Chapter XVI (1)

Christmas at Mount Vernon, although it could never again be the gay season it had been, was yet cheerful. The presence of Lord Fairfax and George, of Madam Washington and Betty, revived the spirits of the master and mistress. William Fairfax, now a handsome young man of eighteen, and the same mild, manly, good-natured fellow, was home from Williamsburg for the holidays. George had never been to Williamsburg, where there was a viceregal court, and where everything was conducted upon a scale adapted to a representative of royalty. He was much impressed by William's description, and they made many plans for a holiday together, the next winter, in the capital.

"And we will attend the Governor's levee--but you must not be too much of a republican, George, for the Governor exacts viceregal respect--and the assemblies in the great Apollo Room at the Raleigh Tavern, and the lectures at the college by learned men from England and Scotland. Ah, George, how you will enjoy it!" cried William.

Lord Fairfax, hearing the young men talk, felt a desire to revisit Williamsburg, a place where he had spent some happy days, and soon after this conversation, when William had already returned to college, he said, one day:

"I think, George, if your brother can spare you towards the spring, I should like to have you visit Williamsburg with me. It is now twelve years since I was there, in the administration of my Lord Botetourt. He exacted every mark of respect that would have been paid to the King himself. I well remember his going in state to open the House of Burgesses, as the King opens Parliament. He rode in a gilt coach, given him by the King himself, drawn by eight milk-white horses--a very fine show; but for all their love of finery and display themselves, the Virginians are very jealous of any on the part of their rulers, and many gentlemen who drove coaches and four themselves complained bitterly of the Governor."

George was charmed at the prospect, and took the first opportunity of broaching the subject to Laurence.

"I think it would be very advantageous to you to see something of a viceregal court, and I will see that you have the means to make a good appearance," was Laurence's kind reply.

"Thank you, brother," said George, gratefully. "I will have things on the place in such order that everything will go on as if I were here; and as I shall come back for some weeks before returning to the mountains, I can see whether my orders have been carried out or not."

Another summer's work would finish all the surveys Lord Fairfax wished, and it was understood that at the end of that time George was to live permanently at Mount Vernon in charge of the estate.

Madam Washington was delighted at the idea of George's advent at the provincial court under such auspices, and Betty danced for joy, and immediately plunged into a discussion of George's wardrobe for the great event.

"Timothy Jones, the tailor in Alexandria, has some fine green cloth, out of which he could make you a surtout trimmed with silver, and I saw myself an elegant piece of scarlet velvet from which a mantle to wear to court might be made. And you shall have my best Mechlin lace for your cravat. Ah, George, how I long to see you in your fine clothes!"

"I should think, Betty," replied George, smiling, "you would be more concerned about how I will conduct myself with these great people. You know, sometimes I lose my speech entirely, and become very awkward; and sometimes I become abstracted in company; and nobody's manners are perfect at eighteen."

"Dear George," cried Betty, throwing her arms around his neck, "I think of your clothes because that is all that I need think about with you. In every other way you are sure to do us credit;" which made George feel that Betty was the most good-natured creature alive.

"I wish you were going," said he, presently.

"I wish so too," replied Betty. "But when brother Laurence gets well sister Anne has promised to take me, and my mother has said I may go," for both George and Betty, with the optimism of youth, thought it quite certain that their brother would one day be well.

The first day of February the start was made. The grand equipage set forth, with the Earl and George on the back seat of the coach and Lance on the box. Billy rode George's horse, and was in ecstasies at the prospect of such an expedition. On the second day, in the evening, the coach rolled into Williamsburg. It was a lovely February evening, and the watchman was going about lighting lanterns hung to tall poles at the street corners. George had chosen to make the last stage with the Earl, and was deeply interested in all he saw. The town was as straggling as Alexandria or as Fredericksburg, but there was that unmistakable air of a capital which the presence of the seat of government always gives. As they drove rapidly, and with great clatter, down Duke of Gloucester Street, George noticed many gentlemen in both naval and military uniforms, and others in the unpowdered wig of the scholar, which last he inferred were professors and tutors at the college. Of collegians there were not a few, and George noticed they always appeared in gangs, and seemed to regard themselves as quite aloof from other persons, and slightly superior to them. As the coach drove quickly through the Palace Green, with the palace on one hand and the college on the other, both were brilliantly lighted. A couple of sentries in red coats marched up and down before the palace--a long, rambling brick building, with its two generous wings, and its great court-yard with fine iron gates. On its top was a cupola, which was only lighted up on gala nights. On both sides of the palace were spacious gardens, with a straight canal, bordered with cedars, cut in the stiff, artificial manner of the time, and with small summer-houses, in the form of Greek temples, made of stucco. A coach was driving out and another was driving in, while an officer, evidently an aide-de-camp, picked his way along the gravelled path that led to the side where the offices were. Opposite the palace towered the plain but substantial brick buildings of William and Mary College, and a crowd of students were going into the common hall for supper. It all seemed very grand to George's eyes, and when they alighted at the Raleigh Tavern, the tavern-keeper, wearing silk stockings and carrying two silver candlesticks, came out to meet them, and ushered them into a handsome private room ornamented over the mantel by a print of his Majesty King George the Second. The tavern-keeper was not by any means like the sturdy citizens who kept houses of entertainment between Fredericksburg and the mountains. He "my lorded" the Earl at every turn, and was evidently used to fine company. He was happy to say that he was then entertaining Sir John Peyton, of Gloucester, who had come to Williamsburg for the winter season, and Colonel Byrd, of Westover. Also the Honorable John Tyler, marshal of the colony, was attending the Governor's council upon matters of importance, and was occupying the second-best rooms in the tavern--my lord having the best, of course, according to his rank. The Earl was a little wearied with all this, but bore with it civilly until the tavern-keeper bowed himself out, when William Fairfax burst in, delighted to see them. William was neither so tall nor so handsome as George, but he was overflowing with health and spirits.

