Chapter I: Front Matter
Chatterbox
FOUNDED BY J. ERSKINE CLARKE, M.A.
Boston: DANA ESTES & COMPANY, 212, Summer Street.
Copyright, 1878, by Estes & Lauriat.
Copyright, 1879, by Estes & Lauriat.
Copyright, 1880, by Estes & Lauriat.
Copyright, 1881, by Estes & Lauriat.
Copyright, 1882, by Estes & Lauriat.
Copyright, 1883, by Estes & Lauriat.
Copyright, 1884, by Estes & Lauriat.
Copyright, 1885, by Estes & Lauriat.
Copyright, 1886, by Estes & Lauriat.
Copyright, 1887, by Estes & Lauriat.
Copyright, 1888, by Estes & Lauriat.
Copyright, 1889, by Estes & Lauriat.
Copyright, 1890, by Estes & Lauriat.
Copyright, 1891, by Estes & Lauriat.
Copyright, 1892, by Estes & Lauriat.
Copyright, 1893, by Estes & Lauriat.
Copyright, 1894, by Estes & Lauriat.
Copyright, 1895, by Estes & Lauriat.
Copyright, 1896, by Estes & Lauriat.
Copyright, 1897, by Estes & Lauriat.
Copyright, 1898, by Dana Estes & Co.
Copyright, 1899, by Dana Estes & Co.
Copyright, 1900, by Dana Estes & Co.
Copyright, 1901, by Dana Estes & Co.
Copyright, 1902, by Dana Estes & Co.
Copyright, 1903, by Dana Estes & Co.
Copyright, 1904, by Dana Estes & Co.
Copyright, 1905, by Dana Estes & Co.
Copyright, 1906, by Dana Estes & Co.
PRESSWORK BY COLONIAL PRESS; C. H. SIMONDS & CO. BOSTON, U.S.A.
CONTENTS.
1906.
Page
About the Ash 250
About Topiaries 99
A Brave Answer 43
A Brave Lad 309
A Chinese Solomon 15
A Generous Act 99
A Gentle Donkey 378,
390, 398, 402, 410
A Good Comrade 159
A Hasty Judgment 375
A Humorous Punishment 70
A Hundred Years Ago 15,
54, 74, 107, 155, 179, 211, 250, 282, 307, 347
A Modern Wizard 394
An Artful Jack 162
An Eastern Puzzle 355
Anecdotes, 6,
30, 34, 43, 51, 66, 147, 179, 190, 218, 227, 235, 323,
341, 355, 371, 378, 382, 395, 407
An Intruder 269
A Pincushion Factory 91
Apples or Thistles? 267
A Seasonable Answer 11
A Silent Reproof 331
A Story of the Unforeseen 190
'As You Please' 277
A Turkey's Costly Diet 302
Average 395
'A Will of Her Own' 279
A Wonderful Weighing Machine 203
Barnacles and Geese 238
'Billikins' 239
Catching Birds under Water 323
Caught by a Tree 218
Chinese Physic 182
Clothed in _Chatterbox_ 348
Conquered by Love 214
Conscience and the China Figures 178
Counting 238
Crébillon and the Rat 291
Crocodiles in Central Africa 75
Crowded Out 403
Curious Granaries 292
Cutting It Down 278
Elephants attacking a Granary 46
Ethel's Golden Offering 22
Eva's Kitten 333
Faithful to Duty. 83
Famous Roses 326
Feathered Friendship 53
Flowers and Colours 262
Flowers of the Night 118
Fred's New World 62
Forgetful Fanny 26
Gas-light Insect-hunting 395
Glimpses of Hedgehog Life 141
Graham's Last Practical Joke 162
Grey-skin's Adventures 221
Hare _versus_ Pheasant 214
Haydn's Drum 34
His Master's Hat 15
How Gordon Kept Shop 238
How the Arabs Bake their Bread 357
How to Obtain Food 139
Huge Birds 403
In Harvard Museum 350
Iron-smelting in India 285
Jess 397
Jock's Collie 351
Long Lived 83
Long Tom's Gratitude 13
Marvels of Man's Making 2,
42, 78, 126, 148, 187, 218, 243, 282, 316, 405
Mary's Reward 77
May Day 175
Movable Roofs 253
'Mr. Harold' 349
Muriel's First Patient 327
Not Afraid 407
Not Guilty 251
Now 237
Old Oxford Castle 230
Old Sarum 342
Olive and the Bees 109
One Thing at a Time 175
Peeps into Nature's Nurseries 11,
37, 59, 75, 100, 131, 134, 164, 203, 235, 275, 299, 339,
371
Ping-Kwe's Downfall 303
Plants with Signs 347
Ploughing in Syria 315
