it seemed to me somehow as if it wasn't only the trees
that shook, but the whole mountain."

"You're easily scared," chuckled the old man. "I suppose you're thinking
of the old saying that the Rossberg is to fall some day. Bah! they've
been saying so ever since I was a child, and it hasn't fallen yet."

Schwartz laughed, and the two friends went on talking. But suddenly the
visitor started up with a look of unmistakable terror; and no wonder.
His spiked staff, which he had stuck carelessly into the ground beside
him when he sat down, was _moving to and fro of itself_!

"Good gracious! do you see that, Father Kraus? And look at those birds
yonder, flying screaming away from the trees on the Rossberg! Something
is wrong, say what you will."

At that moment Hans Godrel, the miller, came flying past, shouting: "Run
for your lives! The stream's dried up, and that always comes before an
earthquake or an avalanche. Run!"

"Pooh! I'll have time to fill my pipe again," said old Kraus, coolly
producing his tobacco pouch.

But Schwartz was too thoroughly frightened to wait another moment. Down
the hill he flew like a madman, and had barely got clear of the village
when the earth shook under his feet so violently as to throw him down.
He sprang up again just in time to see poor old Kraus's cottage vanish
in a whirl of dust like a bursting bubble.

The next moment there came a terrific crash, followed by another so much
louder that it seemed to shake the very sky. In a moment all was dark as
night, and amid the gloom could be heard a medley of fearful sounds--the
rending of strong timbers, the hollow rumble of falling rocks and
gravel, the crash of wrecked buildings, the shrieks of the doomed
inmates, and the roar of angry waves from the lake below, as if all its
waters were breaking loose at once.

The last house of the village, on the side farthest from the Rossberg,
was that of Antoine Sepel, the wood-cutter, who at the first alarm
snatched up two of his children, and made for the opposite hill-side,
calling to his wife to follow with the other two. But the youngest,
Marianne, a little girl of six, had just run back into the house, and
before her mother could reach her, the first crash came. The terrified
woman seized the other girl, and fled without looking behind her.

But the old servant, Françoise, could think of her little favorite even
under the shadow of coming destruction. She darted into the house, and
had just caught the child in her arms, when the tremendous din of the
final crash told her that it was too late. In an instant the house was
lifted bodily from its place, and spun round like a top. The child was
torn from her clasp, and she felt herself thrown violently forward, the
strong timbers falling to pieces around her like a pack of cards. Still,
however, the brave woman struggled to free herself; but the weight that
kept her down defied her utmost strength. For her own safety she cared
little, although a violent pain in her head and a numbness along her
left arm told her that she was severely hurt. But where was the child?

"Marianne!" cried she, in desperation.

"Here I am," answered a tiny voice, seemingly not far from her. "I'm not
hurt a bit, only there's something holding me down; and I can see light
overhead quite plain. Won't they come and take us out soon?"

"No, there's no hope of that," said the old woman, feebly; "this is the
day of doom for us all. Say your prayers, darling, and commend yourself
to God."

And upward through the universal ruin, amid shattered rocks and uprooted
mountains, stole the child's clear sweet voice, praying the prayer that
she had learned at her mother's knee. It rose from that grim chaos of
destruction like Jonah's prayer from the depths of the sea, and like it
was heard and answered.

How long the two prisoners remained pent up in that living grave they
could never have told; but all at once Marianne thought she heard a
voice calling her name, and held her breath to listen. Yes, she was not
mistaken; there _was_ a voice calling to her, and it was the voice of
her father!

Sepel, having seen his wife and the other three children placed in
safety far up the opposite hill-side, had hurried back to seek the
missing girl. But it was in vain that he looked for any trace of the
village or even of the valley itself. The green, sunny uplands, where
the laborers had been working and the children frolicking but a few
hours before, were now one hideous disorder of fallen rocks, bare
gravel, and black cindery dust, amid which he wandered at random,
calling despairingly upon his lost darling.

But the answer came at last: a clear, musical call, which rose from a
shapeless heap of ruin that even he had failed to recognize as his
pretty little cottage. Hurrying to the spot, he began to tear away the
rubbish with the strength of a giant, and speedily drew forth the child
_unhurt_, the falling timbers, as if by miracle, having formed a kind of
arch over her, completely protecting her from injury.

Brave old Françoise had been less fortunate. Her left arm was so badly
hurt that she never recovered the use of it, and to the end of her life
she was always timid and nervous from the effects of that terrible
night. But, compared with the rest of the ill-fated villagers, she might
well esteem herself fortunate. Four-fifths of them were killed on the
spot, many more crippled for life, and those who escaped found
themselves reduced to absolute beggary. Of Goldau itself nothing
remained but the bell of its steeple, which was found more than a mile
away. The lower end of Lake Lowertz, farther down the valley, was
completely choked up by the falling rocks; and the water thus dislodged
rushed in a mighty wave seventy feet high over the island in the centre,
sweeping away every living thing upon it. The once happy and beautiful
valley is still a frightful desert, and here and there among the
surrounding hills you may find some white-haired grandfather who himself
witnessed the calamity and will tell you, in his quaint mountain speech,
how the Rossberg fell upon Goldau.




[Illustration: AN UNEXPECTED THANKSGIVING DINNER.]




PEOPLE WE HEAR ABOUT.

I.--ARTHUR SULLIVAN.


There is hardly a boy or girl in this country who does not know some of
the tunes in _Pinafore_ by heart--few, indeed, among our readers who
have not heard the opera--and all will be interested in hearing
something about the composer of that delightful music.

Arthur Sullivan is a bright-eyed, dark-haired man thirty-seven years of
age. When quite a little fellow he was a choir-boy in the chapel of St.
James's Palace in London, and at thirteen years he had made such
progress in musical studies that he composed an anthem that was sung in
the chapel before the Queen. On this occasion, he relates, with a merry
twinkle in his eyes, the Bishop of London patted him on the head, and
gave him ten shillings. At the age of fourteen, Arthur Sullivan won the
Mendelssohn Scholarship in the Royal Academy of Music, being the
youngest of those who tried for it, and was sent to Leipsic, in Germany,
to study under the most famous musicians of the time.

Strange though it may seem, the name of the composer of _Pinafore_ first
became known by a sacred oratorio, called the _Prodigal Son_. Since that
time Mr. Sullivan has written other oratorios, as well as a great many
songs that are sung everywhere; and there is hardly a hymn-book that
does not contain several hymns by this same great musician. The composer
of _Pinafore_ has followed up his success in that opera with two others
(also commencing with a P), the _Pirates of Penzance_ and _Patience_,
and it is said that he is already at work upon yet another one.

It may be said that comic operas are very light work for a great
musician to devote himself to; but those which Arthur Sullivan has
composed are the best of their kind, and the man who makes people
glad-hearted does as much good as he who makes them wise.




[Illustration: THE PLEASURES OF NUTTING-TIME.]




MICE AS PETS.


There is one kind of pets, and a very amusing kind they are too, which
every boy can have simply by setting a trap, and no one will object to
the snaring of them, or speak of the cruelty of depriving them of their
liberty. These pets are little bright-eyed, long-tailed mice, which can
be induced to display quite as much affection as any other pet, and
which are wonderfully interesting whether at play or at work.

