Chapter II: Part 2

"Strong Schalk!" echoed Hermann, starting from the seat upon which he had sunk dejectedly. "Shake hands, lad; it would have broken my heart to be beaten by a tailor, but I don't mind a bit being beaten by _you_. Come, let us be friends!"

And from that day forth the two men were the best friends imaginable.

HOW TO MAKE A TOY CANOE.

BY C. W. FISHER.

The building of a birch-bark canoe of sufficient size and well enough made for actual use would rather tax the mechanical skill of most boys; but with no better tool than a jackknife, and with a little ingenuity, a small model may be easily made.

There are few localities where the material--the white birch--can not be obtained. The dimensions given here are those of one which hangs above us as we write, and are only given to make the explanations clearer. Of course it can be built of any size, and the young builder may make such other changes in its construction as taste or necessity may suggest.

A tree not more than eight inches through furnishes the best quality of bark, flexible enough to be readily handled, and tough enough to be durable. Woodsmen tell us that in stripping it we should avoid "girdling" the tree--that is, removing the bark the entire distance round--but should leave a piece several inches wide, that the flow of sap shall not be wholly stopped. Having determined upon the size of the canoe (ours is twenty-four inches long), select a part of the tree as free from knots and imperfections as possible. Make two horizontal cuts for three-fourths of the girth, and about two feet apart. Connect these by two vertical cuts at their ends, and peel off the piece between the cuts. This will be of an oblong shape, and about twenty-four inches by eighteen. The bark consists of many layers, and the outside one should be pulled off and discarded, those beneath being much handsomer in color and finish.

The diagram shows the shape in which the piece is to be first marked with pencil, and then cut with knife or shears. The edges from B round to A and C, and from D round to E and F, are next to be joined, and sewed with an X stitch in colored silk or thread. The natural curve of the bark shapes an excellent bottom to the little craft, and a gunwale, which prevents splitting, and gives a more ship-shape appearance to it, is easily prepared by taking a thinner piece than that of which the body of the canoe is made, cutting two strips an inch wide and long enough to extend from A to F, folding them lengthwise, and stitching them as before, crease uppermost, over the edges. A better curve, and perhaps added strength, may be secured by running a small wire under the crease, but this is both troublesome and unnecessary. Two or three thwarts can be made without difficulty from a bit of soft pine, and held in place just under the gunwale by small brads.

Two coats of thin shellac give a beautiful, and lasting finish to the work, and one is really surprised at the pretty result of so slight an expenditure of time and labor. Suspended from a hook or an archway by bright ribbons attached to the prow, stern, and sides, and filled with dried grapes, or, better still, lined with a shaped tin vessel containing moss and planted with ferns, the canoe becomes a graceful household ornament, as well as a charming reminder of a summer's holiday.

OUR BULL-FIGHT.

BY JIMMY BROWN.

I'm going to stop improving my mind. It gets me into trouble all the time. Grown-up folks can improve their minds without doing any harm, for nobody ever tells them that their conduct is such, and that there isn't the least excuse in the world for them: but just as sure as a boy tries to improve his mind, especially with animals, he gets into dreadful difficulties.

There was a man came to our town to lecture a while ago. He had been a great traveller, and knew all about Rome and Niagara Falls and the North Pole, and such places, and father said: "Now, Jimmy, here's an opportunity for you to learn something and improve your mind go and take your mother and do take an interest in something besides games."

Well, I went to the lecture. The man told all about the Australian savages and their boomerangs. He showed us a boomerang, which is a stick with two legs, and an Australian will throw it at a man, and it will go and hit him, and come back of its own accord. Then he told us about the way the Zulus throw their assegais--that's the right way to spell it--and spear an Englishman that is morn ten rods away from them. Then he showed a long string with a heavy lead ball on each end, and said the South Americans would throw it at a wild horse, and it would wind around the horse's legs, and tie itself into a bow-knot, and then the South Americans would catch the horse. But the best of all was the account of a bull-fight which he saw in Spain, with the Queen sitting on a throne, and giving a crown of evergreens to the chief bull-fighter. He said that bull-fighting was awfully cruel, and that he told us about it so that we might be thankful that we are so much better than those dreadful Spanish people, who will watch a bull-fight all day, and think it real fun.

