 Section 1 of Harper's Young People, Volume 1, Issue 20, March 16, 1880. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Harper's Young People, Volume 1, Issue 20, March 16, 1880. Across the Ocean, or a Boy's First Voyage, Chapter 2. Begun in No. 19 of Harper's Young People, March 9. Across the Ocean, or a Boy's First Voyage, a true story by J. O. Davidson, Chapter 2, The Furnace Room. At Frank Lane Awake he would have seen a curious sight, for there are a few more picturesque scenes than the forecastal interior of an ocean steamer at night, lit by the fitful gleam of its swinging lamp. This grim-looking man, fumbling in his breast as if for the ever-ready knife or pistol, must be dreaming of some desperate struggle by his set teeth and hard breathing. That huge scar on the face of the gaunt, sallow figure beside him, whose soiled red shirt and matted beard would just suit the foreground of a Nevada gully, might tell a strange tale. That handsome, statuesque countenance yonder, again faultless but for the sinister gleam of his restless eyes. What can it be doing among these coarse, uncultivated men, not one of them, can tell why they should all shrink from it as they do? What a study for a pirate any artist might make of this shaggy, black-caired giant, whose lion-like head is hanging over the side of his bunk. His weather-beaten face looks hard as a pine knot, but a child would run to him at once, recognizing with its own unerring instinct the tender heart hidden beneath that rough outside. Next to him lies a trim slender lad who looks as if he knew more of Latin and Greek than of reefing and splicing, and whose curly brown head some fond mother has doubtless caressed many a time. It here he is, an unknown sailor before the mast, with all his gifts wasted, and doom perhaps to sink lower still. But these are the exceptions. The majority are sailors of the ordinary type, careless, light-hearted, improvident, never looking beyond the present moment, content to accept the first job that turns up, and quite satisfied with the day's food and a shirt to their backs. Some are coiled up on lockers and spare sails, others sleeping off their last night's spree on the bare planks, and rolling over and over with every plunge of the vessel. Woo, what a stream of cold air comes rushing down the hatchway as it opens to let in the deck watch, glad enough to get below again out of the cold and wet. There shouts as they dash the brine from their beards and jackets, and chaff the comrades who are unwillingly turning out to relieve them. Browse Frank, who for a moment could hardly make out where he is, then it all flashes upon him, and he tumbles up and goes on deck. Certainly if anyone ever could feel dismal at sea, it would be during the hour before dawn, the most cheerless and uncomfortable of the whole twenty-four. After spending the night in a lively game of cup and ball, with yourself for the ball, and an amazingly hard wooden bunk for the cup, you crawl on deck, bruised and aching from top to toe, while gazing upon the inspiring landscape of gray fog and slaty blue sea. You suddenly feel a stream of cold water splashy into your boots, while an unfeeling sailor gruffly asks why in thunder you can't get out of the way. Spring hastily aside, you break your shins over a spar which seems to have been put there on purpose, and get up only to be instantly thrown down again by a lee lurch of the ship amid the drice of laughter of the deck watch. Meanwhile, a shower of half melted snow insinuates itself in your eyes and up your sleeves and down the back of your neck. In all this, joined to the agonizing thought that it will be at least two hours before you can get any breakfast, speedily fills you with a rooted hatred of everything and everybody on board the ship. Well, my poor Frank, contrasting his dismal surroundings with the comfortable rooms and piping hot breakfasts of his forsaken home, begin to think that he had made a fool of himself. But he choked down the feeling as unworthy of a man, and tried to turn his thoughts by watching the two quartermasters at the wheel, who were straining every muscle to keep the ship's head to the mountain waves that burst over the bow every moment with the shock of a battering ram. Breakfast came at last, but was not very satisfactory when it did. The old saying of salt horse and hard tack exactly described the food, and Frank, eating with one hand while clinging desperately to the long, narrow table with the other, had quite enough to do in keeping his knife from running into his eye and himself from going head over heels on the floor. And every plunge below the waterline, the mess room, already dim enough, became almost dark, while the faces of the men looked as green and ghastly as a band of demons in a pantomime. And to crowd all, one of Frank's neighbors suddenly sent a tremendous splash of grease right over him, coolly remarking, Now, Greeny, you won't get hurt if you fall overboard. Isle comes the water, you know. At which all the rest laughed, and Frank felt worse than a murderer. Breakfast over, our hero was told off to go below with a fireman. Down he went, through one narrow hole after another, past deck after deck of iron grating. Down, down, down, till at last as he emerged from a dark passageway, very startling scene burst upon him. Long either side of the long, narrow passage, the iron walls of which sloped inward overhead, gape the row of huge furnace mouths, sending out a quivering glare of intense heat, increased by the mounds of red high coals that heaped the iron floor. Amid this chaos, several huge black figures, stripped to the waist, with wet claws around their sooty faces, were fleeing cold into the furnaces, were stirring the fires with long iron rakes, now standing out gaunt and grim in the red blaze, now vanishing into the eddies of hissing steam tossed about by the stream of cold air from funnel-like wind-sail, serving as a ventilator. His shovel was thrust into Frank Austin's hand, and he was set to keep the doorway clear of the coal that came tumbling in it from the bunkers where the coal-evers were at work. In this way he labored till noon, and then with blistered hands and aching back, crawled up the iron ladder, worn out, grimy, and half dazed to his dinner. But what a dinner for Christmas Day, though appetizing turkey and plum pudding, eaten in the midst of loving faces and merry talk and laughter. Nothing but coarse salt junk and hard-chip biscuit hastily snatched among rough, unsympathetic men who neither knew nor cared anything about him, and as soon as the meal was over, back again to his weary toil in the coal bunker, which was faded, however, to be cut short in a way that he little expected. For a time he worked away manfully, but the heat of the room and the monotony of his occupation combined to make him careless. Little by little his thoughts wandered away to his pleasant home beside the Hudson, and the little garden patch where he used to work, and the cozy fire, and the ashes of which he and his brothers roasted their chestnuts, and look out there! The warning cry came too late. There was a sudden shock, a deafening crash, and poor Frank was seen lying on his back senseless, and half buried beneath the huge heap of coal that blocked the doorway. To be continued. End of Section 1. Section 2 of Harper's Young People, Volume 1, Issue 20, March 16, 1880. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Harper's Young People, Volume 1, Issue 20, March 16, 1880. Section 2. What the Boys and Girls Played 2000 Years Ago by Hattie B. Crafts Do you ever think about the little boys and girls who lived so long ago? Well, in the celebrated country of Greece, they were as fond of sports as children of the present day. Only they had not so many wonderful toys made for them as are manufactured now. But could we look back upon them at some of their sports? We should find them very happy children, and it might surprise you to know how many games have been played century after century, and are still played and enjoyed today. The babies had their rattles and bright colored balls. The children, their hoops and balls and what we call blind man's bluff was a favorite game among them. Perhaps you know about the old giant Polyphemus, who was master of a race of one-eyed giants and who devoured the Greeks that were around his cave until they seceded and putting out his eye and how he still groped around and endeavored to find them, but in vain. Well, the boys and girls of Greece used to represent this story by the very game of blind man's bluff. The one blindfolded was called Polyphemus, and the others would hide and pretend they were the Greeks whom he was to find. Another way of playing this game was for the children to run round about the blindfolded person and one of them touch him. He could tell correctly who it was, the two exchange places. In Athens and in other cities and towns as well, you might almost any day see a whole group of children hopping along on one foot as though the other was hurt. But no is only for fun as every child of every nation knows of seeing who could hop the farthest. Sometimes one boy would be allowed the use of both his feet and the others would try to overtake him by hopping on only one foot. And for those who could do this it was counted a great victory. In one of their games they set up a stone called the Diorae and each of the players was to stand at a certain distance from it and in turn throw stones at it. But the one who missed had rather a difficult task to perform. For the rule of the game was that he must be blindfolded and carry the successful player around on his back until he could go directly from the standing point to the Diorae. A sport not requiring quite so much skill and one which many of you have perhaps practiced consisted in setting a stick upright in the soil whenever it was loose and moist and trying to dislodge it by throwing other sticks at it, keeping of course at a certain distance. Who will attempt to enumerate the many games played by a ring of children running about one foot in the center? There must be a wonderful charm about them. So much are they played by both boys and girls in every country. Whether little Sally Waters had her origin in Greece I will not pretend to say but we do know that games were played in a similar manner. Here are some enjoyed especially by the boys. One boy sat on the ground and the others forming themselves into a ring ran round him one of them hitting him as they went. If the boy in the center could seize upon the one who struck him the captive took his place. This did very well for the smaller boys but the older ones had an arrangement a little in advance of it. The one in the center was to move about with a pot on his head holding it with his left hand and the others running around would strike him and cry who has the pot? To which he replied, I might as trying all the time to reach one of them with his foot and the first one touch was obliged to carry the pot in