Mice are not difficult to tame; they show great fondness for the one
who feeds them, and if their cage be properly cared for, are as cleanly
pets as one could wish to have.

To deprive mice of their liberty hardly seems cruel, since they are so
mischievous and destructive, and the boy who makes pets of them,
provided he catches them at home, takes away just so many provoking bits
of mischief from his mother's pantry, which is much better than to snare
birds or squirrels.

Mice will live and breed in a cage, and be quite as happy as when
enjoying their liberty, for they are accustomed to make a home of such
tiny places that they do not suffer in confinement, as pets do who find
their greatest pleasure in roaming.

It is possible to buy white mice at any bird-fancier's, but there are
reasons why it is better to have at least half your pets of the ordinary
house mice rather than to have them all white. One is that your mother
will look with more favor upon your mouse pet if it is one the less from
the number that annoy her.

There is hardly any necessity of telling a boy how to set a mouse-trap,
and in almost every house his labor will be very quickly rewarded with
as many as he can care for.

But once the industrious little fellows are caught and caged, do not
make the cruel mistake of thinking because they are only mice they do
not need any care. As long as they were in the walls, or under the
floors, they could take care of themselves, for they knew to the
fraction of an inch on which particular portion of the shelf the cheese
was placed, and exactly how to get at the bread. But when they have been
deprived of their liberty, it becomes the duty of their captor to see
that they want for nothing. What is true of any pet is equally true of
mice; they are entitled to all the care and attention they need as soon
as they are deprived of the power to care for themselves.

If one wants to have very tame mice, so tame that they can be taught to
come out of their cage at the word of command, and return to it when the
play is over, he should catch young ones, and put them in a cage with
wire front and solid back and sides.

Almost any kind of a hard-wood box, not less than twelve inches long and
wide, and eight inches high, can be made into a good cage by running
wires about the size of an ordinary knitting-needle up and down the
front, about a quarter of an inch apart. Then cut a small sliding door
at one side, and have the back made to slide up and down for purposes of
cleanliness. If at one end a small run-around, made of stout wire set
very closely together, be placed, the pets will have such a home as they
will be perfectly contented and happy in.

At one corner of the cage should be some rags for a nest, and unless
there are little ones in it, this nest must be removed at least once
each week. The entire cage should be washed quite as often, and every
care must be taken to keep it sweet and clean. Dry sand or sawdust is a
good thing to scatter over the floor of the house, as it can then be
cleaned readily by simply scraping the old sand out and pouring in
fresh.

Mice when at liberty are great builders, and have many curious ways of
providing snug quarters for their young. In one instance a number of
empty bottles had been stowed away upon a shelf, and among them was
found one which was tenanted by a mouse. The little creature had
considered that the bottle would afford a suitable home for her young,
and had therefore conveyed into it a quantity of bedding which she made
into a nest. The bottle was filled with the nest, and the eccentric
architect had taken the precaution to leave a round hole corresponding
to the neck of the bottle. In this remarkable domicile the young were
placed; and it is a fact worthy of notice that no attempt had been made
to shut out the light. Nothing would have been easier than to have
formed the cavity at the under side, so that the soft materials of the
nest would exclude the light; but the mouse had simply formed a
comfortable hollow for her young, and therein she had placed them.

The rapidity with which a mouse can make a nest is somewhat surprising.
Some few years ago, in a farmer's house, a loaf of newly baked bread was
placed upon a shelf, according to custom. Next day a hole was observed
in the loaf; and when it was cut open a mouse and her nest were
discovered within, the latter being made of paper. On examination, the
material of the habitation was found to have been obtained from a
copy-book, which had been torn into shreds and arranged in the form of a
nest. Within this curious home were nine new-born mice. Thus in the
space of thirty-six hours at most the loaf must have cooled, the
interior been excavated, the book found and cut into suitable pieces,
the nest made, and the young brought into the world.

If you have started your mouse menagerie with young mice, they should be
given a soft warm nest, and fed on bread and milk until they are grown,
when almost anything may be given them. Water should always be provided
for them, and the dish in which it is kept must be shallow, or they may
drown themselves.

If you whistle or make some peculiar noise when you feed them, they will
soon learn to associate the sound with the pleasure of eating, and come
out of their nest at the summons. To make them eat from the hand,
exclude cheese from their bill of fare several days, and then hold a bit
that is toasted where they can get it. The temptation will be so strong
that at the second trial they will take it from their master, and after
that they will eat from his hand very readily.

Young mice are great acrobats, and the antics of the little climbers and
leapers are very amusing when they have space sufficient in which to
display their skill.

Several instances are recorded of mice that made musical sounds
something like a soft low warble, and it has been thought by some that
this musical power might be cultivated so that they really could become
singing mice! But this is open to very many doubts, their vocal organs
being so entirely different from birds.

The most reasonable supposition is that the mice that are reported as
having sung were affected with some disease in the lungs or
air-passages, which caused the piping noise called music.




THE TALKING LEAVES.[1]

An Indian Story.

BY WILLIAM O. STODDARD.

CHAPTER VIII.

[1] Begun in No. 101, HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE.


A refusal to go out with the hunters was a strange thing to come from Red
Wolf. No other young brave in that band of Apaches had a better
reputation for killing deer and buffaloes. It was a common saying among
the older squaws that when he came to have a lodge of his own "there
would always be plenty of meat in it." He was not, therefore, "a lazy
Indian," and it was something he had on his mind that kept him in the
camp that day. It had also made him beckon to Ni-ha-be, and look very
hard after Rita when she hurried away toward the bushes with her three
magazines of "talking leaves." Red Wolf was curious. He hardly liked to
say as much to a squaw, even such a young squaw as Ni-ha-be, and his own
sister, but he had some questions to ask her nevertheless.

He might have asked some of them of his father, but the great war chief
of that band of Apaches was now busily watching Dolores and her
saucepan, and everybody knew better than to speak to him just before
supper. Ni-ha-be saw at a glance what was the matter with her haughty
brother, and she was glad enough to tell him all there was to know of
how and where the talking leaves had been found.

"Did they speak to you?"

"No; but I saw pictures."

"Pictures of what?"

"Mountains, big lodges, trees, braves, pale-face squaws, pappooses,
white men's bears, and pictures that lied. Not like anything."

"Ugh! Bad medicine. Talk too much. So blue-coat soldier throw them
away."

"They talk to Rita."

"What say to her?"

"I don't know. She'll tell me. She'll tell you if you ask her."

"Ugh! No. Red Wolf is a warrior. Not want any squaw talk about pictures.
You ask Rita some things?"

"What things?"

"Make the talking leaves tell where all blue-coat soldiers go. All that
camped here. Know then whether we follow 'em."

"Maybe they won't tell."

"Burn some. The rest talk then. White man's leaves not want to tell
about white man. Rita must make them talk. Old braves in camp say they
know. Many times the talking leaves tell the pale-faces all about
Indians. I Tell where go. Tell what do. Tell how to find and kill. Bad
medicine."