The next day I told Mr. Travers about the boomerang, and he said it was all true. Once there was an Australian savage in a circus, and he got angry, and he threw his boomerang at a man who was in the third story of a hotel. The boomerang went down one street and up another, and into the hotel door, and upstairs, and knocked the man on the head, and came back the same way right into the Australian savage's hand.

I was so anxious to show father that I had listened to the lecture that I made a boomerang just like the one the lecturer had. When it was done, I went out into the back yard, and slung it at a cat on the roof of our house. It never touched the cat, but it went right through the dining-room window, and gave Mr. Travers an awful blow in the eye, besides hitting Sue on the nose. It stopped right there in the dining-room, and never came back to me at all, and I don't believe a word the lecturer said about it. I don't feel courage to tell what father said about it.

Then I tried to catch Mr. Thompson's dog, that lives next door to us, with two lead balls tied on the ends of a long string. I didn't hit the dog any more than I did the cat, but I didn't do any harm except to Mrs. Thompson's cook, and she ought to be thankful that it was only her arm, for the doctor said that if the balls had hit her on the head they would have broken it, and the consequences might have been serious.

It was a good while before I could find anything to make an assegai out of; but after hunting all over the house, I came across a lovely piece of bamboo about ten feet long, and just as light as a feather. Then I got a big knife blade that hadn't any handle to it, and that had been lying in father's tool chest for ever so long, and fastened it on the end of the bamboo. You wouldn't believe how splendidly I could throw that assegai, only the wind would take it, and you couldn't tell when you threw it where it would bring up. I don't see how the Zulus ever manage to hit an Englishman; but Mr. Travers says that the Englishmen are all so made that you can't very well miss them. And then perhaps the Zulus, when they want to hit them, aim at something else. One day I was practicing with the assegai at our barn door, making believe that it was an Englishman, when Mr. Carruthers, the butcher, drove by, and the assegai came down and went through his foot, and pinned it to the wagon. But he didn't see me, and I guess he got it out after a while, though I never saw it again.

But what the lecturer taught us about bull-fights was worse than anything else. Tom McGinnis's father has a terrible bull in the pasture, and Tom and I agreed that we'd have a bull-fight, only, of course, we wouldn't hurt the bull. All we wanted to do was to show our parents how much we had learned about the geography and habits of the Spaniards.

Tom McGinnis's sister Jane, who is twelve years old, and thinks she knows everything, said she'd be the Queen of Spain, and give Tom and me evergreen wreaths. I got an old red curtain out of the dining-room, and divided it with Tom, so that we could wave it in the bull's face. When a bull runs after a bull-fighter, the other bull-fighter just waves his red rag, and the bull goes for him and lets the first bull-fighter escape. The lecturer said that there wasn't any danger so long as one fellow would always wave a red rag when the bull ran after the other fellow, and of course we believed him.

Pretty nearly all the school came down to the pasture to see our bull-fight. The Queen of Spain sat on the fence, because there wasn't any other throne, and the rest of the fellows and girls stood behind the fence. The bull was pretty savage; but Tom and I had our red rags, and we weren't afraid of him.

As soon as we went into the pasture the bull came for me, with his head down, and bellowing as if he was out of his mind. Tom rushed up and waved his red rag, and the bull stopped running after me, and went after Tom, just as the lecturer said he would.

I know I ought to have waved my red rag, so as to rescue Tom, but I was so interested that I forgot all about it, and the bull caught up with Tom. I should think he went twenty feet right up into the air, and as he came down he hit the Queen of Spain, and knocked her about six feet right against Mr. McGinnis, who had come down to the pasture to stop the fight.

The doctor says they'll all get well, though Tom's legs are all broke, and his sister's shoulder is out of joint, and Mr. McGinnis has got to get a new set of teeth. Father didn't do a thing to me--that is, with anything--but he talked to me till I made up my mind that I'd never try to learn anything from a lecturer again, not even if he lectures about Indians and scalping-knives.

THE OLD MILL.

Oh, the merry mill-stream it is sparkling and bright
As it runs down the hill-side in shadow and light;
Now it circles in pools, and now throws a cascade,
And laughs out in high glee at the leap it has made.

With its ripples are mingled on many a day
The shouts and the laughter of children at play;
And many a picnic is joyously spread
On its banks, where the green branches wave overhead.