"The Governor heard you were coming, sir," cried William, "and stopped his coach in the street yesterday to ask me when you would arrive. I told him you had probably started, if my advices were correct, and that you would be accompanied by Mr. George Washington, brother of Mr. Laurence Washington, now of Mount Vernon, but late of the royal army. He said he much desired to meet Mr. Washington's brother--for to tell you the truth, my lord, the Governor loves rank and wealth in his provincial subjects--and, meaning to speak well for George, I told him a great deal of Mr. Laurence Washington's lands and other wealth, and he smiled, or rather gaped, just like a great sheep's-head at a bait."

"William, you should be respectful of dignitaries," was the Earl's reply, although he smiled, while George laughed outright at William's artful working upon the Governor's weakness.

As soon as supper was over came a thundering knock upon the door, and the host ushered in Sir John Peyton, of Gloucester, a colonial dandy, whose pride it was that he had the handsomest foot and leg in the colony. Sir John was very elegantly dressed, and carried upon his left arm a muff, which effeminate fashion he had brought from England on his last visit.

"Ah, my Lord Fairfax! Most happy to meet you," cried Sir John, affectedly. "'Tis most unkind of you to pitch your tent in the wilderness, instead of gracing the viceregal court, where gentlemen of rank and wealth are sadly needed."

"Having experienced the hollowness of a regal court, Sir John, I can withstand all the attractions of any other," was Lord Fairfax's quiet and rather sarcastic reply.

Sir John, not at all disconcerted, helped himself with a jewelled hand from a gold snuff-box, and then, leaning against the mantel, put his hands in his muff.

"By all the loves of Venus, my lord, you and your young friend Mr. Washington should see some of the beautiful young ladies here. There is Mistress Martha Dandridge--odd's life! if I were not pledged to die a bachelor I should sue for that fair maid's hand; and Lady Christine Blair--born Stewart, who met and married Mr. Blair in Edinburgh--a dull, psalm-singing town it is. Lady Christine, having great beauty, illumines the college where her husband is Professor. And the lovely, the divine Evelyn Byrd, and Mistress Tyler, who is one of those French Huguenots, and has a most bewitching French accent--all ladies worthy of your lordship's admiration."

"No doubt," replied the Earl, gravely, but inwardly tickled at Sir John's ineffable impudence, "they would but slightly value the admiration of an ancient recluse like myself, and would prefer my young friends Mr. Washington and Mr. Fairfax."

Sir John, quite unabashed, now turned to the two young men, who had great difficulty in keeping their faces straight when they looked at him.

"Really, Mr. Washington, you must get a muff if you wish to be comfortable in this cursed climate. I never knew comfort till I got one in England, on the recommendation of Mr. Horace Walpole, who has the divinest taste in muffs and china I ever saw."

"I am afraid I cannot find one of a size for my hand," answered George, gravely, holding out a well-shaped but undeniably large hand.

After much more talk about Mr. Horace Walpole, the lovely Misses Berry, and the company of comedians daily expected from London, Sir John took his leave, promising to see them at the Governor's levee next day. As soon as the door closed upon him Lord Fairfax turned to William, and said, testily, "I hoped I had left all such popinjays as Sir John Peyton at court in England, but here I find the breed flourishing."

"Sir John is not half so absurd as he looks, sir," answered William, laughing. "He is as brave as a lion; and when on his last voyage home there was a fire in the ship's cargo, I hear he was the coolest man on board, and by his conceits and quips and jests in the face of danger kept off a panic. And he is honorable and truthful, and he really has much sense."

"Then," cried the Earl, "he does all he can to disguise it."