The "old braves" of many an Indian band have puzzled their heads over
the white man's way of learning things and sending messages to a
distance, and Red Wolf's ideas had nothing unusual in them. If the
talking leaves could say anything at all, they could be made to tell a
chief and his warriors the precise things they wanted to know.

Ni-ha-be's talk with her brother lasted until he pointed to the camp
fire, where Many Bears was resting after his first attack upon the
results of Mother Dolores's cookery.

"Great chief eat. Good time talk to him. Go now."

There was no intentional lack of politeness in the sharp, overbearing
tone of Red Wolf. It was only the ordinary manner of a warrior speaking
to a squaw. It would therefore have been very absurd for Ni-ha-be to get
out of temper about it; but her manner and the toss of her head as she
turned away were decidedly wanting in the submissive meekness to be
expected of her age and sex.

"It won't be long before I have a lodge of my own," she said,
positively. "I'll have Rita come and live with me. Red Wolf shall not
make her burn the talking leaves. Maybe she can make them talk to me. My
eyes are better than hers. She's nothing but a pale-face, if she did get
brought into my father's lodge."

A proud-spirited maiden was Ni-ha-be, and one who wanted a little more
of "her own way" than she could have under the iron rule of her great
father and the watchful eyes of Mother Dolores.

"I'll go to the bushes and see Rita. Our supper won't be ready yet for a
good while."

It would be at least an hour, but Ni-ha-be had never seen a clock in her
life, and knew nothing at all about "hours." There is no word for such a
thing in the Apache language.

She was as light of foot as an antelope, and her moccasins hardly made a
sound upon the grass as she parted the bushes and looked in upon Rita's
hiding-place.

"Weeping? The talking leaves have been scolding her. I will burn them.
They shall not say things to make her cry."

In a moment more her arms were around the neck of her adopted sister. It
was plain enough that the two girls loved each other dearly.

"Rita, what is the matter? Have they said strong words to you?"

"No, Ni-ha-be; good words, all of them. Only I can not understand them
all."

"Tell me some. See if I can understand them. I am the daughter of a
great chief."

Ni-ha-be did not know how very little help the wealth of a girl's father
can give her in a quarrel with her school-books. But just such ideas as
hers have filled the silly heads of countless young white people of both
sexes.

"I can tell you some of it."

"Tell me what made you cry."

"I can't find my father. He is not here. Not in any of them."

"You don't need him now. He was only a pale-face. Many Bears is a great
chief. He is your father now."

Something seemed to tell Rita that she would not be wise to arouse her
friend's national jealousy. It was better to turn to some of the
pictures, and try to explain them. Very funny explanations she gave,
too, but she at least knew more than Ni-ha-be, and the latter listened
seriously enough.

"Rita, was there ever such a mule as that?--one that could carry a pack
under his skin?"

It was Rita's turn now to be proud, for that was one of the pictures she
had been able to understand. She had even read enough to be able to tell
Ni-ha-be a good deal about a camel.

It was deeply interesting, but the Apache maiden suddenly turned from
the page to exclaim,

"Rita, Red Wolf says the talking leaves must tell you about the
blue-coat soldiers or he will burn them up."

"I'm going to keep them."

"I won't let him touch them."

"But, Ni-ha-be, they do tell about the soldiers. Look here."

She picked up another of the magazines, and turned over a few leaves.

"There they are. All mounted and ready to march."

Sure enough, there was a fine wood-cut of a party of cavalry moving out
of camp with wagons.

Over went the page, and there was another picture.

Ten times as many cavalry on the march, followed by an artillery force
with cannon.

"Oh, Rita! Father must see that."

"Of course he must; but that is not all."

Another leaf was turned, and there was a view of a number of Indian
chiefs in council at a fort, with a strong force of both cavalry and
infantry drawn up around them.

Rita had not read the printed matter on any of those pages, and did not
know that it was only an illustrated description of campaigning and
treaty-making on the Western plains. She was quite ready to agree with
Ni-ha-be that Many Bears ought to hear at once what the talking leaves
had to say about so very important a matter.

It was a good time to see him now, for he was no longer very hungry, and
word had come in from the hunters that they were having good success. A
fine prospect of a second supper, better than the first, was just the
thing to make the mighty chief good-tempered, and he was chatting cozily
with some of his "old braves" when Rita and Ni-ha-be drew near.

They beckoned to Red Wolf first.

"The talking leaves have told Rita all you wanted them to. She must
speak to father."

Red Wolf's curiosity was strong enough to make him arrange for that at
once, and even Many Bears himself let his face relax into a grim smile
as the two girls came timidly nearer the circle of warriors.

After all, they were the pets and favorites of the chief; they were
young and pretty, and so long as they did not presume to know more than
warriors and counsellors they might be listened to. Besides, there were
the talking leaves, and Rita's white blood, bad as it was for her, might
be of some use in such a matter.

"Ugh!"

[Illustration: "MANY BEARS LOOKED AT THE PICTURE."]

Many Bears looked at the picture of the cavalry squad with a sudden
start. "No lie this time. Camp right here. Just so many blue-coats. Just
so many wagons. Good. Now where go?"

Rita turned the leaf, and her Indian father was yet more deeply
interested.

"Ugh! More blue-coats. Great many. No use follow. Get all killed. Big
guns. Indians no like 'em. Ugh!"

If the cavalry expedition was on its way to join a larger force, it
would indeed be of no use to follow it, and Many Bears was a cautious
leader as well as a brave one.

Rita's news was not yet all given, however, and when the eyes of the
chief fell upon the picture of the "treaty-making" he sprang to his
feet.

"Ugh! Big talk come. Big presents. Other Apaches all know--all be
there--all get blanket, gun, tobacco, new axe. Nobody send us word,
because we off on hunt beyond the mountains. Now we know, we march right
along. Rest horse, kill game, then ride. Not lose our share of
presents."

Rita could not have told him his mistake, and even if she had known it,
she would have been puzzled to explain away the message of the talking
leaves.

Did not every brave in the band know that that first picture told the
truth about the cavalry? Why, then, should they doubt the correctness of
the rest of it?

No; a treaty there was to be, and presents were to come from the red
man's "great father at Washington," and that band of Apaches must manage
to be on hand and secure all that belonged to it, and as much more as
possible.

Red Wolf had nothing more to say about burning up leaves which had
talked so well, and his manner toward Rita was almost respectful as he
led her and Ni-ha-be away from the group of great men that was now
gathering around the chief. Red Wolf was too young a brave to have any
business to remain while gray heads were in council. A chief would
almost as soon take advice from a squaw as from a "boy."

Mother Dolores had heard nothing of all this, but her eyes had not
missed the slightest thing. She had even permitted a large slice of deer
meat to burn to a crisp in her eager curiosity.

"What did they say to the chief?" was her first question to Rita.

But Ni-ha-be answered her with: "Ask the warriors. If we talk too much,
we shall get into trouble."

"You must tell me."

"Not until after supper. Rita, don't let's tell her a word unless she
cooks for us and gives us all we want. She made us get our own supper
last night."

"You came late. I did not tell your father. I gave you enough. I am very
good to you."