But the jolliest place is the old ruined mill,
With the great wooden water-wheel, solemn and still;
Once it whirled round and round with the rush of the stream,
Till a new mill was built to be driven by steam.

Now the children climb over its big wooden spokes
But the wheel into motion they never can coax;
They may clamber and push, they may tug with a zest,
They can not awake the old giant from rest.

And perhaps, if it only could speak, it would say:
"After all the hard labor I've done in my day,
It is pleasant to know that the children may still
Find their happiest times in the old ruined mill."

Are you sorry, little folks, that your vacation weeks are flying away so rapidly? They fairly race, says Lottie C., when the second week of August has come. So they do; but I am sure Lottie would not like a whole year without school or studies. Fred H. is making a collection of butterflies, and finds the occupation very interesting. Etta R. has never until this summer seen the ocean; she likes to hear the roar of the breakers, and to watch the great waves rolling in upon the shore. Tom P., whose mother has been ill, has been taking care of her, there being no girls at home. Well done, Tom. The boy who is kind and thoughtful in his manner to mother is manly, and on the way to make a gentleman. That is what a gentleman is, boys--just a _gentle man_. Think of it. Pauline C. has been reading Mrs. Browning's poems in her vacation. She has spent her time very wisely. And you, Edward and Priscy, Charles and Kate, Theodore and Isabel, Lulu and Minnie, and all the dear girls and boys who come clustering around me even in my dreams, I am glad when I think how busy and bright you are, and when I hear how you are trying every day to do right and be good. Our Post-office Box has been crowded lately with your sparkling letters, but it is very elastic; so, little Sunbeams, keep on shining.

* * * * *

ORION, ILLINOIS.

I am a little boy seven years old. I have a canary-bird named
Dicky, who sings the day long. I had two pet rabbits, named Bunny
and Snowflake. On the Fourth of July a dog caught Snowflake and
killed him. I felt very bad about it. Papa buried it in the yard,
and I am going to put a head-stone at its grave. Papa says a neat
board, with "Snowflake" on it, will do. I have two little chickens
named Specky and Blackie; and mamma got another rabbit, and his
name is Darling. He is as white as snow, and his eyes are red as
fire. I feed them on clover, bread, cabbage, and some nice tender
grass. I can read in the Second Reader. I am going to school this
winter. I can print on my slate. Do you like to get letters from
little boys? If you do, I guess I will write another some time.
Good-by. I like "Mr. Stubbs's Brother" ever so much.

S. P. D.

Poor little Snowflake! If I were you, dear, I would plant a rose-bush beside his grave. What dreadful things have happened to some of our pets! Of course I like to hear from little boys, and you must write again when you are in the Third Reader.

* * * * *

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

I want to tell you about a smart little girl named Hebe at our
school. She is only six years old. One day Miss S. said, "What does
c-a-n-e spell, Hebe?" Hebe said she didn't know. Then Miss S. said,
"What do gentlemen walk with?" and Hebe said, "Ladies." Another
time one of the teachers was hearing her spell, and she couldn't
spell one word right; but at last she did. The teacher asked why
she didn't spell it that way at first, and she said, "Oh, I knew it
all the time, only I was just hugbugging."

LUCY P. W.

What a droll little scholar! She must make the class quite merry.

* * * * *

WATERLOO, IOWA.

I have taken YOUNG PEOPLE from the first number, and have read the
letters in the Post-office Box with great interest, but have never
before ventured to write one myself; but now I thought I would
write and tell you about my trip on the Fourth of July across Iowa.
Monday evening I went alone to Cedar Rapids, and in the morning
papa took me in his mail-car, and I rode with him to Council Bluffs
over the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad. It is a beautiful
prairie country, with occasional belts of timber on the streams. We
everywhere saw splendid farms, with fine houses and barns and large
herds. We passed through an Indian reservation near Tama City. The
Indian men were out with their fish-poles and guns, and their
squaws were hoeing in the fields, while the boys, like true
American boys, were playing with fire-crackers. We passed, near
Ames, the State Agricultural College and Farm. Marshalltown and
Boone are thriving towns on this route. At Boone we came to Iowa's
vast coal field, and we passed several mines; it is "soft" coal.
Near Moingona I saw the little house where Kate Shelley lives, and
crossed the long bridge that she crept over at night and in a
terrible storm to warn a coming train of danger. The last twenty
miles of our trip are the most interesting. On the right are the
"bottom" lands of the Missouri, with the highlands of Nebraska in
the distance. On our left are the "bluffs," rising perhaps two
hundred feet, and taking many curious shapes. Once we came in sight
of the great river, and I can now understand why it is called the
"Big Muddy." At nearly every station on the route the people were
out to celebrate the Fourth; flags were flying, bands playing, and
the small boys and fire-crackers were everywhere. I hope they all
had a pleasant, time; I know I did. As I have never seen a letter
in the YOUNG PEOPLE from Waterloo, I hope you will like mine well
enough to print it.