Their next visitors were Colonel Byrd, of Westover, and Mr. Tyler, marshal of the colony, who ranked next the Governor, and Mr. Randolph, Speaker of the House of Burgesses. The Earl received these gentlemen with marked respect, placed chairs for them himself, and entered into a long and interesting conversation with them on the state of the colony. Both George and William remained modestly silent, as became young men of their age, and listened attentively. It was agreed among them all that war with the French was practically certain. The colonies were thoroughly aroused, and each of the visitors gave it as his opinion that the colonies were willing to settle the question themselves without aid from the home government.

"And when the conflict comes," remarked Colonel Byrd, turning to the two young men, "it is to young gentlemen such as these that we must look for our safety, because, you may be sure, if the French capture our outposts, they will not be satisfied until they overrun our whole lowland country, and they must be checked at the mountains if they are to be checked at all."

"My young friend Mr. Washington knows all about matters on the frontier, as he has surveyed my lands across the Alleghanies for two summers, and is quite as familiar with the temper of the Indians as with the face of the country," remarked the Earl.

This at once made George an object of interest to them all, and he was closely questioned. He answered everything that was asked him with such intelligence and pith that his new acquaintances formed a high idea of his sense. He often referred to William Fairfax, who had been with him the first summer, and William made also a fine impression. They sat until midnight, talking, and Lance had to renew the fire and the candles twice before the company parted.

Next morning William came betimes and burst into George's room while that young gentleman was still in bed.

"Get up, man!" cried William, shaking him. "Here you lie sleeping like a log, when you ought to be having your breakfast and making ready to see the town."

George needed no second invitation, and in a very short time was making play with his breakfast in the sitting-room reserved for Lord Fairfax. The Earl was there himself, and the delightful anticipations of George and William, which were fully shared by Lance and Billy, brought a smile to his usually grave face.

Lance was simply beaming. A number of his old regiment were enrolled among the Governor's body-guard, and the sight of a redcoat did him, as he said, "a world of good." As for Billy, he had reached the state of _nil admirari_, and was determined to be surprised at nothing. On the contrary, when the tavern servants had assumed that he was a country servant, Billy had completely turned the tables on them. Nothing in the Raleigh Tavern was good enough for him. He pished and pshawed in the most approved style, treated Colonel Byrd's and Marshal Tyler's servants with infinite scorn, and declined to be patronized even by Sir John Peyton's own man, who had been to London. He called them all "cornfiel' han's," and, as the way generally is, he was taken at his own valuation, and reigned monarch of all he surveyed in the kitchen, where he gave more trouble than Lord Fairfax himself. However, one person could bring Billy down with neatness and despatch. This was Lance, who, although belonging to a class of white people that Billy despised, was yet capable of reporting him to "Marse George," so Billy was wary when Lance was around.

At three o'clock the coach came, and the Earl and George set forth with outriders to attend the Governor's levee. It was the first time George had ever seen the Earl in court dress. He wore a splendid suit of plum-colored satin, with ruby and diamond shoebuckles, with his diamond-hilted sword, and a powdered wig. George, too, was very elegantly dressed, and as they drove up to the palace, amid a crowd of coaches and chaises of all sorts, and dismounted, there were not two such distinguished-looking persons there. George felt decidedly flurried, although he had ample self-possession to disguise it.

They were met by the Governor's guard in the great entrance-hall, who passed them on to an anteroom, where half a dozen lackeys in gorgeous liveries bowed to the ground before them. A great pair of folding-doors led into the audience-chamber, and at a signal from within the doors were thrown wide, and they entered.

The room was large but low, and had on each side a row of mullioned windows. It was crowded with company, but a lane was at once made for the Earl and George, who advanced towards a dais covered with scarlet cloth at one end of the room, where Governor Dinwiddie stood, in a splendid court dress; for the Governors of Virginia assumed to be viceroys, and everything at the provincial court was copied, as far as possible, from the same thing at the Court of St. James. Ranged around the dais were the wife and daughters of the Governor with several ladies-in-waiting, also in court dresses with trains.

As the Earl and George made their reverences they attracted much attention; and when George stood back, silent and awaiting his turn while the Governor conversed with the Earl, there was a murmur of admiration for him. He was so manly, so graceful, his figure was set off with so incomparable an air of elegance, that other men appeared commonplace beside him. He seemed from his ease and grace to have spent his life at courts, while, in truth, he had never seen anything half so fine before.

The Governor, having finished his conversation with the Earl, motioned to George, who advanced as the Earl backed off, it being inadmissible to turn one's back on the Governor.

The first question asked by Governor Dinwiddie was,

"My Lord Fairfax tells me, Mr. Washington, that you have explored much in the Northwest?"

"I have, your Excellency."

"I should very much like at your leisure to have an account of affairs in that region."

"Your Excellency may command me."

"And I shall meanwhile have pleasure in presenting you to Madam Dinwiddie and my daughters Mistress Eleanor and Mistress Katharine."

Madam Dinwiddie, a comely dame, and the two young ladies courtesied low to the handsome young man presented to them, and Madam Dinwiddie said,

"I hope, Mr. Washington, that we may see you at the ball to-night."