Puzzlers for Wise Heads 15,
51, 75, 115, 147, 179, 214, 254, 286, 323, 371, 395
Rosie 165
Round the Camp-fire 19,
26, 34, 66, 82, 98, 130, 154, 194, 205, 226, 258, 338, 354,
386
Saved by a Gipsy 243
Sir Ralph Abercromby 174
Sowing and Reaping 18, 123
Spider Runners 382
Stories from Africa 30,
46, 58, 60, 106, 138, 170, 210, 242, 266, 290, 330, 362
Strange Nesting-places 324
Tabby's Ghost 389
Taking It Literally 132
Teaching Him a Lesson 410
Telegraph Wires in Central Africa 164
The Arbalist, or Crossbow 212
The Barberry 147
The Brave Countess 379
The Broken Promise 365
The Captain's Pudding 258
The Count and the Dove 254
The Cow-waggon 363
The Dead Watch 115
The Duck-billed Platypus 181
The Duke's Ruse 299
The First Tea 159
The Force of Labour 390
The Giant of the Treasure Caves 6,
10, 22, 30, 38, 47, 50, 63, 70, 74, 87, 94, 102,
110, 114, 123, 134, 142, 146, 157, 166, 172, 182,
186, 198, 202, 214, 222, 230, 234, 246, 254, 262,
270, 274, 286, 294, 298, 310, 314, 322, 334, 342,
346, 358, 367, 370, 382
The Groaning Tree of Baddesley 235
The Honest Sailor 122
The Hoof-mark on the Wall 171
The Kestrel's Eggs 196
The King of Persia 396
The Ladybird and the Caterpillar 306
The Last Time 3
The Leopard's Looking-glass 380
The Little Old Woman 373
Themistocles and the Greek Generals 331
The Misunderstood Poets 286
The Moles and the Mountain 54
The Multiplication Table 26
The Music of the Nations 21,
51, 69, 115, 147, 172, 195, 229, 261, 292, 324, 380
The New Zealand Glow-worm 334
The Penguin 277
The Picture-cleaners 139
The Policeman's Joke 301
The Prairie Dog 61
The Ptarmigan and Pine Marten 66
The Reward of a Genius 142, 151
The Riddle of the Year 155
The Rosemont Grotto and the Petchaburg Caverns 396
The Self-heal 267
The Sensible Hare 374
The Shadoofs and Draw-wheels of Egypt 43
The Sloth 93
The Soldier of Antigonus 291
The Story of Rock-salt 302
The Sugar Maple 294
The Symbols of Japan 214
The Timid Mouse 348
The Trials of Leckinski 306, 319
The Union Jack 348
The Way to Command 62
The Yak 125
Think This Out 222
'Those Horrid Boys' 207
Too Much for the Whistle 54
To the Rescue! 261
True Happiness 310
Umbrella Treason 18
Union is Strength 189
Waits 166
Well Repaid 355
Where there's a Will there's a Way 387
Wild Animals in Captivity 18
POETRY.
A Butterfly's Wing 207
A Mermaid's Song 182
A Studious Elf 235
A Tale of Bremen 101
A Thoughtless Daisy 351
Cloud Pictures 374
Dream-time 310
Fairy Pictures 163
'Fire!' 243
Fire Pictures 258
For the Little Ones 159
Going to Bed 126
Heart's-ease 387
Little Things 62
Little Workers 190
Looking Up and Looking Down 299
Lying Awake at Night 115
Made Beautiful 379
Mornin' 339
Mr. and Mrs. Brown's Journey in the Family Coach 406
My Dreams 147
My Garden 291
Night and Day 396
No Harm Meant 6
Perhaps 110
Santa Claus 358
Santa Claus's Postman 171
Stop Thief! 227
The Almond and the Raisin 83
The Bee 54
The Daisy 75
The Disappointed Hen 26
The Disobedient Mouse 213
The Fairies' Night 363
The Fairy Queen's Gift 34
The Fountain 319
The Glow-worm 195
The Grumbling Rose 276
The Little Blind Linnet 254
The Moon-ship 70
The Mysterious Visitor 139
The Night before My Birthday 94
The Pedlar 407
The Princess has Come 286
The Shepherd Moon 131
The Singers Yet To Be 218
The Singing Bird 402
The String of Pearls 384
The Undecided Travellers 43
The Wrong Wind 18
Time Flies 257
Two Little Drops of Rain 326
ILLUSTRATIONS.