MARY F. M.

We are all glad when our correspondents describe their pleasant trips, and tell what they have seen when away from home. I think Mary's letter shows that she took notice of what was worth looking at in her Fourth-of-July journey across Iowa.

* * * * *

BRECKSVILLE, OHIO.

I was ten years old December 20, 1881, and live in Cleveland, but I
am staying here for my vacation. It is a very pretty country
village. I like very much to ride on the hay wagon, but the hay is
damp to-day, and can not be taken in. I am in the Fourth Reader at
school. I would have been in the Fifth, only, when I came from
Brooklyn, New York, I was put back on account of the difference in
the schools. I like the West better than the East. I am getting
stouter every day. I have a brother seven years old, named Sumner.

LINCOLN S.

I think it is great fun to ride on top of a load of hay. It makes one feel quite proud to be so high up in the world.

* * * * *

PEEKSKILL, NEW YORK.

I have taken HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE a year and a half, and like it
very much. My home is on the State Camp Ground, but we moved away
when the soldiers came there. We moved the 16th of June; I was
sorry to come away. I do not like it where we live now; it is a
little cooped-up place on the edge of Peekskill. I am the only girl
of the family, but I have four brothers. The week of the Fourth of
July we all went over on a high hill overlooking the camp ground to
see the fire-works. We can not hear the music very plainly, because
of the hill in front of us. I have been over to the camp six times
since we moved. We have a pet cat that can catch fish. One day last
summer two of my brothers were out rowing in a boat, and the cat
was with them, and when they were quite a way out in the creek she
jumped overboard and swam ashore.

A. G. C.

Pussy was an exception to cats in general. They seldom like to wet their dainty feet. It must be very pleasant to have four brothers to take care of and pet their only sister. I hope yours are very fond of you, and that you are kind and good to them.

* * * * *

BRIGHTON, SUSSEX, ENGLAND.

I am an English boy nine years old. I have a sister named Eva; she
is four years old; and I have also a jolly little brother named
Harold, and he is two. I have only one pet, a canary, whose name is
Dick; he sings very loud. A friend of my father's, who used to go
to school with him, lives in Philadelphia, and he sends me the
numbers of YOUNG PEOPLE every month. I do enjoy reading them, and I
think Jimmy Brown's stories are capital. When I went to the
Zoological Gardens in London I saw Jumbo have his bath; his keeper
had to give him a good scolding before he would go in. It was so
deep he dived down quite out of sight. I hope you will print this.
I have just got over an illness, and can not go out much. Good-by.

PERCY WILLIAM S.

By this time Percy is, I hope, quite well and strong again. We like to receive pleasant words from little friends across the water.

* * * * *

SHOPIERE, WISCONSIN.

This is a very small place, though it is very pleasant. I have
never seen any letters from this place, so mine will be the first.
I have a pet sheep named Nig; like "Mary's lamb," it followed me to
school one day. It was a warm day, and I had gone to school in the
afternoon. Mamma was home alone, and she heard Nig bleating as
though something were the matter, and she went out and found him
panting as if he were very warm; so she let him through into the
yard (never thinking that the gate was open), and he began to eat,
so she did not watch him. But the first she knew he was gone. One
of the girls at school saw him, and knew he was mine, and began to
laugh. The teacher asked her what she was laughing at, and she
said, "Lula's lamb is here." I went out, and found him walking
around, trying to find me. I took him home then. I have two other
sheep and two lambs. I am taking up a great deal of room, but I
want to tell you about thirteen chickens I had last summer. Papa
gave them to me for taking care of the other hens. I soon got them
tame, and I could take corn and shell it over myself, and they
would scramble over me, sometimes pecking at my teeth. I sold them
for twelve shillings. I have a brother De Witt who is fifteen. I am
twelve.