"I have promised myself that honor, madam," replied George.

With the Earl he then withdrew to the back of the hall, where they found many acquaintances, old to the Earl but new to George; and no man or woman who saw George that day but was impressed with him as a youth of whom great things might be expected.

[TO BE CONTINUED.]

THE TROUT PLAYS HOOKEY.

A little trout, one bright sunshiny day,
As to his morning school he went his way,
Thought 'twould be fun to turn aside and stray,
And at the wicked game of hookey play.

"'Tis great," he said, as up the purling brook
He slyly swam, with many a backward look,
"To travel thus upon one's own sweet hook,
And leave the stupid study of one's book."

And so he gayly swam from pool to pool,
Forgetting all his duties at the school;
Forgetting lessons, pencil, slate, and rule,
Till afternoon gave way to twilight cool.

And then, ah me!--poor naughty little trout!--
A fisherman came treading softly out,
With pole, and line, and worms both sleek and stout,
In search of such as he, beyond a doubt.

And trouty, feeling hungry, took a bite.
He bit with all his main and all his might.
The line drew back, it drew exceeding tight,
And trouty flashed straight upward, out of sight.

And now the other trout, his brothers, weeping, say
He ne'er came back to his old purling way.
He's not been seen since that sunshiny day
When at the game of "hook" he tried to play.

CARLYLE SMITH.

THE BELGIUM ARMY PLAYING AT WAR.

BY V. GRIBAYÉDOFF.

The hardships of militarism are, perhaps, nowhere more apparent on the other side of the water than in the little kingdom of Belgium. She lies between France and Germany--we might say between the bark and the tree--and should war break out between these two great powers, there is little doubt that her neutrality would be violated by one or both of them, and the war carried on within her borders. Such, at all events, has been the argument of the advocates of military expenditure; and that the Belgian Parliament has not turned a deaf ear to it is clear from the enormous credits voted of late years for the construction of a line of forts along the River Meuse, between Liege, the great manufacturing centre, and the fortress of Namur; also for the general strengthening of the defensive forces of the kingdom.

Here, then, is a nation of little over six million inhabitants, occupying an area about half the size of New York State, of themselves industrious and peaceable, yet obliged to contribute millions and millions yearly for the support of an army which, including the militia, exceeds two hundred thousand men. What would the tax-payers of New York, with its population of nearly six millions and its militia of twelve thousand men, say to a proposition to put them on the same military footing with Belgium?

Inconceivable as the proposition would appear to us, the Belgians are thoroughly resigned to their fate, and since the young Fleming or Walloon who draws his number knows that he must serve his time, willy nilly, he does it like a man, and even puts on an appearance of satisfaction, for it is considered bad form to betray one's disappointment. Fifty thousand young men are annually called, and of these twelve thousand are selected by the drawing. Their term of service is eight years, four under arms, and four in the reserve.

I have heard competent military men, familiar with the methods employed in the Belgian army, express the opinion that, for its size, it is one of the most perfect fighting-machines in Europe. I must say that my own experience during the regular summer manoeuvres this year in the province of Namur was such as to incline me to share that belief. To begin with, the men are of excellent physique, far larger in stature than the French, though perhaps a trifle below the North German standard. A Belgian regiment contains about an equal proportion of blond and dark haired men, and it is a safe plan to class the former as inhabitants of the Flemish provinces--that is, Flanders, Antwerp, Limbourg, and North Brabant--and the latter as coming from the Walloon section--viz., Hainault, South Brabant, Liege, Namur, and Luxembourg. The Flemings are of Germanic extraction, and speak a language akin to Dutch; the Walloons are an energetic Celtic race, with a proud military history behind them. The two elements, leavening each other, form a compact yet pliable mass, the best of material in the hands of a good commander. French is the official military language; but the regulations and orders are also printed in Flemish, which has a recognized legal standing in the country.

The most picturesque body of troops in the Belgian army are the dragoons, or "Guides." One of the accompanying photographs shows a party engaged in preparing a meal in an open field. The men in the foreground are wearing the forage-cap, but when on active duty they don the imposing bear-skin busby seen on one or two of the figures in the rear. They are the favorites of King Leopold, himself an ardent military man, and the barrack of the 1st Regiment near Brussels is a marvel of good accommodation and comfort. The "Guides" are picked men, the majority Walloons. I have seen a squadron of them charge furiously across a plain bestrewn with ponderous logs without a break in their line. Their horsemanship is above praise. Besides its two regiments of "Guides," the Belgian army has two regiments of chasseurs, or light cavalry, and four of lancers--all with very showy uniforms. The predominating colors of the cavalry are blue-gray, light blue, pink, dark green, orange, etc. They use the same uniform for campaigning as for state occasions; nevertheless, I did not see a really shabby-looking soldier during my stay in Belgium.