"No," said Rita; "sometimes you are cross, and we don't get enough to
eat. Now you shall cook us some corn-bread and some fresh meat. I am
tired of dried buffalo: it is tough."

The curiosity of Dolores was getting hotter and hotter, and she thought
again of the wonderful leaf which had spoken to her. She wanted to ask
Rita questions about that too, and she had learned by experience that
there was more to be obtained from her willful young friends by coaxing
than in any other way.

"I will get your supper now, while the chiefs are talking. It shall be a
good supper--good enough for Many Bears. Then you shall tell me all I
ask."

"Of course I will," said Rita.

A fine fat deer had been deposited near that camp fire by one of the
first hunters that had returned, and Mother Dolores was free to cut and
carve from it, but her first attempt at a supper for the girls did not
succeed very well. It was not on account of any fault of hers, however,
or because the venison steak she cut and spread upon the coals, while
her corn-bread was frying, did not broil beautifully.

No; the temporary disappointment of Ni-ha-be and Rita was not the fault
of Mother Dolores. Their mighty father was sitting where the odor of
that cookery blew down upon him, and it made him hungry again before the
steak was done. He called Red Wolf to help him, for the other braves
were departing to their own camp fires, and in a minute or so more there
was little left of the supper intended for the two young squaws. Dolores
patiently cut and began to broil another slice, but that was Red Wolf's
first supper, and it was the third slice which found its way into the
lodge, after all.

The strange part of it was that not even Ni-ha-be dreamed of
complaining. It was according to custom.

There was plenty of time to eat supper after it came, for Dolores was
compelled to look out for her own. She would not have allowed any other
squaw to cook for her, any more than she herself would have condescended
to fry a cake for any one below the rank of her own husband and his
family.

Mere common braves and their squaws could take care of themselves, and
it was of small consequence to Dolores whether they had anything to eat
or not. There is more "aristocracy" among the wild red men than anywhere
else, and they have plenty of white imitators who should know better.

[TO BE CONTINUED.]




[Illustration: HAPPY AS A KING--"PAPERS ALL SOLD."]




SHADOW PANTOMIMES.


What are the boys and girls going to do Thanksgiving night when dinner
is over, the nuts and raisins all gone, the last sugar-plum eaten, and
it isn't yet time to go to bed? Suppose they try Shadow Pantomimes.

Draw a white screen across the parlor, hanging down to the floor, darken
the part of the room where the audience are, and place one strong light
at the extreme end, behind the stage, so that the shadows of the actors
will be thrown on the screen when they pass or stand behind it. The
subjects have to be guessed by the audience. A Shadow Pantomime has the
advantage that all sorts of contrivances can be used, and the appearance
of the players disguised, so that the lookers-on will soon want to see
what is at the other side of the screen, where the sight of card-board
cats and donkeys and paper noses and chins would be a sad disillusion.
The player should in general keep near the screen, but never touch or
shake it; and as there is no scenery except such shadows as bushes or
fences, no scene is announced, but all has to be guessed from the action
of the figures. The subjects should, of course, be easy to guess, as the
audience enjoys better what is recognized quickly. We suggest to
ingenious shadow-makers as possible subjects: _Cinderella_--the child
and the godmother, the dance, the fitting of the shoe. _The Lion and the
Unicorn_--the lion's mane and tail and the unicorn's horn being the
chief distinctions, and the crown being represented on a pole in the
middle while they fight; afterward the representation of the last lines
are easy: "Some gave them white bread, and some gave them brown; some
gave them plum-cake, and drummed them out of town." _Punch and Judy_,
with Judy's large cap and Punch's hump, pointed cap, and long nose and
chin, and of course a Toby, well cut out of mill-board or card-board.
_The House that Jack built_, with a constant show of the objects in
succession, some of them only cut models, held at a distance from the
screen so as to enlarge the shadows: this would be necessary, for
instance, in showing the house with its bright windows, and it is well
for such subjects to draw a curtain across the lower part of the stage,
and place a screen at each side, so as to leave only a small square of
light for exhibiting the shadows, while the hands are hidden behind the
screens. _Sing a Song of Sixpence_, the pie being the shadow of a packed
clothes-basket, the king and queen wearing crowns, and the blackbird of
the last verses being swung on the end of a thread so as to hit off a
paper nose.

Most of the nursery rhymes admit of being shown in shadows, and also
such ballads as the "Mistletoe Bough." There may be, for a change at the
end, a few shadow charades, such as Snow-ball, Cox-comb, Asterisk
(ass-tea-risk), Ring-let, Cat-as-(ass)-trophy, etc., done quickly and
guessed easily.




[Illustration]

KING HAZELNUT


  King Hazelnut, of Weisnichtwo,
    A jolly King was he,
  And all his subjects, high and low,
    Were happy as could be.

  They feasted every day on pie
    And pudding and plum-cake,
  And never broke the law--for why?--
    There was no law to break.

  Oh, jolly was King Hazelnut,
    Especially at noon;
  Then many a caper he would cut,
    And hum a merry tune.

  And from his golden throne he'd hop,
    And fling his sceptre down,
  And on the table, like a top,
    Would spin his golden crown.

  Then he would slap his sides and sing
    Unto his serving-man,
  "That rolly-poly pudding bring
    As lively as you can."

[Illustration]




[Illustration: OUR POST-OFFICE BOX.]


A HAPPY THANKSGIVING and a splendid time to all our boys and girls!

       *       *       *       *       *

  GLENCOE, LOUISIANA.

     Viola E. would perhaps find the names most familiar to your young
     Creole subscribers in Louisiana as unaccustomed as are those of
     which she writes to the ears of children outside of Virginia. In
     this house the young girl to whom YOUNG PEOPLE is addressed was
     christened Elmire, but is known only by her _petit nom_ of
     "Fillette." Her mother's name is Gracieuse--is it not musical? An
     impish little ebon-hued maid in the yard is Mariquite. Another,
     with gleaming ivories, is Yélie. A cousin who comes often, and is
     nearly old enough to cast his vote, is yet "Bébé," despite his
     sponsors having called him Édouard. And "Guisson," his brother, who
     would guess his name to be Émile?

     A little knowledge of creole interiors would correct the ideas so
     prevalent as to creole indolence. Away down here, on a sluggish
     little bayou that makes its way through the plantation to the
     not-far-distant Gulf, these young girls, though not perhaps
     speaking so good English as their Virginia sisters of Anglo-Saxon
     extraction, having learned it rather from the lips of <DW64>
     servants than from their parents, are, at any rate, their peers in
     womanly accomplishments, if practical knowledge of the details of a
     _ménage_ constitutes such--the ability to wash, starch, iron,
     straighten a room, make a gumbo, mix a cake and bake it, etc. The
     very neatly made calico dresses they wear are their own handiwork.
     After five hours spent in the school-room with their
     _institutrice_, and the required time given to the practice of
     their piano, one of them is amusing herself by making a quantity of
     under-clothing for a beloved little _filleule_. A _basse-cour_ of
     about six hundred turkeys, ducks, and chickens is cared for almost
     wholly by the two girls and their mother. Domestic virtues these,
     worthy even of Yankee girls, are they not? Just as much, though, as
     Yankee girls or as Virginia girls do these young Louisianians claim
     their heritage as Americans and their place among your "Young
     People."