his turn. One of the most interesting games and one which you would all enjoy was the twirling of the Ostracan. A line was drawn on the ground and the group of boys separated into two parties a small earthenware disc having one side black and the other white was brought forward and each party chose a side black or white. It was then twirled along the line the one throwing a crying night or day the black side representing night and the white day. The party whose side came up was called victorious and ran after the others who fled in all directions. The first one caught was styled ass and was obliged to sit down the game proceeding without him and so it was continued until the whole number were caught this was excellent exercise and often played by the hour together. A favorite game among the girls was played with five little balls or pebbles and endeavored to catch many on the back of the hand or between the fingers of course some of them would often fall to the ground but these they were allowed to pick up provided they did so with the fingers of the same hand on which the others rested which required considerable skill. The French girls have a very pretty game of this which is played with five little glass balls. We must not omit the ancestors of Punch and Judy who lived in these early times who were probably under different names but however they were called they were just as queer looking a family and their arms would move their shoulders shrugged their eyes rolled and their feet cut as strange capers as those of their descendants and I have no doubt afforded the little ones and perhaps some older persons as much pleasure than as now. Garden lore Every child who has gardening tools should learn by heart his gardening rules he who owns a gardening spade should be able to dig the depth of its blade he who owns a gardening rake should know what to leave and what to take he who owns a gardening hoe must be sure how he means his strokes to go but he who owns a gardening fork may make it do all the other tools work though to shift or to pot or annex what you can atrouse the tool for child woman or man the robber bluebird by a little girl. Once upon a time there lived in a beautiful house two little brothers called John and Harry and they were almost always very good boys but one day they got angry at each other and they looked just like two turkey goblers their faces were so red and they blustered about so John declared that he would thrash Harry and Harry made faces at John and dared him to fight What do you think all the quarrel was about? Why nothing but a little piece of cake that the cook had given to Harry now just as they were going to strike one another they saw a beautiful bluebird with a lovely crest upon its head fly down into the yard and pick up a large worm it was just going to fly off with it when another bird just like himself dived down and tried to take the worm from the one that had first found it before the two brothers could say a word the birds were flying at each other and tearing off their beautiful crests and coats Harry and John stood watching them and quite forgot that they had a fight on hand of their own just as the naughty bird that was trying to rob his brother bluebird had seized the worm it was about to fly away with it there was a sudden rush in flash and pussycat ran under the house with a wicket little robber tight between her teeth and the other bird trembling with fear flew up into a tree to rest Oh John cried Harry just think if that had been you and me and the lion had come and carried one of us off and ate us up only only it would not have been you Harry he would have carried me off because it was I began the quarrel Cook gave you the cake and I wanted to take it from you just like the robber bluebird did let us kiss and be friends Harry yes and you can have half of my cake John and I hope my little boys will never do so again said mama who had been watching and heard all and years after when John and Harry were away from their mama and home they often reminded each other of the lesson they had learned from the fate of the robber bluebird dreaming he is dreaming guess of what now well I guess that in his hand is a marble such a beauty and he dreams of wonderland dreams a dream of giants rolling giant marbles oh such fun see he smiles for his seed one bigger brighter than the sun and a section two section three of Harper's young people volume one issue 20 March 16 1880 this is a LibriVox recording or LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Catherine Phipps Harper's young people volume one issue 20 March 16 1880 champion by Mrs. L. G. Moores Hetty had five brothers and sisters and championed the doc felt that he had too much to do there were plenty of people in the cottage at Lennox where they lived in summer to take care of the children but there is a certain sort of responsibility which dogs of good sound character are not willing to entrust to anybody the baby was always with his mother or nurse and champion found it easy to take care of the other little ones for they were not allowed to venture outside of the garden gate and if that were carelessly left open he had only to station himself in front of it and to gently tumble them over on the grass if they attempted to pass through it he had never hurt them and their mother thought that they could not be under any better protection than that of good old faithful Cham but Hetty who was seven years old and Rudolph who was nine worried the dog terribly and caused him to wear almost a perpetual scowl of anxiety upon his face he evidently looked upon them as not old enough to be trusted by themselves and it was a serious annoyance to him that they were too big to be rolled over on the grass and so kept within the limits of the garden one lovely summer morning Hetty was missing she had run away with a beautiful right plum which her cousin Francis had picked in order to show her that the bloom upon it was exactly the colour of old greylock in the distance so she climbed the nearest hill to compare the colours of the mountain and the plum looking away over the valley the child saw too much beauty all at once clasping her hands behind her she took in a long sweet breath of morning air and did not know what it was that filled her whole soul with joy she laughed aloud up at the clear sky and spreading her arms as if they were the wings of a bird she ran down the hillside oh there were so many robins and butterflies flew around her in little clouds the fields were like fairyland they were so full of flowers she picked baby daisies and put them inside of the wild carrot heads not in blossom yet which grew in the shape of nests when she climbed over a stone wall to the road a squirrel ran across her path into the woods on the opposite side there she whispered softly maybe I can find his hole and she ran after him it was a great pity that champion had so much to do that morning when dinner was ready and no hetty appeared Rudy called the dog and asked Cham, where's Hetty? champion whined piteously and looked first down the road then up at Rudy and then down the road again come and eat some dinner Rudy said his mother shading her eyes and looking anxiously toward the woods Hetty will feel hungry and come home soon now but she looked proudly after Rudy when he clapped his hat on with a thump and said never you mind about me mother I'll eat more if I find Het first and went racing after champion who bounded over the ground as if he meant to run all the way to the mountain at the edge of the woods Rudy waited and whistled to Cham hold on maybe she's hiding and for a while he looked about the laurel bushes in the places where they were accustomed to play and sang lustily I'll go no more roving with thee fair maid but after a while he ceased his singing and answered one of champion's whines by ramming his hands in his pockets and saying looky here Cham if anything has happened to Het I'll the thought brought such a film over his honest brown eyes that he had to rub his cuff over them as well enough to go on with his search fortunately dogs don't cry tears and champion's eyes seem to grow brighter as Rudy's grew dim he seemed to say to himself if Rudy is going to give up and cry about it I've got to take matters into my own hands Hetty's got to be found and I can't waste my time waiting for a boy to get the better of his feelings he oughtn't to have any feelings until after our business has settled and champion gave Rudy's boot a lick and rest away alone Rudy dried his eyes and had no more idea than the dog had of giving up the search dogs are just as apt to misunderstand boys as boys are to misunderstand dogs Rudy ran over woods and fields up and down the neighbouring hills calling Hetty and champion whistling and shouting until he was horse he could not find Hetty and champion did not return after a while I'll give it to Cham for running away from me just when I want him to help me find Hetty but his anger melted into grief when the terrible thought came that perhaps some dreadful thing had happened to his sister once he lay down flat upon his face and cried aloud at the sudden memory of how he had teased her that very morning by running away with one of her doll's shoes which he had only just that moment switched out of his pocket in a few moments however he jumped up again looked at the little shoe tenderly and tied it carefully in a corner of his handkerchief saying there, I'll give it back the minute I find her and I'll fix her something for the baby house to make up he started off once more this time without stopping to think where Hetty would be likely to go only rushing about in a sort of desperate way calling her by name and shouting for Cham he stopped on top of a high hill on the ledge and looked down the steep side of it a moment Hark! he certainly heard the whine of a dog he clambered down a little way and called his loudest the dog's whine answered him again with a new hope in his heart he called and listened until the whine grew louder and louder and he recognised Cham's bark catching at branches, stumbling, sliding and blundering he made his way down the hillside until suddenly the dog's bark reached his ears and at last there farther round the side on a ledge just where a light motion would send her rolling down a steep declivity lay Hetty and champion stanch, old champion sat up right before her like a brave, resolute soldier on guard pricking up his ears barking loud in answer to Rudy's calls his body quivering all over and his feet restless on the ground but Rudy knew that Hetty could roll no farther and that champion would sit there until help came he did not wait to awaken Hetty but climbing to her he patted Cham on the head and bade him watch her till he returned then he planted a rough, glad, boyish kiss on her unconscious cheek and hurried home as he had never hurried in his life before the mother's pride in her boy that night made her face shine as she sat by Hetty who lay on the sofa on her body