The infantry is, of course, the mainstay of the army. It is also its hardest-worked branch. The photograph showing a detachment of foot-soldiers up to their waists in water will certainly not suggest a scene at Peekskill or any other American practice-ground. It is a scene I witnessed many a time, however, in Belgium. Nor must it be imagined that the "trick is done" when the soldiers have reached the opposite shore. Weighted down with pounds of baggage--knapsacks, ammunition-pouches, weapons, and clothing--and sopping to the skin, the poor fellows often have hours of mountain-climbing to undergo before the welcome bugle-blast brings them a few hours' respite. This is warfare indeed--all but the actual killing.

The method of preparing meals is shown in the "Guides" photograph. This digging a shallow trench in the ground, making a fire of stray branches, and setting the pot on to boil would hardly impress one as being conducive of happy results, to the digestive organs. And yet I myself had the interesting experience not only of watching the preparation, of a _ragout_ under these peculiar circumstances--that is, in the open field after a hard day's march--but also of sampling the result. How, under such adverse conditions, the regimental cooks ever managed to produce as delicious a stew as was offered me on this occasion is a mystery I have never been able to solve: the meat, the potatoes, and some gravy stock in a bottle the men carried with them in a cart. For the rest--carrots, turnips, and the "fines herbes" that constitute seasoning--they had to scour the neighborhood. Having secured these concomitants, the work of cooking seemed to them child's play.

I doubt if even the French soldiers live as well as do Belgium's hardy defenders. In fact, I know they do not. The Belgium soldier's pay is very high, judged by the European Continental standard--about six dollars a month--and the government allows him liberal rations of bread and meat besides. And with what care are his interests watched by his superiors! I learned, for instance, that the officers in charge of the regimental mess of the 3d Infantry, in Ghent, had succeeded not only in providing for each soldier's comfort on 18 centimes (less than four cents) per day, but that out of this sum money was left over for extra beer and various entertainments, and at the end of a year almost 12,000 francs of savings were deposited in the bank for mutual benefit! This is good management indeed. Some of the hardest work in connection with modern field manoeuvres is entailed in the necessity of constantly throwing up intrenchments, and two of the photographs show the fighting under these conditions. The modern infantryman must be an adept with the pick and the spade, otherwise he is entirely at the mercy of the modern repeating-rifle. The Belgians understand that their future war will be a defensive one against an unscrupulous invader, and the throwing up of intrenchments at short notice will constitute an important factor in their scheme of defence. Not many years ago infantry, when assailed in the open without cover would at the best lay themselves flat on their stomachs to escape the rain of shot. Nowadays the European foot-soldier also performs the duties of sapper and miner, and while on the defensive makes cover for himself by the use of pick and spade. I timed a company of Belgian infantry at this operation in a large meadow bordering a wood whence the mock enemy was emerging. The retreat of the former was cut off by a broad impassable stream, so there was nothing for it but to make a stand. At the word of command those of the men who carried the combination pick and spade, about fifty in number, commenced digging a trench. Thirteen minutes later the job was completed, and the entire force was well under cover, and began firing its volleys at the approaching foe. The trench was almost one hundred feet long, of an average width of three feet, and of about the same depth. The earth thrown up formed an _épaulement_ of two and one-half feet, allowing each man to stand almost erect and to take careful aim. The whole operation, in addition to its rapidity, was carried through with remarkable order and coolness. The men seemed to understand their task thoroughly, and performed it without the slightest trace of confusion. If their aim is as good as their field-work, they must be formidable foes indeed!

The pontoon and the field telegraph and signal services are the objects of great attention on the part of the Belgian military authorities, and I have added photographs illustrating all these branches. The country south of the Liege-Namur line, where the Germans are expected to appear some day, is intersected with more or less impassable rivers, which will often need bridging in short order. The pontoon service is consequently of the first importance among the various factors in the country's defence.

The best picture--artistically speaking--represents a group of Belgian gendarmes around a camp-fire. It is a masterpiece of artistic photography. The gendarmes are also a very important branch of the service, and their duties are most onerous, since they are not only called upon to police the rural districts, suppress strikes, and make themselves generally useful as servants of the law, but in war-time they form part and parcel of the regular army, and are obliged to fight their country's battles like the rest.

HOW TO EXTRA-ILLUSTRATE A BOOK.

BY WILLIAM HALE.

Every one knows how much more interesting is an illustrated book than one without pictures. What a satisfaction it would be to us if we could illustrate our favorite books ourselves! What pleasure we would take in it! This is entirely possible. It is a comparatively easy matter to illustrate a book, or, in the case of a book that already contains pictures, to extend and increase the illustration by means of old prints, engravings, and pictures gathered from various sources and bound in with the leaves of the book. This is called "extra-illustrating," and has long been a favorite amusement of collectors.

A book that is carefully and judiciously extra-illustrated is not only much more attractive in appearance, but its value is greatly increased, and the amount of pleasure and instruction to be gained by the extra illustration of one book is a rich reward for the trouble and time it costs.