  L'INSTITUTRICE.

We have read this letter with great pleasure, and now we would like to
hear from somebody about our Western girls; and the New England girls
too will find a corner waiting if they choose to write.

       *       *       *       *       *

  HARPER, IOWA.

     I can now read all the long stories in YOUNG PEOPLE. I liked "Tim
     and Tip" very much, and think the bear hunt was quite funny. I had
     a pair of white doves given me as a present. One of them, in trying
     to fly through the screen door, broke its neck, and the other flew
     away with some wild ones. So I lost my pets, and was very sorry. I
     am sorry for Jimmy Brown. He makes me think of myself sometimes. My
     sister teaches piano music. My two brothers play in the Cornet
     Band, and I am learning music; so we have plenty of music. We all
     go to school.

  HARPER R.

       *       *       *       *       *

  MANHATTAN, KANSAS.

     I have three brothers and two sisters. This summer we all went to
     New Mexico. We stopped at Las Vegas, and saw the Hot Springs, and
     the water in the springs was so hot that we could not hold our
     hands in it. And we stopped over Sunday at Santa Fe, and saw the
     Corpus Christi procession. We saw a horned toad that ran as fast as
     a horse. We brought back two donkeys, and mine threw me off, and
     broke my two front teeth. Uncle Henry gave us some saddles. Our
     baby is only two months old, and has red hair. I liked "Toby Tyler"
     best of any. I am nine years old. My name is

  MAGGIE P.

       *       *       *       *       *

ROSA MAYFIELD'S LOSS.

     Let me introduce my readers to a bright, sunny-haired girl who on a
     pleasant morning in July is playing in a large garden. She first
     sits down in a pretty little arbor, and sews for a short time; then
     she puts her work away, and goes to plant some seed which old
     James, the gardener, has given her. Suddenly she hears some one
     calling to her from the house.

     "Rosa! Rosa! come here a minute, my child."

     "Yes, mamma," said Rosa; "I will come as soon as I have put away my
     tools."

     When she reached the sitting-room, her mamma was not there, but on
     running to the bedroom, she found her, all dressed to go out, and
     putting on her gloves. As soon as she saw Rosa, she said: "Would
     you like to go to the cattle show with me, dear, and then go to
     your cousins, in the country for tea? The carriage will be round
     presently."

     "Oh yes, indeed I should, mamma," said the little girl, as she
     skipped away to nurse to be dressed.

     "Oh, you darling mamma," said Rosa, as she settled herself in the
     carriage beside her mother. "I always enjoy going to tea with May
     and Clara Haliburton so much! and I have never been to a cattle
     show;" and here she clapped her hands and laughed so loud that her
     mother had to tell her to be quiet, as the passers-by would think
     she must be a very badly behaved little girl.

     At last, they reached the cattle show. Then they got out of the
     carriage, and went inside. There they saw dogs, cats, rabbits, and
     all sorts of animals. Rosa was greatly delighted with a beautiful
     white rabbit with pink eyes.

     After they had seen enough, they drove to the rectory, where the
     Haliburtons lived. After Rosa had said good-afternoon to her aunt,
     May and Clara took her to see the chickens and rabbits, the donkey,
     and all their other pets. Never had she spent such a delightful
     afternoon, and was very sorry when the tea bell rang, and they had
     to go in. But what a tea they had! Muffins, cakes, and preserves of
     all sorts, and such delicious fresh bread and butter, and new milk
     from her uncle's farm. At a quarter to nine the carriage came to
     take them home, and they had to say good-by.

     Rosa was so tired that she fell asleep in her mamma's arms, and
     never woke till the next morning, when she found herself in her own
     little bed.

     In Mrs. Mayfield's room some parcels are waiting, addressed to Miss
     R. Mayfield, one large, and the others small; and as it is Rosa's
     birthday, she is to open them herself. All the small ones are
     opened. In one she finds a gold brooch from her mamma; in another
     is a prayer-book from her father; in the others are presents from
     all her little friends. At last she unties the string and draws off
     the paper of the large parcel, and gives one scream of delight as
     she sees in a beautiful lined basket the little rabbit she saw at
     the cattle show. The lady to whom it belonged, being a friend of
     Mrs. Mayfield, had heard Rosa saying she would like to have it, and
     had sent it to her. Rosa ran off with her new pet to feed it, and
     after showing it to everybody she took it into the garden and put
     it into a cage close by her arbor, in a sunny corner, where she
     could always see it. She kept it carefully for three months; but on
     going to feed it one morning, with her hands full of lettuce leaves
     and clover, she found her pet was gone. A cruel cat had come every
     day and watched her feeding her rabbit, and at last, seeing her
     just pull the door to, and not lock it, had seized the opportunity,
     and had carried off her pet.

     Poor little Rosa cried herself to sleep that night, and for many
     nights after, and never loved any of the pets her mamma gave her as
     she had loved her little white rabbit.

  GUSSIE TOBIAS (aged 10 years),
  Liverpool, England.

       *       *       *       *       *

  OKAHUMPKA, FLORIDA.

     I am a little girl ten years old, and live away down in South
     Florida, where the sun is always bright and the trees always green.
     In our quiet little home there are only mamma, Addie, and I. Our
     dear father is dead. Sister Addie is six years old. We have no
     school, church, nor Sunday-school. Mamma gives us our lessons daily
     at home, and a kind English gentleman gives me music lessons. We do
     not know who sends us the YOUNG PEOPLE, but hope our kind unknown
     friend will see this letter, and learn how much we enjoy the gift
     and appreciate the kindness. I am suffering from sore eyes, and not
     allowed to read or write, so mamma is writing for me; but when I
     get well I will write myself, and tell about our pets and other
     things.

  ROSA M. J.

       *       *       *       *       *

  SCANDIA, KANSAS.

     I have been taking your paper almost a year, and like it very much.
     It was papa's Christmas present to me, so I thought I would write
     you a letter. I have a pet hen. I call her Brownie. She is getting
     old now. She answers me in hen language when I take her up and talk
     to her. I have a canary-bird. I call him Dickey. He is just
     learning to sing.

  LAURA H.

       *       *       *       *       *

  HARLEM, NEW YORK.

     I have had my cat Till seven years. We think he is a very wise cat,
     for he sits upon his hind-legs and begs. When I go down stairs in
     the morning, if I say, "Good-morning, Till," he will shake hands
     with me. He is a very dainty cat. He will not eat roast beef unless
     it is very rare, and he does not care at all for the heads of
     chickens and turkeys; but he loves cheese and crackers, and will
     eat all the cake I will give him. I am eleven years old.

  MABEL M. S.

       *       *       *       *       *

  MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN.