because of her ankle which was slightly sprained and she said nothing about the chips Rudy was making against all regulations on the floor as he was whittling into shape a bench for Hetty's doll's kitchen I'll tell you what though Hetty said Rudy when you want to go off again to see whether mountains are plum coloured or not you'd better take somebody along who knows that a carrot weeds a flower and that stumps and stones like me you know he said winking comically at Hetty who won't mistake a frightened squirrel for the king of the brown elves off on a hunting spree or for anything else that never was born except inside of your topsy-turvy head Hetty laughed and blushed rosy red I guess I won't she said but if you had found yourself Rudy sliding and tumbling and running like lightning down that hill you'd been topsy-turvy for once and I don't know which is the funniest to faint away or to wake up and find Cham licking me dear good darling Cham I never will go away again without Cham Champion licked Rudy's face as he and the boy rolled over on the rug together and blinked at both the children as if he understood and quite approved of Hetty's good resolution End of section 3 Section 4 of Harper's Young People Volume 1 Issue 20 March 16, 1880 This is a LibriVox recording or LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Catherine Phipps Harper's Young People Volume 1 Issue 20 March 16, 1880 The Little Ships of the Water Streets by James B. Marshall A jolly uncle of certain Venetian girls and boys comes home from China and says Hurrah children, let's go take a ride and have a good time They don't imagine it will be in an open carriage behind swift-footed horses They would think of a beautiful little ship about 30 feet long four or five wide and as light as a cork called a gondola which means little ship It would be painted black with a gondola and the prowl would be ornamented with a high, halber-shaped steel piece burnished to a dazzling letter The steel prowl would act as a counterbalance to their rower who would stand on the after-end and row with his face in the direction they wished to be taken The rollox would be simply a notched stick and he would row with one long oar pushing swiftly along He would row so gracefully and easily and easily You would change your mind, however after the laughable experience of rowing yourself overboard several times and admit that rowing a gondola requires no small skill It was the people called the Veneti who, more than a thousand years ago settled Venice and invented these little ships The 15,000 houses of Venice are built on a cluster of islands over 100 in number and divided by nearly 150 canals or water streets However, one may visit any part of the city without the aid of a gondola as the islands are joined together by 378 bridges and between the houses lead narrow crooked passages many not wider than the width of one's outspread arms The canals are salt and offer at high tide fine saltwater bathing as most of the houses rise immediately from the water not an uncommon sight at certain hours to see a gentleman or his children walk down his front door steps arrayed for bathing and take a header from the lower step That sounds very funny but to the Venetians such proceedings are quite a matter of course In the lagoon around the city are numerous exasperating sand islands exposed to view at low tide the amateur gondolia seeks this lagoon with its clumsy rowing and often, right in the midst of his getting the knack of it the tide leaves him stuck fast on a sand island to wait for its return Accepting the grand canal the canals are narrow and make innumerable sharp turns so that it requires more skill to steer a gondola than it does to row if such a thing is possible The gondoliers display great skill in both rowing and steering they are always always warning each other of their intentions by certain peculiar cries During Venice's prosperity gondola regattas were held and were events of great pomp and display they took place on the grand canal when the whole city gathered on its banks or in many gondolas on its surface and what with the music the display of flags and banners and the bright coloured clothing of the colour loving people the spectacle certainly must have presented the prizes were money and champion flags and with the lowest was also given a life pig a little pleasantry corresponding to the leather medal in American contests Once a year the doge or chief ruler of Venice and his officers went in a vessel of royal magnificence called the Buccintor out upon the Adriatic Sea followed by a grand procession of gondolas and there he dropped overboard a gold ring and the ceremony thus signifying Venice's espousal with the sea and her dominion over it this Buccintor was a two decked vessel propelled by 160 of the strongest rowers of the Venetian fleet its sides were carved and gilded some parts gold plated and the holes surmounted by a gold embroidered crimson velvet canopy the mast is still preserved in the arsenal at Venice to secure its gold ornaments it is only in the severest winters of rare occurrence that gondolas cannot be used but then the young Venetians may perform the to them wonderful feet of walking on the water and tell of it years after some 200 years ago the ice lasted the unheard of time of 18 days and such an impression did the event make upon the Venetians that the year in which it happened is known to the present day the Gaccio year of the ice the great lilies mission by mrs. J. B. McConaughey 43 years ago last New Year's Day a native boat was gliding along through one of the small rivers of British Guiana when it came to a spot where the stream widened into a little lake a celebrated botanist was a voyager in the little canoe and all at once his attention was fixed on a wonderful plant along the margin of the lake all his weariness and the many discomforts of his situation were forgotten in the enthusiasm of that moment never before had he seen such a flower one might fancy a giant had been raising lilies to present to some fair giant ass imagine the rippling water covered with thick leaves of pale green lined with vivid crimson each one almost large enough to cover your bed and all the remaining massive lilies whose single petals of white and rosy pink were more than a foot across and numbered over a hundred to a blossom the flower was sent home to England and awakened great enthusiasm among the lovers of science but no one surmised that the fair stranger was destined to effect a great revolution in the architecture of the world yet all great enterprises have generally taken a very roundabout way before they came to perfection and finally forecast them when you looked at their beginnings such a royal lily well deserved a royal name so it was christened the Victoria regia had it been a beautiful princess they were anxious to make contented in her adopted land they could not have taken more pains to humour her tastes and twins Mr. Paxton the great gardener who had it in charge determined that the baby lily should never know the beauty of soil under its own torrid skies so he made up a bed for its roots out of burned loam and peat the great lazy leaves were allowed to float at their ease in a tank of water to which a gentle ripple was imparted by means of a water wheel and then a house of glass of a beautiful device was built over it all and the right temperature kept up to still further deceive the young South American that in a month it had outgrown its house a new one must be had forthwith or the baby lily would be hopelessly dwarfed Mr. Paxton was not disconcerted by this precociousness of his wayward pet but at once put his talents to work to provide it with suitable accommodations the greenhouse he next built was a more novel and elegant conservatory and might rightly be styled the first crystal palace it was just at this time it had gone out over all the earth that its nations were invited to a great world's fair at London and now a very serious question came up about the building in which to house them the committee of course decided on a structure of orthodox brick and mortar and then began a fierce war in the papers with regard to the project how would their beautiful height park be spoiled by letting loose in it such an army of shovelers, bricklayers hewers and all manner of craftsmen what a spoiling of its ornamental trees and what a cutting up of its smooth drives by the heavy carts loaded with brick and mortar enough to build a pyramid Mr. Paxton read in the Times these many objections and the thought flashed through his mind that they could all be removed by building on the plan of his lily house a succession of such structures enlarged and securely joined together would produce just such a building all could be prepared in the great workshops of the kingdom and brought together with almost as little noise and confusion as was Solomon's great temple the building committee were hard to convince they were joined to their idols of brick and mortar but good Prince Albert and Sir Robert Peale and Mr. Stevenson the engineer were all on the side of iron and glass and at last they won such a beautiful fairy like structure as went up by New Year's Day 1851 the world had never seen the great lily had all unconsciously accomplished a wonderful work over and over again has its crystal house been copied and not the least beautiful of such structures is our own grand centennial main building end of section four section five of Harper's young people volume one issue 20 March 16 1880 this is a LibriVox recording or LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Catherine Phipps Harper's young people volume one issue 20 March 16 1880 the mishaps of an Arab gentleman the orientals differ in many respects from the Europeans and Americans in their customs and manners of their houses the dress of the men consists of a red cap wide baggy cloth trousers silken girdle and a jacket the houses in Syria are invariably built of stone and in the south of Palestine entirely so the floors of the rooms are paved with marble or granite at the entrance of every room is a space of several feet square paved with figured marble and never carpeted which the orientals remove from their feet on entering a room the rest of the floor is raised about half a foot higher the orientals sleep on the ground that is on mattresses laid on carpets or mats spread on the floor in an Arab family one of the members became ambitious of transforming himself into a European this young gentleman had received an excellent education being familiar not only with the Arab literature and modern Greek his first step toward the desired end was to study English and French when he had gained a fair knowledge of these languages he applied for the position of interpreter to the American consulate to which he succeeded in being appointed his so far satisfied ambition would no longer allow him to wear the oriental dress and he soon showed himself to an admiring world of natives in