COLOURED PLATES.
Close on His Heels, _Frontispiece_
The Boy Doctor, facing p. 64
A Fight to a Finish, facing p. 128
Opportunity Makes the Thief, facing p. 192
'Chorus, Please!' facing p. 256
Tent Pegging, facing p. 320
Page
A Brave Lad 309
A _Chatterbox_ Costume 348
A Clay Grain Storehouse 293
A Contest with the Longbow 213
A Cow Waggon Encamped and on the March 364
'All went well at first' 392
'A Madi village being removed' 253
An Arab Bakery 357
'A native lay at the foot of a tree' 129
'A terrible sight met their view' 289
'A wren built its nest in the pocket' 325
'By waters still in sweet spring-time' 388
'Charlie Eccles half lay, half sat upon the ground' 97
'Colonel Smith emptied the glass' 361
'Concealment was impossible' 137
Crossbow and Arrows used for Sport 213
Egyptian 'Sakiveh' 44
Egyptian 'Shadoof' 44
'Fast Asleep!' 301
'Father, is that my present?' 377
'Fire!' 244
'Give me back my money' 356
Grain Huts 293
'He finished by backing hard into the small wooden gate' 400
'He handed John an official paper' 180
'He has a winning tongue' 408
'He placed a sovereign on the counter' 121
'He placed the "drum" on a chair, and practised diligently' 33
'He ran out just as he was' 84
'Here is a nice little bit of work for you, my lad' 268
'He sat silent, waiting for the reply' 265
'He seized one of the ladders' 85
'He staggered forward and reached the landing' 240
'He swung himself off the ground' 329
'He was chaired all round Covent Garden' 156
'He was greeted by a jet of water' 152
'His shoulder caught me as he passed' 153
'Hold hard there!' 197
'I held a long stick for him to hook on' 93
'In his despair he clenched his fist' 4
Iron-smelting in India 285
'I say that he is a French spy!' 305
'Is the bird alive or dead?' 277
'I struck furiously at the brute' 385
'I struggled up' 260
'It became necessary to descend the shaft' 41
'It is only the masterful calf 269
'It's Captain Halliard!' 393
'I was received with joy' 205
'I will come with you at once' 365
'Just then a man on horseback appeared' 25
'King Louis leaped fully armed into the sea' 29
'Let me have a doll to play with' 208
'Lieutenant Fegan led a gallant resistance' 241
Loading a Military Crossbow 212
'Mag raised her shrill note of warning' 53
'Managed to upset a wooden watch-house' 108
'Mother, this chair was full of gold pieces!' 56
'Mr. Merry was just leaving the house' 389
Muriel's First Patient 328
'My partner being the lamp-post' 337
'No room for Jealousy' 404
'One at a time, they found themselves pinioned' 105
'One of the largest pounded upon the wall with his tusks' 45
Peeps into Nature's Nurseries (Illustrations to), 12,
37, 60, 76, 76, 100, 101, 132, 164, 165, 204, 233, 237,
276, 300, 340, 341, 372
'Piggy lifted the heavy lid to feed upon the cheese' 141
'Please, sir, will you--would you buy a pincushion?' 92
Ploughing in Syria 316
Plymouth Breakwater 188
Prairie Dogs 61
'Scores of angry bees came buzzing round her' 109
'See! A Matabele!' 193
'Set to the hardest and most menial work' 57
'She was floating away in the midst of the stream' 280
'Some one is lost in the snow, and Lassie knows it' 373
'Soon the two little mischief-makers were busy at
work on the pictures' 140
'Stalked while I myself stalked the water-buck' 36
'Stepping down from the vase and crowding round Hugh's bed' 177
'Stop thief!' 228
'The African beauty was greatly taken with Lander' 209
'The bear would eat and drink in a truly dignified fashion' 249
The Birmingham Water-works 317
'The carpenter took off his coat' 281
The Cooking Lesson 77
'The crowd drew him along in triumph' 308
'The dog darted after the bat' 16
'The dog gave the horse the turnip' 160
'The dog took kindly to her foster-children' 17
The Duck-billed Platypus 181
The Egg Poacher 65
The first Passenger to cross the Brooklyn Bridge 1
The first Railway Journey in England 80
The Forth Bridge 245
The Giant of the Treasure Caves (Illustrations to), 8, 9,
24, 32, 40, 48, 49, 64, 72, 73, 88, 96, 104, 112, 113,
124, 136, 144, 145, 157, 168, 173, 184, 185, 200, 201,
216, 224, 232, 233, 248, 256, 264, 272, 273, 288, 296,
297, 312, 313, 321, 336, 344, 345, 360, 368, 369, 384
The Great Eastern 149
'The great work was soon accomplished' 120
'The head of a snake thrust out close to him' 169
'The kitten at once began lapping' 333
'The lad emptied the pail over his employer' 133