LULA H. P.

So Lula's lamb was like Mary's, and "it made the children laugh and play to see a lamb at school." Why did you not give him a prettier name, dear? You are very kind to your pets, and that makes them so gentle. You must have been as pretty as a picture, with the little chicks scrambling over you for the kernels of corn.

* * * * *

OMEGA P. O., MADISON PARISH, LOUISIANA.

I'm a little boy six years old, and I take HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE.
I'm more interested in Jimmy Brown's stories and the little letters
than in anything else, though I like "Mr. Stubbs's Brother." My
papa is on the railroad in Arkansas, and will be home to see us
soon. He says there are ever so many ticks in the pine woods. I
feed and water the chickens, and sweep the hall and gallery every
day. I will tell you of the overflow in my next letter. I've got a
buddie George; he lives with his auntie May, and I live with my
aunt Leila, as my own mamma is dead, and my papa married my aunt.
With many good wishes to Toby Tyler, your little friend,

JAMES HOWARD R.

I hope none of those annoying little pests called ticks will fasten on those of my children who live in the Southern pine regions. I know all about them, and they are really "horrid," to borrow a word which is used sometimes when it ought not to be.

* * * * *

JERSEY CITY HEIGHTS, NEW JERSEY.

I am eleven years old. I have just been reading HARPER'S YOUNG
PEOPLE, and think the letter that Ninetta wrote is very nice. I
have no pets except a darling little brother three years old, and
he says he is going to write you a letter. I have just learned how
to make feather-edge, and I have made half a yard to-day. I have
taken HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE ever since it was published, and I
think it is the nicest paper I ever read, or ever expect to read. I
hope this letter is not too long, and will be printed, as I would
like to surprise some of my friends who take the paper. On the
following page you will see my brother's letter.

Do you know, dear child, that you forgot to sign your name, and so I do not know who my little correspondent is, although she is much brighter than I, for I have tried in vain to learn to make that puzzling trimming called feather-edge. Please kiss little brother for his letter.

* * * * *

OXFORD, OHIO.

I am a little girl eight years old. I have two little kittens, one
black and one white. I have a dog, and his name is Fido. We have a
dove, and she has two little doves in the nest in the cedar-tree.
We have every HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE that has been printed. I play
with my brother Sam, who is seven now, and we have two velocipedes.

LIVY R.

* * * * *

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

My mamma writes this for me, because I can not write very well, and
I would not like to trouble you to read a letter from me. I have
been going to Kindergarten for three or four years, and am just
learning to write now. We have been taking HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE a
long time, and we have it complete, excepting the first seventeen
numbers, and No. 33. Now we want to know if we can get those
numbers, in order to have them bound, and as we have tried
unsuccessfully to procure them in Philadelphia, we know of no other
way to find out about it than by applying to you; and if you will
kindly answer through the Post-office Box, we will be very greatly
indebted to you.

I have a pug dog and two kittens, and they are like the "Happy
Family." We think a great deal of HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE, and I read
it to my little sister.

JOHN M. F.

No. 33 can be furnished by the Messrs. Harper & Brothers, but not the earlier numbers of YOUNG PEOPLE. Possibly some little reader may have duplicates; and if so, will he or she notify the Postmistress on John's behalf?

* * * * *

WINDHAM, NEW YORK.

I thought I would write you a little letter to put in Our
Post-office Box. I have a little candy store in my papa's office
all my own. I pay for the candy, and have all the profits. It is
vacation now, but I study at home. This village (Windham) is
situated on an elevation of over one thousand five hundred feet
above the level of the sea. Papa has one hundred and fifty-five
hives of bees, and I am going to help him take care of them. We
carefully take the comb out of the hives, put it in a revolving
cylinder, turn the crank, and the honey flies out of the comb
against the side of the cylinder; then it is strained, and is ready
for use. Then we replace the comb for the bees to refill again.
This we do several times in a season.

DORVILLE C.