European costume not at all he replied I feel as if tied hand and foot in a type fitting prison a few weeks later he one day startled some of his European friends by asking them with a thoughtful seriousness whether they often tumbled out of bed tumble out of bed they exclaimed why of course not how could one I would much rather find out how a person could not what put such an idea into his head the rest is best told in his own words I furnished my rooms with European furniture bad luck to the day I was foolish enough to do so a few nights ago after having locked my door and put out my light things I never did before I got up into the bedstead my sensations were those of being put away on a high shelf in a dark prison I wondered whether Europeans experienced such feelings every night I fell asleep comforting myself that I might get used to it how long I slept in that bed I shall never know for when I awoke it was to find myself in the grave I was cramped in every limb I felt the cold pavement under me and icy walls round me for clothing or covering I found nothing within reach but what at the time seemed a shroud where was I what had happened suddenly the idea came to me I was dead buried and now recovered consciousness in my grave so convinced was I that I shouted at the top of my voice that I was not dead and begged to be taken out of the tomb the noise I made sooner awoke the whole house and as I had locked my door no one could get in I heard my mother and brothers uttering pious ejaculations to exorcise the evil spirit which they believed had got hold of me breaking the door they finally burst it open and then I was surprised to see that I was not in my grave but that I had tumbled out of bed and rolled along the floor till I landed in the space by the door but did you not wake with the fall no I felt nothing till I awoke as I believed in my tomb but really in the shoe receptacle and since you all assure me that Europeans never tumble out of their beds in all hopes of ever being transformed into one I shall in the future as I have done in the past sleep on the ground from which there is no danger of tumbling the hippopotamus the hippopotamus or river horse is found exclusively in the great rivers lakes and swamps of Africa fossil remains of extinct species have been discovered in both Europe and Asia but ages have passed since they existed this animal is amphibious and can remain under water five minutes or more without breathing when it comes to the surface it snorts in a terrible manner and can be heard at a great distance it is never found far away from its native element to which it beats a retreat at the least alarm travelers along the white Nile and in central Africa often encounter enormous herds of these ungainly creatures sometimes lying in the water their huge heads projecting the summit of a rock sometimes basking on the shore in the muddy ooze or grazing on the riverbank for this animal is a strict vegetarian and the broad fields of grain and rice along the upper Nile suffer constantly from its depredations the hippopotamus is a hideous looking beast it has an enormous mouth armed with four great tusks that appear viciously prominent beneath its great leathern lips these tusks are so powerful the hippopotamus has been known to cut holes through the iron plates of a Nile's steamer with one blow its eyes are very small but protruding and placed on the top of its head its body resembles a huge hog's head perched on four short stumpy legs a full grown animal will sometimes measure 12 feet in length and does much in circumference the hide of this beast is very thick and strong and is used to make whips with ordinary bullets unless they strike near the ear rattle off the sides of this king of the Nile like small shot so Samuel Baker the African traveller relates an encounter with a large bull hippopotamus which was taking an evening stroll on the bank of the river quietly munching grass Baker and his attendant were armed only with rifles they aimed and fired hitting as near the ear as possible but the great beast with the sound of firing the remainder of the party hurried up and poured a volley of musketry at the retreating beast but the hippopotamus walked coolly to the edge of a steep cliff about 18 feet high and with a clumsy jump and a tremendous splash vanished in the water as the flesh of the hippopotamus which is said to resemble pork in flavour was much desired as food by the soldiers under Baker's charge he had a small explosive shell constructed into the creature's brain seldom failed to leave its huge body floating dead on the surface of the river the natives are very fond of hippopotamus flesh and resort to many expedients to secure the desired delicacy hunting this beast is dangerous sport for in the water it is master of the situation and will throw canoe in the air or crunch it to pieces with its terrible jaws in southern Africa Dr Livingstone encountered a tribe of natives of the military hippopotamus hunters and followed no other occupation as when their game grew scarce at one spot they removed to another they built temporary huts on the lonely grassy islands in the rivers and great lakes where the hippopotami were sure to come to enjoy the luxurious pastureage and while the women cultivated garden patches the men with extraordinary courage and daring followed the dangerous sport rather to sun when they hunt each canoe is manned by two men the canoes are very light scarcely half an inch in thickness and shaped somewhat like a racing boat each man uses a broad short paddle and as the canoe is noiselessly propelled toward a sleeping hippopotamus not a ripple is raised on the water not a word passes between the two hunters but as they silently approach the prey the harpooner rises cautiously and with sure aim plunges the weapon toward the monster's heart both hunters now seize their paddles and push away for their lives for the infuriated beast springs toward them its enormous jaws extended and often succeeds in crushing the frail canoe to splinters the hunters if thrown in the water immediately dive as the beast looks for them on the surface and make for the shore their prey is soon secured for the well-aimed harpoon has done its work and the hippopotamus is soon forced to succumb should it be underwater its whereabouts is indicated by a float on the end of the long harpoon rope and it is easily dragged ashore travelers on the Nile are often placed in great peril by the attacks of these beasts which although said to be inoffensive when not molested are so easily enraged that the noise of a passing boat excites them to terrible fury being roused one clear moonlight night by a horse wild snorting which he at once recognised as the voice of a furious hippopotamus he rushed on deck and discovered a large specimen of this beast charging on the boat with indescribable rage the small boats towed a stern were crunched to pieces in a moment and so rapid were the movements of this animal as it roared and plunged in a cloud of foam and wave that it was next to impossible to take aim at the small vulnerable spot on its head at length however it appeared to be wounded and retired to the high reeds along the shore but it soon returned snorting and blowing more furiously than ever and continued its attack until its head was fairly riddled with bullets and it rolled over and over dead at last young hippopotami have been captured and placed in zoological gardens but as they become old they grow savage some fine specimens were formerly in the Jardin de plant at Paris they ate all kinds of vegetables and grass and slept nearly all day generally lying half in and half out of the big water tank provided for them the hippopotamus is supposed by many to be identical with the behemoth of scripture which is described as a beast that lieth under the shady trees in the cupboard of the reed and fens it is also spoken of as one that eateth grass as an ox and that drinketh up a river and the willows of the brook compass him about end of section five section six of Harper's young people volume one issue 20 March 16 1880 this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Larry Wilson Harper's young people volume one issue 20 March 16 1880 the cat's meat man in the corner of Fulton market in New York City is the snug little stall of the cat's meat man he is a jolly Mary looking fellow as you may see by his picture and he sings and whistles as he works in the morning he goes about but his afternoons are devoted to preparing the food for the next day most of the food is raw meat which with a sharp knife he cuts up into very small pieces until several hundred pounds are thus prepared sometimes a small portion of the meat is boiled and this cooked meat is only intended for cats who are not very well and who need something more delicate than raw meat the cat's meat man cuts up fish instead of meat for on Fridays all his cats have a meal of fish of which they are very fond and which is very good for them after the meat or fish has been nicely cut into bits it is all done up in small brown paper parcels each of which weighs a pound and these parcels are packed into great strong baskets each basket holds 40 or 50 of these pound packages early in the morning soon after sunrise the cat's meat man begins to feed his cats starting out from the market with a big basket of meat on his shoulder and threading his way through the crooked streets and lanes of the lower part of the city to the homes of his little customers everywhere the cats and kittens are anxiously awaiting and watching for him and sometimes they run out and meet him at the corners half a block or more away from their homes on one side of the street those living on the other side run across and rubbing against his legs mewing and purring seem to beg him to hurry to get over to their side of course these cats do not belong to the cats meat man though he takes just as much interest in them and is just as fond of them as though they were his own they are the cats that live in the stores and warehouses of the lower portion of the city where they are kept as protection against the armies of fierce rats and do terrible damage wherever the cats are not too strong for them for this reason the cats are highly prized and well cared for in this part of the city and the cats meat man finds plenty of work to do in feeding them he is paid for this by the owners of the cats and as he has about four hundred customers his business is quite a thriving one the cats all know and love him and are generally expecting him but if he opens the door of a store where one of his cats lives and she is not to be seen he calls and the kitty comes racing down the stairs or from some distant corner so fast that she nearly tumbles head over heels in her hurry to get at her breakfast some of the cats are only fed every other day and they know just as well as anybody when it is off day as the cats meat man calls it on these off days they lie perfectly still as he passes pay no attention to