'The luckless fugitives were dragged forth' 89
The Manchester Ship Canal 281
'The most wily and cunning black pig that ever made his escape' 192
'The motor came to a standstill' 401
The Music of the Nations (Illustrations to), 21, 52, 69,
116, 148, 172, 196, 229, 261, 292, 324, 380
'Then came the difficult task of bringing down the little lad' 13
The Nile Dam at Assuan 220
'The pike seized the stoat' 161
'The precious picnic-basket rolling down the turf' 376
'The promise of a thousand songs' 217
'There, still on the boulder, was Collie, barking' 352
'The thing exploded in the air' 225
'The third time he collapsed, and was pulled back 353
The Union Jack 348
'The weight of the two birds had the desired effect' 189
The Words of Command 117
'They began to examine the damaged axle' 332
'They were passing a field of ripe corn' 409
'They were playing with me as though I were a big mouse' 68
'This is a present which your uncle has sent you' 397
'Three yelping, delighted dogs' 28
'Throw your bad temper overboard' 304
'Tim pressed up the lid with his head' 412
Victoria Falls 128
'"Watch him!" said Douglas' 252
'What a feast I had!' 221
'What did the strange beast mean by gazing at him?' 381
'What do they want with me?' 320
'"What is the matter?" I asked him' 81
'Who's that that dares to serve me so?' 5
'Why don't you take off your hat to me?' 176
'Why not start, a round of story-telling?' 20
Yaks 125
'"You have found me out," said the captain' 257
Chatterbox.
MARVELS OF MAN'S MAKING.
I.--THE BROOKLYN SUSPENSION BRIDGE.
When two large cities stand opposite to one another on the banks of a river, it is not likely they can do very well without a bridge to connect them. Yet the citizens of New York and Brooklyn were obliged to manage as best they could for a good many years before they had their bridge. There were many difficulties in the way. For one thing, the river is very broad; for another, the tall-masted ships ply up and down so frequently that it would never do to build anything which would obstruct their passage; and to overcome these difficulties would mean the expenditure of a vast sum of money. But the folk who earned their daily bread in New York and lived in Brooklyn grew thoroughly tired of spending chilly hours in foggy weather on the river-side piers, waiting for the ferry-boat to come and take them across, and at last they began an agitation which resulted in the Brooklyn Bridge.
The engineer who made the first design was Mr. John A. Raebling; but he did not live to see it carried into effect; for one summer day in 1869, when selecting the spot at which the great work should be begun, he met with an accident which caused his death a few days later. His son, Mr. Washington Raebling, then took the lead. Plans were carefully drawn and submitted to the Government, who, after much consideration, ordered that the bridge should be five feet higher and five feet wider. This apparently slight change added about 172,800_l._ to the cost of building, for little changes in big things mean more than big changes in little ones. The original cost was to be 10,800,000 dollars, or about 2,160,000_l._; but in the end it amounted to nearly 3,100,000_l._
Before we talk of the trouble and labour, let us look for a moment at the great things the engineers have accomplished.
The Brooklyn bridge is five thousand eight hundred and eighty-nine feet long and eighty-five feet wide. The huge cables that support it stretch like the strands of a monster spider-web from the tops of two towers, each two hundred and seventy-six feet high and standing one thousand five hundred and ninety-five feet apart. The above is the length of the central span; the two other spans, from the land to the towers, are each nine hundred and thirty feet long in addition. The roadway, one hundred and thirty-five feet above the river, is divided into five parts. The two outside ones are for vehicles, the middle one for foot passengers, and the remaining two for cable trams. The footway is eight feet higher than the others, so that an uninterrupted view is gained from it. The four cables supporting this heavy structure are anchored at both ends in blocks of masonry weighing sixty thousand tons each; so that there is little fear of their being dragged from their moorings. The bridge was opened amid a blaze of fireworks on May 24th, 1883.