So you are a merchant, dear, and carry on a business all alone. Well, I hope you keep your accounts with care, and that you will put your earnings to some good use. Your description of the bees, and the way their honey is extracted from the comb, is very interesting.

* * * * *

Where the blackbird sings the latest,
Where the hawthorn blooms the sweetest,
Where the nestlings chirp and flee,
That's the way for Willie and me.

Where the mowers mow the cleanest,
Where the hay lies thick and greenest,
There to track the homeward bee,
That's the way for Willie and me.

* * * * *

EUREKA, MISSOURI.

I am a little boy seven years old. My name is Early. My mamma, my
sister Hattie (who is eight years old), and I spend our summers out
here on grandpa's farm. I have a pony to ride; his name is Brigham.
I made $1.45 carrying water for grandpa's hands in harvest; had two
demijohns slung across the pony in front of the saddle. I have a
goat and wagon, but Billy is so big and strong that he runs away,
and dumps me in the ditch. I have two dogs, Nip and Aleck. Aleck is
a shepherd dog; Nip is a little fellow, but he runs awful fast when
he gets after a rabbit. I have lots of fun out here--so many
peaches and apples, and lots of young ducks and chickens. Papa
comes out every Saturday evening, and we go to the train to meet
him. We have such a nice Sunday-school in the little district
school-house right at the corner of our orchard. We go up there to
Sunday-school in the afternoon, and have such nice songs to sing.
Hattie picked two gallons of dewberries, sold them for forty cents,
and gave the money to help pay for the organ. I want papa to let me
be a farmer and stay in the country all the time, but we will go
back to the city in September, when the schools open. We had a nice
picnic and "fish-fry" on the Fourth at the Maramec River, near
here; waded in the cool clear water, and gathered so many mussel
shells; rowed in the boat, made pawpaw whistles, and had lots of
fun.

EARLY D.

* * * * *

ELK CITY, KANSAS.

This is the second time we have written to your paper together; the
first letter was not published. We like the stories very much,
especially "Mr. Stubbs's Brother"; we always read that first. It
rained very hard last night, and this morning the banks of the
rivers are nearly overflowed. We have one dog; his name is Carlo;
he will be four months old next Sunday. He is so full of mischief.
One day we went in the bedroom and found him playing with mamma's
bonnet; he tore the ribbon, and came pretty near spoiling the
feather. We will look in every number for this until it is
published.

MARY and CORA W.

I had a little dog once who used to play just such tricks, and oh! how angry he sometimes made people by his funny antics and his mischief! I am glad mamma's feather escaped Carlo's teeth. Well, never mind; if he lives long enough, he will become a sober and dignified dog.

Little Evelyn G., who also has a dog named Carlo, can shake hands with Mary and Cora W.

* * * * *

HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT.

I do love you so much! How good it seems to see your dear little
bright green face every week. I have an auntie in New Bedford,
grown up and married, who sees you and reads you all through before
you come to me. I go to New Brunswick and Martha's Vineyard every
summer, and with my cousin Dolly have great fun bathing in the
salt-water. Dollie is one week younger than myself. I am twelve
years old; my name is Gertie. I learned to swim last summer. We
always take our pets with us. Last summer I had two bantam chicks.
I loved Toney best, and he grew to be a beautiful rooster, and then
died. It is very hard to lose things we love. Mamma says things we
prize are first to vanish. I hope my dear YOUNG PEOPLE will never
leave me.

GERTIE S.

P. S.--I heard my auntie say you were "cute." I guess, from the way
she said it, she meant splendid.

Thanks, dear, for your good opinion. I am very glad you have learned to swim. I wish all my young friends who live near the water would do the same.

* * * * *

DECATUR, ILLINOIS.

I write to reproach you for cruelty to an unfortunate boy. Poor
Toby Tyler ran away with the circus, and had on a very old hat.
Months have passed, and still you have not given him a new hat. I
think Abner might cut off some of the brim of his, and let Aunt
Olive mend Toby's with it. But as Abner is sick, I suppose when he
recovers he will need all of his own hat to keep the sun off. I
send a nickel to get Toby a new hat. What if the boys do call them
"Nickel Katies"? It will be better than the thing Toby wears now.

A sympathizer with Toby,
FANNIE G.