him but on the days they are to be fed these every other day cats are the most eager of all and travel the greatest distances to meet their friend besides the cats several dogs are fed daily by the cats meat man and of these the most interesting is Carlo Carlo used to be a sailor dog but now he lives quietly in a store on old slip his first master was a sea captain with whom Carlo made voyages to many different parts of the world his kind master who was fond of Carlo as though he had been an only child became very sick with a terrible fever and when his ship reached New York he was taken to the hospital to die Carlo went to the hospital with him and just before the dying sailor breathed his last he begged a kind gentleman who stood beside his bed to take care of Carlo the gentleman promised to do so and has ever since kept his promise by giving Carlo a good home in his store and paying the cats meat man to feed him every day Carlo repays this kindness by keeping the store free from rats and his reputation as a famous ratter has spread far and wide through the neighborhood many stray cats watch for the coming of the cats meat man for they know that he will befriend them and many a tidbit does he give to some lean hungry creature as he merrily trudges along through the winter snow drifts at certain corners the cats meat man is met by one of his assistants with whom he exchanges his empty basket for a full one these halting places are well known to all the forlorn and homeless cats and dogs and at them a number of these always await his approach he most always throws them a few bits from his well filled basket for which they seem very grateful though they look as if they would be very glad of more besides feeding cats and dogs the cats meat man cares for them when they are sick preparing special food for his patients and sometimes giving them small doses of medicine so you see the cats meat man is a real benefactor and it is no wonder that all the cats and dogs in the lower part of the city watch for his coming and are glad when they see him End of Section 6 Section 7 of Harper's Young People Volume 1, Issue 20, March 16 1880 this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Catherine Phipps Harper's Young People Volume 1, Issue 20, March 16 1880 My Tata by David Kerr most of us have read descriptions and seen pictures of those most narrow-eyed, round-headed hobgoblins who, under the name of Tatas a wrong one too for it should be Tatar used to amuse themselves by conquering Eastern Europe every now and then some hundreds of years ago but it is not everyone who has had the pleasure of travelling alone with one of these fellows over nearly a thousand miles of Asiatic desert in time of war a pleasure which I enjoyed to the full in 1873 and a very queer journey it was first came a range of steep rocky hills marked on the map as the Ural Mountains where we had to get out and walk whenever we went up hill and to hold tight to the sides of our wagon for fear of being thrown out and smashed whenever we went downhill then we got out on the Great Plains where we came upon a post house of dried mud the only house there was once in three or four hours and here we used to change horses by sending out a Cossack with his lasso to see if he could catch any running loose on the prairie for there are no stables in that country next came a sand desert where we harnessed three camels to our wagon instead of horses here the people lived intense instead of mud houses while a hot wind blew all day and a cold wind all night one fine evening we had a sandstorm which almost buried us wagon and all and the sand stuck so to my Tata's yellow face that he looked just like a peppered omelet after this came a rolling prairie where the people lived in holes under the ground popping up like rabbits every now and then as we passed beyond it was a large freshwater lake called by the Russians Uralskaya Mora or Sea of Aral where the mosquitoes fell upon us in good earnest here we were both boxed up in a mud fort for seven weeks by a Cossack captain on suspicion of being spies like Joseph's brethren when we got out again we had to go up a great river called the Sir Daria or Clear Stream though it was the dirtiest I ever saw fringed with thickets and huge reeds taller than a man where the mosquitoes were doubled and we had the chance of meeting a tiger or two as well then came some more deserts and then some more mountains and so at last we got to the capital of the country a big mudwalled town called Tashkent or Stone Village I suppose because there is not a single stone all this while Murad, or so my Tato was named had been like a man of stone he never complained he never smiled he never got angry when our food and water run out when the sand flies and mosquitoes bit us all over when we lost our way on the prairie at midnight in a pouring rain when the jolting of our wagon bumped us about till we were all bruises from head to foot when we had to sit for hours upon a sand heap waiting for horses with the sun toasting us black all the time when our wheels came off or our camels ran away honest Murad's heavy mustard coloured face never changed a bit at every fresh mishap he only shrugged his shoulders saying it is my kismet fate and when he had said that he seemed quite satisfied I never even saw him laugh but once that once however I remember and this was how it happened on getting to Tashkent we took up our quarters at a native hotel Karavan Sarai they call it there where we were kindly allowed a stone floor to sleep on provided we brought our own beds and our own food along with us however we were pretty well used to that sort of thing by this time so I got out my camp kettle and proceeded to make tea while Murad like mother Hubbard in the song a daily mess of food had become a mess in every sense bumped and jolted about as we had been it was no uncommon thing for me to find my bottle of cold tea standing on its head with the cork out my soda powders fraternizing with the salt and pepper and my brown loaf taking a bath in the contents of a broken ink bottle the splinters of which would be acting as seasoning to the mashed remains of a bologna sausage I was not surprised therefore to discover a piece of chocolate in the last packet of tea and by way of experiment I decided to boil the two together and try how they agreed but apparently they didn't agree at all for I had hardly taken a sip of my first tumbler when I became aware of the most horrible and astounding taste imaginable as if a whole apothecary shop had been boiled down into that one glass the Russians drink tea in tumblers with lemon juice instead of milk the second tumbler was if possible even worse than the first but this time I noticed a white froth on the top such as I had never seen upon any tea before a frightful suspicion suddenly occurred to me I emptied out my camp kettle and discovered with what emotion I need not say that the supposed chocolate was nothing less than a piece of brown soap just at that eventful moment in came my tartar one glance at the soap my distorted visage told him the whole story and the effect was magical to throw himself on the floor to kick up his heels and a kind of convulsive ecstasy to burst into a succession of shrill crowing screams like a pleased baby was the work of a moment and he kept on kicking and crowing till provoked as I was I could not help laughing along with him then he suddenly sprang up and stood before me with his usual solemn face he was utterly shocked at him but he never afterward alluded to the occurrence nor did I ever again see him laugh or even smile end of section 7 section number 8 of Harper's young people volume 1 issue 20 March 16th 1880 this is LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org by Ryan Fahey, Fairfield, Connecticut Harper's young people volume 1 issue 20 March 16th 1880 section 8 Biddy Odolan by Mrs. Zadel B. Gustafson chapter 4 little Katie Keegan had the blackest hair and eyes you ever saw and she was very pretty with color like the cream and red of the lady apples packed in tempting pyramids in the fruit stalls she was the kind of girl knowing what it is you expect Katie was very bright quick as a dart in her motions but as rough and sharp as a prickly briar if things didn't go to suit her she had all the bad habits which friendless little children learn from living on the streets with no one to care what they do or how they feel she was saucy and bold and used very bad words and thought it's smart to steal fruit and peanuts when she could as glibly as a toad swallows a fly if you ever saw that done you know that it is pretty swiftly done and just as a toad when it has swallowed a fly looks as if it had never so much as heard of such an insect so Katie when she told a lie would look straight at you and smile with an air of such innocence that you would find it hard to not believe her these sad faults were Katie's misfortunes she did not know how wrong they were but you can see at this moment that such habits would be a great trouble in the way of her finding a home because good people would not like to take a little child with such naughty ways into their homes to be with their own dear children still Katie's pretty face and bright mind and the love she was so quick to give to anyone who was kind to her made people feel like trying to see what they could do for her three times Mr. Kennedy placed Katie in good homes in such work in each instance Katie had been loved because she was so bright and sweet and lovable when she felt like being so but her sudden fits of anger and the strange and naughty things she would say and do made her new friends feel anxious and troubled yet Katie had never been sent away from these homes perhaps she might have been but she never waited for that she ran away of her own accord where Mr. Kennedy could say could make Katie agree to go back when once she had run away one day Ms. Kennedy who had thought a great deal about this willful child said to her brother don't be discouraged about Katie you and Biddy will save the dear little thing yet but I do feel a little discouraged said Mr. Kennedy you see she is so uncertain she's tricky as a kitten and you can never tell what she'll be at next if the trouble only all came to us we would be glad to bear it for there is something very dear about little Katie that pays for care and bother but how can I go on asking our friends to put up with such a little harem scarum and she will take things that don't belong to her and she will deny it I really don't know what to do Biddy sat sowing but she listened and looked very earnest Ms. Kennedy smiled I've thought of something Phil said she is so long in fixing things too easy and pleasant for Katie I think she needs to have a weight put on her a weight how do you mean well I mean this Katie is very loving and she is more full of active bounding life than anyone I ever saw I don't think she wants to have things done for her I think she wants to do things herself I think