On May 7th, 1870, the tower on the riverside at Brooklyn was begun, and completed just five years later; its companion on the opposite side was a year behind it. The foundations of these great towers lie in solid rock seventy-eight feet below the high-tide line on the New York side, and only a little less on the Brooklyn side.
The towers once completed, the task of laying the cables across from summit to summit engaged the thoughts of the engineers. This was no ordinary case of swinging a steel rope across a river, for the gigantic size and weight of the cables made it impossible to use ordinary means. First of all it would be necessary to make a communication from tower to tower. To accomplish this, one end of a coiled steel rope was carried to the top of the Brooklyn tower and passed over until it dangled into the river beneath. Here a steamboat dragged it across the river to the foot of the New York tower, where it was hauled up, and having been passed over the top, was carried down to the masonry anchorage already mentioned. Here it was wound round a revolving drum or pulley, and started back again to Brooklyn in the same manner, thus forming an endless band along which material could be carried by revolving the pulley at either end.
Though this rope was three-quarters of an inch in thickness, it was almost invisible to the people on the river, two hundred and seventy-six feet below. Yet it was the first 'stitch' in the great web, and thousands of eyes were turned towards it on August 25th, 1876, when the very first passenger crossed along it from shore to shore. This passenger was Mr. Farrington, one of the engineers. He wished to encourage his men by a good example, for over that terrible gulf it would soon be necessary for many of them to go. His seat was a small piece of board such as we use for a swing in a playground, and it was attached to the wire by four short ropes. The perilous journey took more than twenty minutes, and the people below watched almost breathlessly as the slender thread swayed up and down with the weight of the traveller. To their eyes it appeared at times as if he was soaring through the air unsupported, so thin was the line by which he hung.
And now the weaving of the cables began, and this was perhaps the most remarkable undertaking in the construction of the great bridge. To the endless band by which Mr. Farrington had crossed, there was fixed what is called a 'carrier.' This was to grip the end of the first wire (as the eye of the needle takes the thread); bear it across the river over the tops of the lofty towers; 'stitch' it to the New York shore (or anchorage) and bring it back again.
And that is what it did. This new wire (only one-eight of an inch thick--thinner, that is, than the first wire, on which Mr. Farrington had crossed) was two hundred miles long, and it had to perform the journey many hundred times before the first 'skein' was complete. Thus you will see that a single 'skein' stretched from shore to shore, consisting of nearly three hundred separate threads. These were bound tightly together at frequent intervals, and when a bunch of nineteen of them had been made, the first cable was ready for completion. But this was a matter of great difficulty. You will easily understand that it was necessary for every wire to do its share in bearing the weight of the bridge. Therefore, they must all be at an equal strain from tower to tower. Now you know that on a sunny day a bar of steel is longer than it is on a cloudy day, for the metal expands with heat. Consequently, when the sun came out to see what they were doing at Brooklyn, the wires upon which it shone became longer than those in the shadow behind them. Of course, in a short distance this would not be noticeable, but it made such a difference in the work we are describing, that the strength of the cable would have been greatly lessened had the strands been bound together in the sunshine, while some of the wires were slack, and some were tight. Even the wind interfered sadly; but by choosing dull, still days, when all the wires were subjected to the same temperature, they were at last successfully bound together.
Notwithstanding the perilous nature of this cable-weaving, it was attended by only one serious accident, and that was when one of the 'skeins' broke loose from the New York shore, and, leaping like the lash of a giant whip over the tower top, plunged into the river below. It narrowly missed the ferry-boats and other craft.
The effect of the temperature on such vast quantities of metal is shown in many ways. By shortening and lengthening the cables, it heightens and lowers the bridge, which is consequently slightly higher above the river in winter than it is in summer. At the tower-tops the cables rest on huge iron saddles, which are placed upon forty steel rollers, so that the cables may move more freely in expanding and contracting. Again, the bridge itself is not made in one piece, but is severed half-way across and provided with a sliding joint, so that all shall act obediently to the dictates of the ever-changing weather.
Thus you see there is more in building a bridge than appears to those who do not remember that a knowledge of nature's laws must guide the architect's hand when he is drawing his plans, and govern the engineer's tools when he is carrying those plans into effect.
JOHN LEA.
THE LAST TIME.
'You might do it for me, just this once, Barton,' said Lopes in a tone of anxiety not often heard from a schoolboy. 'Your father is a rich man, and you can always get all the money you want from him, and if you will only lend me this, I will never borrow from you again. Do ask for the money at once!'