The first thing to be done in the extra illustration of a book which has been selected for the purpose is the collection of the pictures. This will often take some time, and should never be done in a hurry. Old magazines and illustrated papers will supply many of the necessary pictures, while old books and the shops devoted to the sale of old prints and engravings will furnish others.

Suppose _The Three Musketeers_ to be the book chosen. A portrait of the author should be selected for a frontispiece. Other portraits, representing the author at different ages, may be used in the book; but the one that serves as the frontispiece should be one made about the time he wrote the book.

The other illustrations should consist of pictures referring as nearly as possible to the scenes and incidents described in the story. Pictures of an author's home or portraits of members of his family are always useful; but no picture, however interesting in itself, should be included if it does not bear directly upon the scenes in the book or is not in some way connected with the author.

When a sufficient number of illustrations have been selected, they should be mounted ready for binding. This is the difficult part, and must be done with great care.

Take a sheet of strong paper, as nearly as possible the same color and weight as the paper upon which the book is printed, and cut it the exact size of the page of the book. Then trim your print close to the work, being careful to see that the edges are perfectly straight. Cut out from your sheet of paper a hole exactly the shape of the print, but an eighth of an inch smaller on all sides. This opening should not be exactly in the middle of the page, but a little above the middle and a little to the left, so as to give wider margins at the bottom and on the right. Now gum or paste the edges of the print on the under side with great care, and place it over the opening so that it is even on all sides. As there is a difference of only a sixteenth of an inch on the four sides, it is a delicate matter to place the print on the mount accurately, but after a little practice it can be done quite easily and quickly.

After the prints are mounted, they should be pressed until dry. Then the cover of the book should be carefully removed with the aid of a sharp knife. Never mind about ruining the blank pages or fly-leaves, they will be replaced by the binder when he puts the cover on again; but care should be taken to avoid cutting or tearing any of the printed pages. When the cover is removed, it will be found that the book is put together in sections laid one on top of another. These sections consist of sixteen or some other number of pages each, and a section is known in a printing-office as a "signature." The threads that sew the book should be cut, and the signatures should be carefully separated from each other.

Then the mounted prints should be laid in as neatly as possible opposite the incidents they illustrate. The prints should always be inserted face up, and the sidewise full pages with the bottom of the picture toward either the outside or inside margin of the book. Now your book is ready for the binder. Perhaps your extra-illustration has been so extensive as to increase the bulk of the book so much that the original cover will not go on again, and perhaps enough has been added to make the one volume into two, in which case your binder can supply you with simple covers at a very slight expense.

Books of travel, or stories of hunting, fishing, etc., may be beautifully illustrated by photographs. Unmounted prints are to be desired, although it is possible to take prints off mounts by a liberal soaking in warm water. The soft-finished photographs, such as bromide and platinum-prints, are vastly better than the shiny albumen prints.

Photographs should be mounted in the same way as other prints, except that no openings are to be made in the mounts. The prints should be pasted on flat and pressed until dry. Albumen prints have a tendency to curl up, and it will require a pretty stiff paper to keep them flat. This is one of the reasons why platinum or bromide prints are so much better. When albumen prints are used they must be mounted wet, and should afterward be burnished, which can be done by any professional photographer. An amateur photographer can have the fun in many cases of making the pictures himself for the book he wants to extra-illustrate, and the finished work will have an added interest and value to him.

The use of photographs, especially if many are included, will greatly increase the thickness of a book, and it will generally be found advisable to have the binder make it into two volumes of equal size.

THE IMAGINARY BOAT.

Oh, I've got a beautiful 'maginary boat!
'Tis the finest boat there is.
There isn't a place where the craft won't float,
And go with a lively whiz.
I can shut my eyes
And sail in the skies
On board of that 'maginary ship;
And without any ropes,
With nothing but hopes,
I can soar to the mountain's tip.

I can sail to the moon
Any afternoon,
I can cruise all about the stars,
I can sail any sea
That ever did be,
I can sail on tracks like the cars.
It'll go on land
With a speed that's grand;
It will sail up a cataract steep;
And there isn't a place
On the whole earth's face
I can't make that vessel creep.

It takes no steam for to make it go,
It takes no wind on its sails to blow,
It takes no mule with a rope to tow,
But goes like a breeze
Over land and seas
When I say so--
And it's big and strong,
And it's short or long,
According as 't needs to be:
And it's manned by a crew
That's 'maginary too,
Who all think the world of me.

And night or day
It's ready for play,
And it's safe as a boat can be,
For it's all in your mind
That its joys you find--
And that's not a very deep sea.

So I say to you all get a 'maginary boat;
'Tis the finest boat there is;
And there isn't a place where the craft won't float,
And go with a lively whiz.

GASTON V. DRAKE.

CAMPING AND HUNTING.