she needs to feel that someone in some real plain way depends on her so that she cannot do without her I have seen feelings in Katie that make me think a weight of this kind would hold her Mr. Kennedy looked pleased and sat some moments thinking then he asked well sister how will you find such a weight for Katie I wouldn't like to have her bright wings too closely clipped I've thought of that Phil and I've thought it would be well to let Biddy Katie loves Biddy with all her warm little heart to let Biddy coax her Mrs. Rainer Mrs. Rainer cried Phil I know you are thinking of such a madcap as Katie in Jenny Boehner's sick room but that is just my reason I've talked with Mrs. Rainer and she's quite willing to try Katie if we can only get her there to be tried if there's anyone in this world who can tame Katie's wild humors and turn them to good uses it is Mrs. Rainer and Jenny needs someone to care for her all the time Katie cannot help loving them I think they will find a way to hold Katie till she grows to see what a little girl's life means the very next day Biddy went out to look for a wayward Katie for it was Katie's having run away again from her third home which had led to this talk between Mr. Kennedy and his sister Biddy found Katie sinning on some steps on Fulton Street eating peanuts and tossing up the shells she looked so happy that Biddy felt a new wonder about her and here was Katie liking nothing so well as to run about the streets and seeming to think home was a great bother suddenly a thought came to Biddy and made her say quickly as she reached Katie oh Katie did you ever have a doll hello that you said Katie want some peanuts no I never had no doll don't want no doll seen lots of them think they're silly dolls is only pretending Biddy sat down on the steps by Katie and told her as kindly as she could that she wanted her to try once more to like a good home she held a bit of Katie's skirt in her hand for fear Katie would run but she did not think Katie knew she had hold of her dress tell Katie said no need to hold on to me ain't going to run oh Katie what have you done with your pretty shoes exclaimed Biddy gov'em to Gallant wanted him to have a queer sharp look and said needn't ask no more questions shan't answer after a little more talk in which Katie insisted that she didn't think she could stay in a home though she was willing to try because she liked to see insides of houses they started off together the Reigners lived in a larger and more beautiful house than the Kennedys and a well behaved maid and rushed out into the merry sunlight again all the way upstairs Katie had been making droll faces at the maid who went on before them and mimicking her walk in the funniest manner Biddy had not seemed to notice though she had found it hard not to laugh right out at Katie's mischief now Biddy held fast to the little hand that wriggled in hers but sadly the whitest little girl they had ever seen with soft eyes looking at them kindly and close to them was a tall handsome lady but what ailed Biddy she looked at the white face child in the bed and she looked at the lady a flush came in Biddy's cheek and her eyes opened so wide they were almost as round as marbles it was the most puzzled little face Mrs. Reiner had ever seen I expected you and I'm very glad to see you said she who stared and looked as if she would cut as she called it when she ran away oh Katie Katie said Biddy with a queer little quick shake in her voice it's the hospital lady and the hospital little girl that gave me the flowers Jenny Reiner's eyes were getting to be as round as Biddy's had been oh don't you remember the little bit of a girl that was run over and lay in the hospital on Christmas day ever and ever so long ago cried Biddy very strong Mrs. Reiner made her sit down by the bed and then put out her hand to Katie who stood so still in the center of the room all the bright color had gone out of Katie's cheeks so that her black eyes looked darker than ever she stayed just where she was she put her hands down in her apron pockets raising her small shoulders and doing so she was the picture of a little elf that might vanish if anyone stirred she looked at Biddy and the little elf would gov you the flowers Biddy said yes what's matter of her she's been sick a long time said Mrs. Reiner stay in bed all time asked Katie still looking at Biddy oh yes I shall never get up anymore said Jenny Reiner will you come up here close to me little girl Katie came forward a little Miss Kennedy says you like to run about a great deal said Jenny I used to like that very much they were full of peanuts she laid them on the bed and nodded to Biddy I'll stay here said she and Katie Keegan kept her word she didn't get over her faults right off she had a hard fight with them but for the first time in her life she tried hard to get rid of them and soon showed she had great strength to do what she made up her mind to do but Miss Kennedy was right all Katie had needed the best thing that could have been brought into Jenny Reiner's sad and shut up life Jenny was a good little girl but no little child can be easily content and cheerful who cannot go out into the sunlight and enjoy the sweet full life of the birds and flowers and the merry games with other little girls and boys it is very hard for a child to lie always in bed and be shut out from all other children's lives now Katie Keegan was so wild so merry with bright ideas of how to get fun out of everything and anything that she was a whole playground in her one little self and she brought all this life into the room where Jenny lay and made a new world for Jenny there Katie was as good as a theater for she imitated people and did it quite wonderfully so that Jenny could tell just whom she meant that is if she had ever seen the person Katie was taking off and Katie would show her noticed on the street in just this way by imitating so that Jenny seemed almost to make new acquaintances with people whom she had never really seen by means of Katie's droll mimicry when Katie saw how all her pranks and fun made Jenny laugh and look so pleased she took good care to find out some fresh thing to amuse her with whenever she went out when Jenny Rainer gave the flowers to poor Biddy in the hospital so long ago she unfolded through another little girl whom she had then never seen at all least of all would you imagine that an old broken armed doll fished out of an ash can could be the means of doing so much good and leading to so much happiness in so many lives for the good that began in these little things goes on and may reach into countless lives in time to come nothing stops and nothing stands quite apart by itself even more as you grow older as for Biddy Odolan she is quite a young woman now of course she does not play with her doll anymore but she keeps it no money could buy it with that little wooden arm on it which Charlie made she calls it her first friend and I think it was a very good friend don't you? the end of section 8 March 16th, 1880 this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Rachel Marie Harper's young people volume 1 issue 20 March 16th, 1880 Alice's question softly gently upward a strain from the organ floats and the children at play in the nursery listen a while to the notes stop and are silent a moment they are almost tired of play and the shadows of evening are falling making twilight out of the day then down the broad old staircase comes the patter of little feet and in through the open doorway drawn by the sounds so sweet then close to the organ stealing with awestruck eyes they gaze at the player and listen mutely to the deep clear notes of praise then drawing nearer and nearer made bold by the twilight grey little Alice looks up and whispers did God teach you how to play? the care of parrots parrots are among the most intelligent of household pets and much attention should be bestowed upon them so large a bird suffers if kept constantly confined in a cage but a parrot is so destructive that it is impossible to allow with the liberty of a house as chairs, carpets, in short every article of furniture will soon show the marks of its strong beak if there is a garden the parrot should be given a daily promenade during warm weather it is a necessity to this bird to exercise its beak and if kept in a cage it is given a chip of wood to tear to pieces a parrot will amuse itself for hours biting a chip into small fragments the cage and feed dishes should be thoroughly cleaned every day and fresh gravel kept in the bottom of the cage parrots are fond of canary and hemp seed and should always have fresh water in which a little cracker may be soaked a little sweetened weak coffee and milk with bread crumbed in it may be given about once a week apples, pears and oranges are healthy food and should always have the seeds left in as a parrot will eat those first carefully peeling them and devour the meat afterward a slice of lemon and a small red pepper should be given occasionally also English walnuts cleanliness is essential to the health of a parrot and as it will not bathe itself like most other birds it should occasionally be stood in a pan containing an inch or two of tepid water and its back sprinkled gently the bird will scream and rebel but will feel better after it it should be left in its bath for a few moments only as it easily gets chilled and then placed on its perch where it cannot feel any wind to dry and plume itself during a warm summer shower it is well to stand the cage out of doors for a short time the parrot will usually spread its wings to receive the drops and scream with delight as that is its natural way of bathing parrots have very tender feet and very clean the perch should on this account be wiped dry every day meat or anything greasy is harmful to a parrot and parsley will kill it although lettuce and especially green peas in the pod are healthy diet parrots are almost always savage to strangers but so affectionate to the person who tends them that they fully repay for the care bestowed upon them pencil drawing number two and patience and faithful effort after a while the young student who succeeds will go on to flower drawing which is more difficult but very delightful and will be illustrated by and by at present we must try easy leaves I make a few illustrations enough to begin with numbers one, two and three are fuchsia leaves number four oxalis these may be drawn again and again but the fuchsia leaves of different sizes is very pretty and so of any leaf by a skillful hand they may be arranged with artistic grace attention to a few points will give a precision and interest to the drawing let the drawing be lightly rather than heavily done learn to draw the double lines of stems and veins with great correctness make a darker line on the under edge of leaves and on one side of the stems by turning a leaf on the wrong side the veins can be distinctly seen and easily drawn do not be discouraged but persevere begin tomorrow or today these beginnings may