Barton looked much perplexed at this appeal, but he answered firmly: 'I can't do it, old fellow! I have given my word to my father never to be mixed up in any betting transaction, and I cannot ask him for money to go to a bookmaker.'
'Then I'm ruined!' said Lopes, passionately, 'and much you care, though you and I have been chums together ever since we first entered the school!' and in his despair he clenched his fist and seemed almost as if he were going to strike his friend.
Barton put up his arm to shield himself as he said in a low voice, 'Look out, Lopes; don't shout so! we don't want all the kids to know about this matter;' for just at this moment a trio of merry lads came round the corner of the Fives Court, whooping and shouting at the top of their voices. 'Come to the garden; we shall be quiet there, and can talk over matters, and see what can be done;' and Barton closed the book he had been studying and led the way to the nut-walk which was sacred to the Sixth Form.
Lopes followed gloomily. 'It's no good talking, if you won't help me,' he said as they reached the quiet path.
'But I want to help you,' said Barton, 'and I think I see a way out of this scrape.'
'Oh, do you?' said Lopes eagerly. 'If only I could pay off this man and have done with him, I would never bet again. I see now what a silly fool I have been. Tell me your plan, Barton.'
'Go and tell Mr. Arundel all about it. I don't believe bookmakers have any right to tempt boys like us to lay money on horses, and---- '
'Mr. Arundel! one of the masters! He would go and tell the Head straight off, and I should be expelled,' said Lopes bitterly. 'I thought you had some better plan than that!'
'Mr. Arundel is a gentleman,' said Barton quietly, 'and what you tell him in confidence will go no further, you may be sure of that; I believe he could help you.'
'I wish I could think so,' sighed Lopes. 'I can think of nothing, and settle to nothing with this debt on my mind.'
'Go to Mr. Arundel,' urged Barton. 'I know you will not regret it.'
'Well, I will,' at last said Lopes. 'I will go at once before my courage fails me.'
'I will come with you,' said Barton, taking his friend's arm.
'You are a good chap, Barton; you don't desert a fellow when he is down!' said Lopes gratefully. 'I wish I had taken your advice at first, and thrown the bookmaker's letter on the fire.'
* * * * *
There is no space here to tell of all Mr. Arundel said and did to help Lopes out of his ugly betting scrape. Though the master did not fail to show Lopes how wrongly he had acted, he had a real pity for the boy who had been so tempted by the bookmaker's letter, and he determined to let that gentleman know what he knew of him.
So a very strong letter was sent off by Mr. Arundel, telling the man that unless he released the schoolboy from all his so-called debts, he would have him publicly shown up and prosecuted for dealing with a minor.
By return of post came the desired release from the bookmaker, and Mr. Arundel handed it to the boy with a pleasant smile. 'You are free, Lopes; you will hear no more of this man, I can promise you, and you must promise me never to bet again.'
'I will--I do, sir! and thank you most deeply,' said Lopes earnestly. If this had reached my father's ears, it would have broken his heart. Oh, thank you so very much! You do not know how miserable I have been.'
Lopes kept his word, and that bet was his last one. He had learnt that honesty and straightforwardness get rid of any difficulties.
NO HARM MEANT.
Two puppies with good-natured hearts, but clumsy little toes,
Were feeling rather sleepy, so they settled for a doze;
But underneath the very ledge on which they chanced to be,
A large and stately pussy cat was basking dreamily.
A short half-hour had hardly passed, when one pup made a stir,
And stretching out a lazy paw, just touched the tabby's fur;
'Twas nothing but an accident, yet, oh! the angry wail!
The flashing in the tabby's eye, the lashing of her tail!
'Who's that that dares to serve me so?' she cried with arching back.
'I'll teach you puppies how to make an unprovoked attack!'
One puppy started to his feet with terror in his eyes,
The other said, as soon as pluck had overcome surprise:
'I'm really very sorry, ma'am, but honestly declare
I hadn't any notion that a pussy cat was there.'
But just like those who look for wrong in every one they see,
She left the spot, nor deigned to take the pup's apology.
HOW MANY?
The Spartan King Agis was asked shortly before a battle: 'How many soldiers can you bring into the field?'
'As many as will suffice to rout the enemy!' was the Spartan's curt reply.
THE GIANT OF THE TREASURE CAVES.
By MRS. MULLIKEN.
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Chatterbox, 1906Chapter I: Front Matter
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