There is no reason why a boy of fifteen or sixteen should not spend his two weeks in a camp hunting during September as well as his father or uncle. The only requirements are a wholesome respect and care for the gun, and the presence of some older man as a guide to keep him in the right track. The ROUND TABLE has spoken often of late years concerning the care and uses of a gun, and it is useless to go into the particulars of this again. It is enough to say here that a gun must be kept clean, always oiled and wiped each night, and never loaded except when game is momentarily expected to appear; and, above all, no gun, nor any part of a gun, should be pointed at any one.

The first question of moment in camping is the object. If it is hunting, then the particular game is to be considered, and places sought where that game is to be found. If it is fishing, then the best available fishing-grounds must be the site of the camp. The site of a camp should be on comparatively high ground, on some knoll where water will drain away on all sides. This avoids the danger of having water run down into the tent. One of the best of sites is the edge of a bluff, over the sea or a lake, which in the main slopes back inland on its other three sides. Such places can always be found if time is spent in searching sufficiently far for them.

With the certainty that rain will drain away from the tent-floor and that any breezes which may be going will blow across the tent itself, from whatever direction they may come, the actual flooring of the tent-house is settled. This knoll, however, must not be far from a spring. Here again time is the only thing that is necessary, for there is seldom a bluff near salt or fresh water that there is not a spring in one of the surrounding valleys less than 100 yards away. Of course the nearer the spring is the better, provided the tent site is not in or near a swamp. In the northeastern quarter of the United States--that is, from Ohio north and east--the tent should face southwest and northeast. It should not be too much covered by trees, and though not absolutely in the sun, the west exposure ought really to be open to all airs. If possible, the shore on which the tent site is should be an easterly or northeasterly one, so that as you stand on the bluff and look out on the river, bay, or lake you look in a southerly or westerly direction. By selecting such a shore, you will have your prevailing summer wind coming into the tent across whatever water is near, and hence so much the cooler. As some business man once said that "goods well bought were half sold," so a camping party with a site well selected is practically sure to be a success. Water is at hand and likely to be good, the wind is cool when it blows, and the ground is sure to be dry except immediately after a rain, when any spot would be wet. There will be shade under trees near by, though the tent itself will be in the sun a good deal of the day to keep it perfectly dry. This last is quite necessary, because, though a tent pitched in a hot plain is perhaps the hottest habitation on earth, the question of dryness is more important; and all tents on such situations as have been described will be cool at night if the directions regarding the care of the tent which are given below are followed.

The best tent, because the coolest, roomiest, and easiest to make and set up, is the ridge-pole tent. It consists of a ten-foot horizontal pole lying about seven feet from the ground on two uprights. Over this is stretched a piece of duck ten feet wide and about twenty feet long. Along the two ten-foot ends of this canvas are fastened cords about two feet from the end, something after the fashion of reefing-points on a boat's sail; and these cords, being perhaps three feet in length, are attached to tent pegs driven in sufficiently far out on each side to draw the canvas taut over the horizontal or "ridge" pole. The result is a peaked roof of canvas seven feet high at the centre and three feet high where the "walls" begin, and then two three-foot perpendicular walls. The ends of the tent are of course still open, and in all warm weather they will remain so. But to keep out rain and cold winds four flaps should be made, to hang at the front and back and on each side of the perpendicular supports to the ridge-pole. They should be somewhat larger than the space they are to cover, in order that they may lap sufficiently to close the opening completely. All during the day, if the weather permits, these "flaps" should be turned back on the roof of the tent, and the three feet of perpendicular canvas wall on either side should be turned up on the roof also. In this way every whiff of air will blow through and under the tent all day. At night the sides and ends may be left open or not, as the temperature and weather suggest. In this way a healthy and inexpensive camping-house can be set up on the most approved sanitary principles. If you are particularly aristocratic you can lay down three pieces of three-inch joist across the tent floor and place a plank flooring over them. But the cool summer or fall ground is quite good enough for the average sportsman. To avoid heat a second cover of canvas can be stretched over the tent, as shown in the illustration.

Having secured a high knoll, spring-water, and a tent to live in, the next question is food. Here again a great deal depends on whether the sportsman is out for big game, small game, or fish. Big game means camping in the West far from any habitations; small game may mean near to town or miles away; fishing is usually near civilization. Where it is possible, therefore, milk, fruit, vegetables, and even meat--such as chickens--should be bought from the nearest farmer, who usually will sell you what you want, or rather what he has, and what it will be well for you to be satisfied with, if you pay him cash on receipt of goods. If the camp site is ten or more miles from a house, then can goods and what game you secure must fill the bill of fare, with a possible journey to civilization once a week. The cooking is simple if a definite plan is followed. It may spoil the whole camping trip if it is not run on a methodical plan. At least fifty feet from the tent, and usually down in some near-by hollow, a "lean-to" should be constructed--that is, a slanting roof some six feet in height, and made of entwined branches. This may and should be curved, or made on three sides of a square, leaving a small space for an ordinary small one-cover laundry stove, or, in fact, any kind of a stove, which you can scrape up in the town or houses nearest your camp site. This primitive lean-to will keep off the wind from the stove, and you can cook there all that a camp of five or six boys want or should have. So much for the camp. There are more extensive outfits, of course, better ones in every way, but here is one that will cost little, except in time and care in selecting a site, and any boys, no matter how limited their pocket-books, can have such a camp if they have the time to give to camping at all.