help you to become a skillful sketcher and will give to you a delightful occupation that will grow dearer to your heart every day of your life end of section nine section ten of harper's young people volume one issue 20 march 16th, 1880 this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Betty B harper's young people volume one issue 20 march 16th, 1880 our post office box this number of harper's young people completes the 13 issues promised to subscribers to harper's weekly for 1880 and is therefore the last number to be sent out with that paper any one of our little friends who may thus be deprived of a weekly visit from harper's young people and who wishes to continue acquaintance with us may receive the remaining 32 numbers of our first volume which will conclude with the number dated October 26, 1880 by sending one dollar to the publishers who will on receipt of that amount forward these numbers weekly postage free to any address in the United States or Canada those who wish the back numbers as well as the remainder of the volume should send one dollar and 50 cents the price of a year subscription the publishers renew their assurance that they will make every effort to please their young patrons by providing weekly an attractive and instructive variety of illustrated reading Lockport, Illinois I saw in young people a letter from Edwin A.H. telling about his cabinet although I had been collecting only three years I have quite a cabinet it contains a sea cow which measures 14 inches from the tip of its tail to the nose it is larger than any I have ever seen either in Chicago, New York or Canada that and a seahorse came from Cuba I have also some fine specimens of different corals and sponges a box of agates and other stones from Africa some beautiful specimens of quartz from the Rocky Mountains a specimen from the Matanzas cave in Cuba a collection of Indian arrowheads a variety of petrifactions among them a very large perfect trilobite a very few old coins four of which I think are from Pompeii a collection of foreign stamps shells from California Cuba and other places and other things I have no room to mention can anyone tell me how I can obtain some really good specimens of minerals and is the whale that arrived at the New York Aquarium last summer alive yet LHN are any correspondence informed about the health and present condition of the whale Tallahassee, Florida I write to tell you about my collection of minerals I am now 10 years old I commenced to collect when I was 9 my minerals are very fine and I took the $3 premium for them at the fair William L. Betten Cincinnati, Ohio I am a little girl 13 years old I live in Ann Arbor, Michigan but I am spending the winter in Cincinnati I take young people and like it very much I am collecting curiosities but I have no Proteus Grace D. Hall Macon, Georgia I will write and tell you what a warm winter we have had there were strawberries and peach blossoms in January and now we have many kinds of flowers blooming in the gardens I am writing St. Valentine's Day and I and my two sisters Bessie and Kate have had several pretty Valentine's Laura C. Parmely, 9 years Baycliff, Long Island I am a little boy 10 years old and live by the water I have a nice little rowboat named Broadbill with patent ores I have a Shetland pony named Fanny she is about 3 feet high and is very kind and gentle and I can ride or drive her my guinea pig is also a pet I feed it cabbage leaves, carrots oil potatoes and lettuce E.T.I Brooklyn, New York my most cunning pet is a guinea pig named Tip who creeps under my arm and goes to sleep I put cabbage and celery in a train of cars and I run across the floor Tip gallops after and steals the leaves stops to munch them and then races for more Arthur A. Crandell Milwaukee, Wisconsin I have had experience with guinea pigs and I thought I would tell Mark Francis what mine eat they like all kinds of green vegetables such as lettuce and cabbage but they like grass better than anything else I cannot give them enough the only cooked food they like is graham bread and oatmeal mush oats and apples my auntie has kept them for 15 years and she never gave them any water she says if they want water they are sick they are always very sensitive to the cold Grace B. Peterson New York City I have been reading all the letters from little boys and girls about their pets and I must tell them about mine I have a little kitten named Buttercup and she is just as sweet and pretty as any Buttercup that ever grew and so good and so cunning she will jump up upon the bureau and watch the canary and he will peck at her with his little bill and she does not even look cross at him and we know she would not ruffle a feather for all the world I wonder if any other little girl can leave her kitten with her birds and know she will not hurt them and you should see her go to the mirror and look at herself just like any lady and she seems to think herself so pretty I am really afraid she is vain there are so many things I could tell about her I can not write my letter if I write anymore Ella Selwyn Bradley Michigan February 18th I found a willow bush covered with pussies yesterday the rabbits never run up to me when I whistle like the one Laura B. wrote about they stop and turn around and look at me and then they just snap their eyes and scoot Frank C. Norse I am only 7 years old and I live way out in Fort Klamath, Oregon and I can't write a very good letter I am very comfortable and the letters in the post office from little children so much it is nice to be out here where there is so much snow to have fun with I have a pair of snow shoes a little brother and a pet dog to play with besides lots of other things I don't go to school because there is no school here but I say my lessons to mama every day Sophie L.W. Davenport, Iowa I am going to write this all myself I have a pony his name is Dick and he shakes hands we say shake hands Dick and he puts up his right foot he is just as sweet as honey he is white we used to live on a farm and my sister and I used to go after the cows on Dick we carried a long whip some cows would lag behind and we would say bite the cow Dick and the dear little fellow would lay back his white ears and just bite her awful hard we are going to have a cabinet picture taken of him Grace H.9 years I am five years old I have a blue terrier wax he plays hide and seek mama covers his eyes with her hand and I hide when I say coop mama lets him go then he rushes all around standing on his hind legs to look on tables and peeping under the couch and looking upon chairs when he finds me he begins to bark loud and tries to bite my toes but he has very few teeth he is old I am a boy who has recently come to the city from the country I have a young sky terrier and he gives me much trouble by running away every time the hall door is opened then I have to run after him as he can run the fastest it is hard work for me but fun for him people must think I have two dogs for when he goes out he is a blue dog and when he comes back he is mud color when we give him a good washing he is blue again and I would be lonesome without him Dwight Ruggles Philadelphia, Pennsylvania I saw in the post office letters one from a little boy who had two Maltese cats and one of them was very fond of peanuts I had a beautiful black and white kitty and centennial year that would follow me round whenever I came from the exhibition begging for the sugared balls of popcorn I always brought home with me I had another kitty afterward that was just as fond of candy and now I have no pets I am nine years old Florence Osius C. H. Williamson all of Jacob Abbott's books for the young are in print valuable works on Long Island History have been published by the Long Island Historical Society of Brooklyn Hitchcock's Geology and Gray's Lessons in Botany will be of service to you C. F. Allen Danger Island is in the Chagos Archipelago on the west end of the Great Chagos Bank Indian Ocean here is a very pretty experiment sent by F. V. G. Madison, Wisconsin take an ordinary water pail lay across the top two pieces of stout wire about two inches apart then lay a lump of ice on the wires in about half an hour go and look at it and you will find that the wires pass through the middle of the lump of ice but you cannot see how they came there the following tribute to the egg Tambola is from L. A. W. from an egg shot and tallow with care a merry Tambola I soon did prepare I brushed up his locks in a very fine way and dressed him in garments of nice sober gray and when he was ready all came to admire so portly was he that I called him the squire I then laid him down to measure and see whether standing or lying the tallest he'd be with a nod and a bound rocked backward and forward and balanced around the giddy Tambola he will not lie down it's useless to urge such a funny old clown Madison Cooper the direction given to Charlie D. M. in young people number 18 will probably apply to your fish Ella Fuller and Helen Thompson we fear there is no remedy for your unfortunate animals Henry B. H. excellent directions for the construction of a cheap telescope are given in young people number one Charles Connor we cannot undertake any such commissions J. R. Foster pages of advertisements are almost always given in weekly papers you will find them in every bound volume of Harper's Weekly and similar publications North Star you understand the art of making puzzles but you must be more careful with your spelling only one E in Cathedral Albert Mullen boxwood only is used by engravers on wood as it has a fine grain and the requisite hardness it can be got out in small pieces only and these are either glued or screwed together to form large blocks when a picture is to be engraved in haste the block is taken apart and the pieces are given to several engravers in order to save time sometimes 30 or more engravers are employed at once in a single block Leonard S. E. if you send four cents in postage stamps to the publishers the number you acquire will be forwarded to you A. H. L. Lard your handwriting is very neat and distinct for a boy of your age in a numerical charade each figure represents a letter of the solution supposing the answer to be America you could make car from the six seventh and fourth letters and proceed in this way until you had used every letter of the solution James W. C. H. W. G. and others thanks for your kind letters but we have decided to use no more puzzles referring in any way to ourselves we also wish to remind some of you that enigmas must be in rhyme otherwise they cannot be printed do not take your own name or the names of any of your friends to form a puzzle so that your entire strangers could never guess it be careful to use new solutions and making puzzles and when you see that we have already published one on Washington Bonaparte or the name of any other celebrated man do not send us a repetition we pay no attention to puzzles not accompanied by full answers Willow Pussies are to be found now in