     I have a great many dolls, and a large doll house in the
     conservatory, which I enjoy very much, so I thought you would be
     pleased to have a letter from me. Mrs. Love Lee and her ten
     children live in the large doll house, which is a little taller
     than I am. I am six. The babies Faith, Hope, and Love are triplets.
     I wish we had three live babies. Cozy has two kittens. Cozy is my
     cat. Arthur and Arabella are twins, about in the middle. Blanche is
     the young lady, and Fifine the big school-girl. Rosebud is only six
     inches tall, and her eyes open and shut, and she moves her head and
     arms and legs. Daffodil is just the same, only smaller, and Joe is
     the little boy. Ida takes care of the children in the nursery.
     Dinah is the cook. She is  very much. Chechon sets the
     table, and keeps the dining-room in order. Chechon is a Chinese.
     The twins have a very nice cabinet of shells and stones. I gave
     them some out of mine. Each of the children have something to do to
     help their mamma, just, as I do.

     I go to Kindergarten, and once a week I speak a little piece out of
     _Baby-Land_, or _St. Nicholas_, or HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE, or _The
     Nursery_. I can say all of "The Cat, the Parrot, and the Monkey."
     It is just at the end of my bound HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE. It is
     called "Filbert." That is the best story I know. I like "The Story
     of a Parrot," too, but it would have been better if some one had
     carried him home at last. Papa says he don't see why I like that
     story so well, but he reads it to me 'most every Sunday. He likes
     "Toby Tyler" a great deal better, or even "Tim and Tip." They are
     pretty good too. I don't like story boys as well as I do story
     animals. I like live animals too. Dogs and cats are never afraid of
     me, but will come right to me in the street or anywhere. I found a
     little mud-turtle at Minnehaha Falls, and brought it to papa and
     mamma by its tail, and it played with me a little while, and then I
     carried it back to its cave at the side of the path down the gully.

     This fall I caught a live star-fish, when the tide was coming in,
     down on the beach at Portland, Maine, and we brought it home to put
     in my cabinet when it gets dry enough. It is sticky yet. It is out
     in the wood-shed drying. When we were going there I caught a mouse.
     It ran into its hole in the corner of the dépôt, all but its tail.
     I suppose I took hold too tightly, or else too high up, for he
     turned around and bit my thumb. I wasn't going to hurt him, but
     just to play with him a little while. I wish animals could talk.
     That was at the Montreal dépôt.

     You asked about dolls. I have a doll, about a foot high, wheeling a
     little cart in front of her. When I draw the cart by a string, the
     doll goes trot, trot, trot on behind, and every one I meet turns
     around, and says, "Did you ever see anything so funny?" Uncle Ebb
     found it at Manistee, Michigan, and sent it to me by express.

     Blossom is my very large wax doll. I draw her around the block in
     her carriage every pleasant afternoon. Sometimes Daisy, who is
     almost as large, rides in the front seat. If it is too warm for
     Blossom to go out, Daisy will ride in the back seat, and Charity in
     front. Charity is indestructible and good, but not beautiful.
     Cisily I took with me to Vermont and Boston and Maine, because she
     had never been anywhere. She ought to have a new dress Christmas,
     if Santa Claus only knew it. Joe is just as tall as Cisily. I
     measure them often with my foot-rule. They are once and a half
     tall. They have the same furry hair. They have a very nice
     carriage, and always ride out together. I shall take Joe next. He
     has never been anywhere yet, but Cisily wore his overcoat and
     rubbers East, and took his little knife I in her pocket. He thought
     she might want it to whittle in Vermont or Boston. Uncle Ebb often
     helps me play, and speaks for the dolls. I am all there is here of
     children.

     I have a good many more dolls. There is a small doll house full,
     and Mother Goose with her shoe full of them, and some of the
     children in the doll houses have dolls for themselves. The
     "log-cabin" has a family in that. The "Swiss cottage" has only
     wooden people. The frame house has twelve children. I like large
     families. They are more convenient for the children. Mamma reads
     your letters to me. I could read them, but they are printed so fine
     it is hard to read. I am in the Second Reader, and the same words
     are easy to read in that. I read a lesson every day in the
     connecting class, after Kindergarten is over at noon. I read,
     spell, write, and draw about fifteen minutes each, and am home to
     dinner at one. Then come the kitties and dolls.

  NELLIE B.

       *       *       *       *       *

  SAYBROOK, CONNECTICUT.

     I see you want to know whether dolls have gone out of style. No, I
     think not. I am eleven years old. I was very sick when I was six
     years old, and have not been able to walk since except in braces. I
     have a rolling-chair that I am wheeled in when out-doors, and I
     have many nice times with my dolls. I have eight of them. I think
     YOUNG PEOPLE is very nice. I hope this is not too long to be
     printed, as it is my first letter to any paper. I have eight pets.

  BELLE M. I.

       *       *       *       *       *

     I want to tell you about my little dog. He is a black and tan, and
     is so cute. He will speak, sit on his hind-legs and beg, and catch
     anything thrown to him. His name is Bijon.

     I will send twenty-five rare foreign stamps for ten gilt picture
     advertising cards, and give twelve internal revenue stamps for five
     gilt picture cards. One $2 stamp; nine $1; a 30 cent, 50, 25, 20,
     15; two 10, two 5, and one 2 cent stamp. Please give your full
     address when you send cards. My name is

  NELLIE MASON, P. O. Box 636,
  Madison, Wisconsin.

       *       *       *       *       *

  HILL VIEW, KENTUCKY.

     My teacher gave me YOUNG PEOPLE as a prize for being a good
     scholar. Ma raised about one hundred turkeys this year, and I
     raised twelve guinea-fowl with them. I like the paper very much. I
     am always glad when Saturday comes.

  CARRIE MCK.

       *       *       *       *       *

  SOUTH NORWALK, CONNECTICUT.

     I am sorry the girl in South Glastenbury does not like cats. If she
     knew my cat, I think she would like him. My brother caught fifty
     little fish for him, each about as long as my little finger. After
     he had eaten twenty-five, he could scarcely eat any more, but would
     not let us take them away, as he wanted to play with them.
     Sometimes he goes to the door, and asks us to let him come up
     stairs, when he gets into my doll's bed, pulls the sheet off her,
     and gets close to her. When she sits up in a chair, he gets in her
     lap. He does not like to hear the noise made by dishes, so, when
     they are washed, he mews till they are done. My brother plagued him
     once, and Kit ran to the door, and stopped a minute to consider,
     then ran back, and struck him with his paws. He is lazy, but you
     need not put that in YOUNG PEOPLE.

  JESSIE B.

A puss that has fifty fish offered him at once is quite excusable for
being lazy. We think he is a very interesting cat.

       *       *       *       *       *

  OAKDALE, PENNSYLVANIA.

     Papa gave me a male canary about two years ago, and last spring my
     uncle gave my sister a female, and we thought we would try to raise
     some little birds. The mother bird laid five eggs, and they all
     hatched and grew to be big birds, were very tame, and we used to
     carry them around the room, and let them ride in our dolls'
     coaches. She laid five eggs again, but we only raised three more
     birds. They are all singers. We have seven cats--Polly, Beauty,
     Tom, Milly, Pussy, Harry, and Lottie. Polly is a Maltese. Our dog
     is named Friskie. I am ten years old.

  MARY E. D.

       *       *       *       *       *

  PINE BEND, MINNESOTA.