The costume of such campers may be anything they see fit to wear. Usually knickers with stout shoes and a cheviot shirt is the best thing. Extra shoes and trousers must be carried along, because one is always getting wet if water is near, and wet shoes and clothes are not healthy. The best way to sleep in such a tent is to put on a thick suit of pajamas or some regular camp sleeping outfit, and then to roll yourself up in a blanket, and lie either on the ground or on a bed of bows, which is easily made. Rolling one's self up in a blanket is a science by itself, and an old-timer will give as much care to his "rolling-up" process each night as a mother will to tucking a baby in its crib on a cold night. In the first place, one end of the blanket is laid on the bows. Then the camper lays himself out on that end. He then draws the longer end of the robe over him as he lies on his back. This leaves nearly half the blanket still unused. He then turns on his side, so as to make the spare portion fall down behind his back, and by rolling completely over on his stomach, carrying the part of the blanket already under him with him, he will finally get to the other end of the robe, and by then rolling back again he will find himself wrapped up like a mummy, and in a condition to keep out dampness and cold far better than if he lay on a bed.

We have only a short space for a word as to the life in camp. And perhaps this is the most important part of the outfit. If you want to have a good time, keep yourself busy. Run down and take a plunge in lake, river, or sea the first thing after rising; then eat as soon as possible. After this, clean up camp. Give each man his work about the knoll for the day, and then start in at once to fish or shoot or what not. Never sit around and read or doze. Once a week, on Sunday, is quite enough for that sort of thing. All should assemble to dinner at one, and then the afternoon should be busy too. A hearty supper and an early bed are two good things to end the day with.

[_The following paper on the Science of Football, by Mr. W. H.
Lewis of the Harvard Football Team of 1893, is the fourth and last
of the series begun in this Department in the issue of September
8._]

When speaking of defensive play in football, the general understanding is that the side not having the ball is on the defensive, but in reality a team is on the defensive so long as it is in its own territory, whether it has the ball or not. In the present paper, however, the term "defence" will be used in the ordinary sense--that is, of the side not having the ball. The importance of a systematic and scientific defence is emphasized by the fact that it is just half of the game.

_Defence to the start-off._--The defensive to the opening play is a comparatively simple thing. The side on the defence should arrange itself so as to cover pretty effectively its whole territory. The placing of the men will depend largely upon the characteristics or qualities of the individuals. They should be so arranged that an interference could be quickly formed for a run, or a return made from any part of the field, no matter where the ball might be kicked. The present code of playing-rules requires that the ball be kicked at least ten yards into the opponent's territory; but as an attempt is seldom made to kick only that distance and no further, the three centre men are placed on the 40-yard line to look out for a short kick along the ground, and be ready to drop on it. If the ball pass them, they should block the nearest man, who will always be the fastest and most dangerous. The quarter-back is placed on the 30-yard line to look out for a short kick, and to look out for the middle of the field. The ends are placed between the 25-yard and 30-yard lines, well out near touch. They are there to prevent any kick in their vicinity from going into touch. The tackles are placed on the 20-yard line to lead the interference in case of a return run. The right and left halves are on the 10-yard line, and ought to cover all the ground between them and the tackles. Lastly, on the 5-yard line is the full-back. The backs should exercise good judgment, and allow every ball that will go into touch to go there. If the ball comes anywhere near the goal-line, the full-back should allow it to go over, so that it can be brought out to the 25-yard line. As a rule, the man who gets the ball should run with it. If one of the three backs gets it, the two tackles and the other two backs should form the primary interference, and the other players should get around the runner as quickly as possible. In the majority of cases it in best to return the start-off by a punt. Possession of the ball is of little advantage when it is in your own territory.

_Defence to a scrimmage or down._--A given territory to defend and a certain number of men to do it with is the problem of the defence. Whenever the two opposing elevens are lined up on the field, there is theoretically a line of 160 feet through any part of which the eleven on the offensive may advance. The shorter the territory is made through which an advance is possible, the better that territory may be protected by the eleven men. The natural tendency of the rush-line the moment a play starts from the opposing line is to pull open, because of the effort of the men to break through on the outside of their opponents, as in Fig. 1. The solid rings represent the line before breaking through, and the dotted rings the line after breaking through.

The effect of this is to make holes for the other side, enlarge the territory to be defended, and thus weaken the line. Hence the secret or principle underlying a scientific defence is one that closes the line up the moment a play starts from behind the opposing line, thus shortening the territory and better enabling the eleven to protect it.