almost all localities judging from the many reports sent us by C. H. W. C. W. and others and Louis C. Vogt sends a twig of these pretty downy tokens of spring which he accompanies with a very neatly printed letter it is now time to begin to watch for violets and anemones and other early flowers and we have decided to use no more puzzles because we have decided to use no more puzzles and anemones and other early flowers answers to questions by S. R. W. in post office box number 17 are received from North Star W. F. Bruins Harry V. G. Florence B. E. L. M. Freddie H. Kitty A. R. Mystic and others 8 words have been sent they are scion, suspicion, coercion, pernition, epinition, ostration, cessation these are all to be found in Worcester's dictionary there is also scion which is synonymous with scion there are besides several obsolete words with the same ending not to be found in modern English dictionaries favors are acknowledged from Charlie Markward Willie H. McVean Amy L. Or Harry C. Peck Edward L. Haynes Percy and George Hedges Willie C. S. Alice E. Stevenson Lottie C. Underhill Bessie L. Stewart Jenny Clark Charlie A. Mather H. H. Pitcairn Nellie G. Vaughn J. D. Willie R. H. Frank Coniston Mina L. C. Lyman C. Willie B. A. Leone Young Mamie Brooke James Walker Katie Black Ray Bennett Annabelle Turner Freddie C. Arthur B. RLR numerous correspondents have sent new answers to our puzzle picture in number 14 and although many have given nine names but two Florence Oseus and Mark Robbins have found D. Rill the mischievous monkey concealed by our artist correct answers to puzzles received from E. T. Smith George H. Churchill Herbert N. Twing Fanny T. and Belle M. Leonard S. E. F. E. K. Tallboys E. P. Walker J. F. Sullivan H. S. T. Gracie Flint W. Robertson Katie Wence Millie Benson L. W. Nellie Bartlett Goldie Williams M. L. L. Lee Marie Doyle Gracie K. Richards Answer to charade in number 17 on page 216 Fishball Puzzles from Young Contributors Number 1 Numerical charade I am composed of 12 letters My 134 is a measure My 62912 is a girl's name My 111048365 is a young reptile My 1711 is a small animal My hole is a South American river Chesley BH Number 2 Double Acrostic A small rope Ascent A question often asked Variegated To clasp Water Answer Number 3 Enigma My second is in France But not in Spain My third is in sling But not in stung My fourth is in old And also in young My fifth is in Venus But not in Mars My hole is composed of beautiful stars Alfred W. S. Number 4 A cross A descent A bench To clip A bird A knot A pronoun In flap N. L. Colomer Number 5 Word square First, manner of walking Second, a movement of the ocean Third, to manage a publication Fourth, tame animals Nellie B Number 6 Diamond puzzle A vowel Number 1 Section 11 Of Harper's Young People Volume 1 Issue 20 March 16, 1880 This is a LibraVox recording While LibraVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer Please visit LibraVox.org Recording by Betty B Harper's Young People Volume 1 Issue 20 March 16, 1880 Advertisements Harper's Young People will be issued every Tuesday and may be had at the following rates Payable in advance, postage free Single copies, four cents One subscription, one year $1.50 Five subscriptions, one year $7 Subscriptions may begin with any number When no time is specified it will be understood that the subscriber desires to commence with the number issued after the receipt of order should be made by post office money order or draft to avoid risk of loss Advertising The extent and character of the circulation of Harper's Young People will render it a first class medium for advertising A limited number of approved advertisements will be inserted on two inside pages at 75 cents per line Address Harper & Brothers Franklin Square, New York by one of the Fools The most successful novel for more than a quarter of a century A masterpiece Holds a Critic Spellbound English Literature Contains No Similar Picture International Review Must be read by everybody who desires to be well informed Portland Advertiser A thrilling book indeed Cincinnati Commercial The most powerful national and social study since Uncle Tom's Cabin with breathless interest Hartford Courant Not matched in the whole range of modern fiction Boston Traveler Written in Brains Rochester Rural Home Selling by Thousands Every Week New York Tribune Cloth One Dollar Sold Everywhere Or Mailed By Fords Howard & Hubert 27 Parkpiece New York Candy $3 or $5 for a sample box by Express of the Best Candies in America Put up elegantly and strictly pure refers to all Chicago Address CF Gunther Confectioner 78 Madison Street, Chicago Keep your bird in health and song by using Singers Hatton Gravel Paper Sold by Drugists and Bird Dealers Depot 582 Hudson Street, New York The Child's Book of Nature The Child's Book of Nature for the use of families and schools intended to aid mothers and teachers in training children in the observation of nature In three parts Part One Plants Part Two Animals Part Three Air, Water, Heat and Light by Worthington Hooker M.D. Illustrated The three parts complete in one volume of color, 31 cents or separately in cloth Part One, 53 cents Part Two, 56 cents Part Three, 56 cents A beautiful and useful work it presents a general survey of the kingdom of nature in a manner adapted to attract the attention of the child and at the same time to furnish him with accurate and important scientific information While the work is well suited its fresh and simple style cannot fail to render it a great favorite for family reading The three parts of this book can be had in separate volumes by those who desire it This will be advisable when the book is to be used in teaching quite young children especially in schools published by Harper & Brothers, New York sent by mail postage prepaid to any part of the United States on receipt of the price Books for Young Men Character by Samuel Smiles Duodessimo Cloth, $1 It is in design and execution more like his self-help than any of his other works Mr. Smiles always writes pleasantly but he writes best when he is telling anecdotes and using them to enforce a moral that he is too wise to preach about although he is not afraid to state it plainly by means of its self-help at once became a standard book and in its way quite as good as self-help It is a wonderful storehouse of anecdotes and biographical illustrations Examiner London Self-help Self-help with illustrations of character conduct and perseverance by Samuel Smiles New edition revised and enlarged Duodessimo Cloth, $1 The writings of Samuel Smiles are a valuable aid in the education of boys who have been instructed entirely for their tastes His topics are admirably selected in his mode of communicating excellent lessons of enterprise, truth and self-reliance might be called insidious and insnaring if these words did not convey an idea which is only applicable to lessons of an opposite character in tendency taught in the same attractive style The popularity of this book self-help abroad and many an English boy has risen from its perusal determined that his life will be molded after that of some of those set before him in this volume It was written for the youth of another country but its wealth of instruction has been recognized by its translation into more than one European language and it is not too much to predict for it a popularity among American boys New York world Thrift The book is titled The Mechanic Farmer Apprentice, Clerk, Merchant and a Large Circle of Readers outside of these classes will find in the volume a wide range of counsel and advice presented in perspicuous language and marked throughout by vigorous good sense and who while deriving from it useful lessons for the guidance of their personal affairs will also be imbibing valuable instruction of political economy. We wish it could be placed in the hands of all our youth, especially those who expect to be merchants, artisans, or farmers. Christian intelligentser, New York. In this useful and sensible work, which should be in the hands of all classes of readers, especially of those whose means are slender, the author does for private economy what Smith and Ricardo and Bastiat have done for national economy. The one step which separates civilization from savagery, which renders civilization possible, is labor done in excess of immediate necessity. To inculcate this most necessary and most homely of all virtues, we have met with no better teacher than this book, New York World, published by Harper and Brothers New York, sent by mail postage prepaid to any part of the United States on receipt of the price. The tramp puzzle with one straight cut of the scissors, get out of this tramp a handsome Persian and a seacow. A personation. Who am I? My enemies declare I was alike, faithless to friend or foe. My partisans that I was a martyr. In either case, I expiated my follies and weaknesses with my life, as had my grandmother before me. I was born at Dunn Firmline November 19 1600 and died January 30 1649. Not an old man as you see. I was heir to great possessions and held a high position. But I lost land, fortune and honor. When young, my great friend, also a favorite with my father, obtained a hold on me and induced me as soon as I succeeded my father in my inheritance to begin my career by paying no heed to my people's wishes. I was very obstinate and as determined as my people to carry my point, and we soon fell out. What I could not gain fairly, I tried to obtain by treachery and the result can be readily guessed. I introduced many measures, none of them were liked and the struggle as to who would conquer the one or the many began. My habits were extravagant. But then I had fine tastes, collected many beautiful pictures, which alas, that my death were scattered, never again to be a collection. The painter Van Dyke was a favorite of mine. And when he lay dying, I sent my own doctor to attend him, but in vain. He painted several likenesses of me and my family. I had very warm friends who stood by me in all my troubles, but nothing could save me. And at last January 15 1649, I was put on trial for my life. My judges were prejudiced against me. And I was not allowed to plead my own cause. So was a judged worthy of death. All agreed friends and foes that I met my fate bravely. And when you find out who I am, remember the last word I spoke. My family were scattered in poor. Afterward, my eldest son avenged my murder, as he considered it, but three of my judges escaped and found shelter in America. There was, however, a taint of falsehood in all of us. And my children's children were at last dispossessed of what had been my inheritance. What most grieved me was not my losses, but remembering how many friends suffered with me. And spite of all my faults, few have been more loved. Charles, what did you have for dessert today, Lil? We had omelette show fly. Lily, what is that? Charles, oh, Papa says it's French for bloat. End of section 11. End of Harper's Young People, volume one, issue 20, March 16, 1880.