     I thought I would tell you about some hens we had when I was four
     or five years old. One would come in the pantry, if the window was
     left open, and lay her egg in a pan of eggs on the shelf. Another
     was determined to make her nest up stairs, and we did not dare
     leave the front-door open. Another hen laid three times in the
     wood-box in the kitchen, in spite of being driven out many times.

  MARY M.

       *       *       *       *       *

  DENVER, COLORADO.

     I like the paper real well, and the little letters too. My mamma
     reads 'em to us, 'cause we can't read ourselves. Grandpapa sent it
     to brother and me last New-Year's. My dolly I like so much! She has
     nice clothes, and the dearest little button boots and stockings
     what come off; and I have lovely dishes. Grandpapa sent 'em to me.
     I have lots of nice times with my things, but there are too many to
     tell about. We had a nice time at a birthday party Saturday. I just
     started to school this fall. I will be seven years old to-morrow.
     Mamma "finks" my letter pretty nearly too long now, so I won't
     write any more. I'll try and not be "'spointed" if you can't print
     it, 'cause you have so many letters. Mamma's writing for me.
     Good-by.

  NELLIE D.

     I am Charlie, Nellie's brother. I like all the stories so well, I
     can't tell which I like best. We can see the mountains from our
     doors and windows just as plain all the time, only when it's
     stormy. My kitty got up in mamma's lap at table the other day, and
     wanted to eat out of her plate. I had a live frog in a pail. One
     morning I went to school, and forgot to fill up the pail, and just
     as I came from school kitty had him. He killed him, and was going
     to eat him. I took him away, and gave him to the chickens, and
     _spanked_ Sam--that's my kitty's name; I named him for grandpapa. I
     will be nine years old April 3, but it's so hard to write. Good-by.

  CHARLES FRED D.

       *       *       *       *       *

  BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

     I am eleven years old, and I save the pennies I get for doing
     errands to buy HARPER'S. I earned four dollars this season to help
     papa buy me a winter suit. I have been to Boston, and would like to
     live there all the time. I have only one sister, and she is my pet.
     She has a little white bantam hen for her pet. I have nine aunts,
     and I am going to write to them all some day, and send them one of
     my _Harper's Magazines_. Mamma wrote this letter, but I told her
     what to say. Good-by, from

  DANIEL A.

       *       *       *       *       *

C. Y. P. R. U.

The Postmistress is very happy to give the readers of Our Post-office
Box the pleasure of reading a description of the little yacht _Toby
Tyler_, now cruising in Southern waters:

     DEAR "YOUNG PEOPLE,"--The _Toby Tyler_, named after the hero of
     Mr. Otis's most successful story, is a very small steamer, being
     only about forty-five feet in length, and drawing but three feet of
     water. She was built so small and of such light draught because it
     is intended that she shall explore most of the rivers on the west
     coast of Florida, some of which are very shallow. Perhaps she will
     go farther than Florida, and explore a country that abounds in
     material for interesting adventures and thrilling stories.

     As the _Toby_ is so small, she can not go away out to sea and
     around Cape Hatteras, like the great steam-ships that carry
     passengers to Florida. She has to take what is known as the "inland
     passage."

     After leaving her dock at the foot of West Twenty-ninth Street, in
     New York, the _Toby_ steamed down the North or Hudson River until
     she passed the Battery. Then she was in the Upper Bay. Crossing
     this, and turning to the westward, she steamed along the north
     shore of Staten Island, through the broad river-like body of water
     called the Kill Von Kull. Passing New Brighton and the Sailors'
     Sung Harbor and Elizabethport, through the Arthur Kill and Staten
     Island Sound, both continuations of the Kill Von Kull, the _Toby_
     reached Perth Amboy, and turned into the Raritan River, which here
     empties into Raritan Bay.

     The Raritan River is so shallow and so crooked that the yacht
     proceeded very slowly and carefully for seventeen miles, until she
     reached New Brunswick. Here she entered the Delaware and Raritan
     Canal, and found herself in company with great numbers of heavy
     canal-boats drawn by mules or horses. The canal in which the little
     _Toby_ now sailed runs through a very beautiful portion of New
     Jersey, and her passengers enjoyed travelling on it very much. They
     especially enjoyed going through the locks, always in company with
     some other craft, which was sometimes a canal-boat, sometimes
     another steamer, with sometimes a big schooner, whose tall masts
     and white sails looked very funny among the trees on the canal
     banks.

     The principal places that the _Toby_ passed while in the canal were
     Bound Brook, Princeton, Trenton, and Bordentown. At the last-named
     place she passed through the last of the twelve locks, and having
     had forty-three miles of canal sailing, steamed gladly out into the
     broad Delaware River.

     A run of twenty-nine miles down this beautiful river brought her to
     Philadelphia, where she rested for a few days, and gave her
     passengers time to get acquainted with this dear old city, in which
     so many of the readers of HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE live.

     On leaving Philadelphia the _Toby_ steamed merrily down the
     Delaware for forty miles to Delaware City, in the State of
     Delaware, where she entered the Delaware and Chesapeake Canal,
     which connects the Delaware River with Chesapeake Bay. This canal
     is only fourteen miles long, and has but two locks, one at each
     end, so that the little yacht, soon found herself at Chesapeake
     City, in the State of Maryland, and at the southern end of the
     canal.

     After an all day's run down the upper end of Chesapeake Bay, the
     _Toby_ entered the Patapsco River, and steamed up to Baltimore,
     where she landed her passengers in time to witness the great Oriole
     Celebration.

     Then she went back down the Patapsco and again into Chesapeake Bay.
     This bay is so wide that it is almost as rough and stormy at times
     as the sea itself, and the poor little _Toby_ had a very hard time,
     and was roughly handled by the great waves before the pleasant
     Wednesday morning when she turned into the broad mouth of the York
     River, and dropped anchor amongst the big ships in front of
     Yorktown. As the little boat ran in between two of the great war
     ships, they began firing guns and banging away at such a furious
     rate that in a few moments not only the poor little _Toby_ but they
     themselves were completely enveloped in a dense cloud of smoke. In
     a few minutes those on board the _Toby_ learned that the government
     steamer _Dispatch_, with President Arthur on board, had just
     arrived, and that all this firing of guns was only a salute to him,
     as though the big ships had said, "How do you do, Mr. President? We
     are very glad to welcome you to Yorktown."

     After leaving this place the _Toby_ went back down the York River
     into Chesapeake Bay again, and for a short distance out into the
     ocean, before steaming past the grim walls of Fortress Monroe and
     into Hampton Roads.

     Without stopping to see the fort or the Indian schools at Hampton,
     the _Toby_ hurried on, and an hour later sailed into the quiet
     harbor of Norfolk, at the mouth of the Elizabeth River.

     The upper deck or cabin roof of the _Toby Tyler_ extends nearly
     over her entire length, so that, though small, she can be made very
     comfortable in any weather. Her cabin, which is also dining-room
     and sleeping-room for four, is back of the engine-room, and
     occupies the whole of the after-part of the yacht. Her engine is in
     the middle, right under the smoke-stack, and forward of this is the
     cockpit, of which the sides are open except when inclosed by heavy
     canvas storm curtains. Here, in very warm weather, hammocks can be
     slung at night, in which the passengers may sleep.

     On the upper deck is a light cedar canoe--the _Psyche_--with
     paddles, masts, and sails, intended for exploring rivers and lakes
     that are too shallow for the _Toby_, and beside the canoe is lashed
     a good-sized tent with its poles, so that when Mr. Otis and his
     friends tire of living on board the yacht, they can, if they
     choose, establish a camp on shore.

     In various lockers on the yacht, besides the baggage of her
     passengers and crew, and the coal, are stored four hundred pounds
     of canned provisions and fruits, a tool chest, medicine chest,
     ammunition chest, blankets, writing and sketching materials, books,
     charts, etc.

  CAPTAIN C. K. M.

       *       *       *       *       *

THE POET COWPER.

     William Cowper was born November 26, 1731, in Hertfordshire.
     England. His mother died before he was six years old. He was sent
     to a school where he suffered a great deal from the teasing of the
     other boys. He had an affection of the eyes, and so he was placed
     at an oculist's house, where he had smallpox, and that cured his
     eyes. After that he became a clerk in a lawyer's office, and
     studied for admission to the bar. The strain on his mind was too
     great, and he sought relief by trying to commit suicide by hanging.
     In this he did not succeed. A friend placed him in the country,
     where, after skillful treatment, he recovered from the fits of
     mental depression that he was subject to. He was fickle and
     inconstant to friends, but loving and kind to his pets. He had
     three leverets, or hares, given to him, and in these he found much
     amusement, for he was sick, and wanted something to occupy his
     mind. The hares were males, and their names were Puss, Tiney, and
     Bess. He built them a house, and each had his own bedroom to sleep
     in. Puss lived to be eleven years old, Tiney to be nine, and Bess
     died soon after Cowper received him. The poetry about the chair is
     found in the "Task," and is called "The Sofa." Cowper died in the
     town of East Durham, on Friday, the 25th of April, 1800, and was
     buried in St. Edmund's Chapel, in the church of East Durham.

  EDNA L. MAYNARD.

This little description of the poet Cowper is very creditable to its
writer, who is only eleven years old. But the Postmistress must disagree
with her in the opinion that he was inconstant and fickle as a friend.

       *       *       *       *       *

In this number we begin the publication of a series of articles
calculated to be of especial interest to the members of the
C. Y. P. R. U. They are from the pen of the popular English novelist Mr.
James Payn, and, under the head of "Perils and Privations," deal with
stories of fact relating to shipwreck more thrilling than any tales of
fictitious adventure.

       *       *       *       *       *

PUZZLES FROM YOUNG CONTRIBUTORS.

No. 1.

HISTORICAL ENIGMA.

  I am a celebrated document, and am composed of eleven letters.
  My first was one of the decisive battles of the world, and was fought
      between the Greeks and Persians.
  My second was a very great warrior, who could not govern himself,
      though he conquered the world.
  My third was a humane physician who invented an instrument of cruelty.
  My fourth was a great philosopher and mathematician.
  My fifth came over in the _Mayflower_.
  My sixth was a young hero celebrated by an English poetess.
  My seventh was a blind poet whom seven cities claimed for their own.
  My eighth was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.
  My ninth was a great artist.
  My tenth is a distinguished living poet.
  My eleventh met a disgraceful death in the Revolutionary war.

  SUSAN NIPPER.

       *       *       *       *       *

No. 2.

TWO EASY DIAMONDS.

1.--Centrals.--A famous battle in the Revolution.

1. A letter. 2. A weapon. 3. A sort of knife. 4. Spectral. 5. The
conclusion. 6. A letter.

  W. D. M.

2.--1. A letter. 2. Devoured. 3. Orbs of light. 4. A period. 5. A
letter.

  E. W.

       *       *       *       *       *

No. 3.

NUMERICAL ENIGMA.

  The whole, of 14 letters, is a city in Europe.
  My 8, 2, 7 is a weight.
  My 14, 6, 8, 11, 10 is an American city.
  My 1, 6, 3, 5, 2, 3 is a Chinese city.
  My 12, 9, 4, 5, 2, 13 is a small fire-arm.

  DAMON AND PYTHIAS.

       *       *       *       *       *

ANSWERS TO PUZZLES IN No. 105.

No. 1.

  P I L O T        D
  I V A N        N E D
  L A C        D E B A R
  O N            D A M
  T                R

No. 2.

            F
          S A D
        S I R E D
      S T R I P E S
    S I R E N I C A L
  F A R I N A C E O U S
    D E P I C T I N G
      D E C E I V E
        S A O N E
          L U G
            S

No. 3.

Valhalla.

No. 4.

"John Burns of Gettysburg."

No. 5.

            D
          S E R
        D A T E S
      D E L E T E S
    S A L E R A T U S
  D E T E R M I N E R S
    R E T A I N E R S
      S E T N E S S
        S U E R S
          S R S
            S

       *       *       *       *       *

Correct answers to puzzles have been received from M. E. S., Willie
Volckhausen, "North Star," Frank S. Davis, Nannie Francis, Charles Beck,
Emma Rose A., Lucy Cox, John D. Smith, Kittie E. Gill, Henry E.
Johnston, Jun., James R. Magoffin, Clara H. Tower, Annetta D. Jackson,
and Calvin Rufus Morgan.

       *       *       *       *       *

[_For Exchanges, see second and third pages of cover._]




[Illustration: THE REAL WAY TO CELEBRATE THANKSGIVING, ACCORDING TO THE
VIEWS OF OUR ESTEEMED FELLOW-CITIZENS G. OBBLER, ESQ., MESSRS. T. URKEY,
C. APON, D. UCK, R. OOSTER, AND MANY OTHERS.]




LETTER PUZZLES.


1.

  Two S's, two N's, four E's, and a T,
  Put together, and pray spell the word unto me.

2.

  One R and two S's, three A's and one U,
  Three N's and four T's and two I's, add unto
  One O and one B, and tell me, I pray,
  What word they will make if put in the right way.

3.

  Four S's, four I's, two P's and an M,
  What word can you easily make out of them?

4.

  Three E's and two M's, two R's and one B,
  Put down in right order, what word shall you see?




ANSWER TO YORKTOWN PUZZLE.


BELOW will be found the answer to the Yorktown Puzzle, given in No. 103,
page 816:

NAMES OF ARTICLES (19).

  N egro.
  I mp.
  N uts.
  E nsigns.
  T eeth.
  E lm.
  E wers.
  N est.
  T rays.
  H andle.

  O tter.
  F lags.

  O ats.
  C hairs.
  T ail.
  O ak.
  B ats.
  E ave.
  R amrod.

MILITARY MEN (16).

  Steuben.
  Lee.
  Ward.
  Marion.
  Stark.
  Gates.
  Smith.
  Greene.
  St. Clair.
  Stevens.
  Gist.
  Thomas.
  Poor.
  Arnold.
  Nash.
  Lafayette.




[Illustration: UNHAPPY THOUGHT.

TOMMY. "I mean to be an Astronomer when I grow up!"

EFFIE. "What on earth will you do with yourself all Day long?"]





End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Harper's Young People, November 22,
1881, by Various

*** 