Jolly Toby Tyler does not care for a new hat, and so I will send your money, dear, if you please, to help along the Young People's Cot Fund.

* * * * *

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

Aunt Bessie subscribed for YOUNG PEOPLE; she always calls me Effie,
but my name is Evelyn. I have a little dog; his name is Carlo. He
is a comical little thing, and he wants to tear everything to
pieces, and loves to play with me. I have a pet bird; her name is
Cherry. The bottom of her cage came half off the other day while
papa was in the yard and mamma in town, but she did not get away. I
have a cat whose name is Neddie. He does not like Carlo. When
Neddie spits at Carlo I scold him, but that does not do any good.
Mamma wrote this for me, as I do not write plain enough.

EVELYN G.

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C. Y. P. R. U.

SOME FAMILIAR WORDS, AND WHERE THEY COME FROM.

Every young reader has heard puss called Tabby, but all do not know that tabby cat was named after Atab, a famous street in the old city of Bagdad. On this street the merchants sold a beautiful watered silk called atabi. In modern days this silk has been styled taffeta. The wavy markings of the silk were thought to resemble pussy's coat of fur.

Jet derives its name from a river in Lycia--the Gagates--in the bed of which were found smooth black stones called gaet, of which jewelry was made.

A pamphlet is a book bound in paper. A long, long time ago a learned Greek lady wrote the history of the world in thirty-five little books, which, after her, were called Pamphylia.

Humbug is a bit of fun aimed at Hamburg, in Germany, which city was once rather famous for getting up sensations which turned out to be nothing very wonderful after all. Hamburg news was humbug.

Dollar is from the German thaler, named from Thal, in Bohemia, where were located the silver-works which made this coin.

Money traces its history to a remote period, when the coinage of the Romans was struck at the temple of the goddess Juno Monieta.

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PANSY.--The Postmistress will find out what you wish to know if she can. Please send her your own full name and address.

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TO PUZZLERS.--Clever little people who send puzzles will please remember that enigmas must rhyme, and that the answers must always be sent with the puzzles. Do not make enigmas upon your own Christian or surname, or the name of a friend, as it is almost impossible for our great circle of readers to guess such puzzles.

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GAZETTA.--Wiggles, puzzles, answers to puzzles, exchanges, and all letters for Our Post-office Box should be sent to the Editor of HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE, Franklin Square, New York.

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LILY F.--"Margie's Adventure" is a very pretty story indeed for a girl of your age to have written. It is rather too long for Our Post-office Box, but the Postmistress read it with pleasure, and thanks you for sending it.

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We would call the attention of the C.Y.P.R.U. this week to "Historical Trees of Mexico," by Mrs. Helen S. Conant, and to "How a Boy was Hired Out, and What Came of It," by Mr. George Gary Eggleston. The boys will be interested in Mr. C. W. Fisher's directions "How to Make a Toy Canoe."

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Correct answers to puzzles have been received from "Jan. U. Ary," Hartley Bishop, Elsie Grey, J. Hanse Gebley, Effie W. Rhind, Emma and Andrew Campbell, Harry Johnston, Charlie and Willie Lloyd, Edgar Seeman, Edward and Gustav Metz, Fannie Grimes, M. Portener, Alice Bartlett, John Todd, Frank Groves, "Fuss and Feathers," Daisy Dean, Lewie Andrews, Augusta Schultz, Ethel Raymond, "Eureka," Rosa M. Benedict, "North Star," A. E. Thorp, "Jack and Jill," B. B. A., Mary M. Livingston, Robin Dykes, Hermann Miller, Lucy Campbell, Louise G., Fred Goodenough, Sydney Heinemann, "Old Putnam's Pet," Rosa Deffaa, Emma Roehm, and Frank Allan Ives.

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PUZZLES FROM YOUNG CONTRIBUTORS.

No. 1.

FOUR DIAMONDS.

1.--1. A letter. 2. A human being. 3. Something for the table. 4. A light sleep. 5. A letter.

2.--1. A letter. 2. An animal. 3. A weapon. 4. Part of the head. 5. A letter.

3.--1. A letter. 2. Very angry. 3. A title given to a lady. 4. An obstruction. 5. A letter.

4.--1. A letter. 2. A fluid. 3. A sign of contempt. 4. View. 5. A letter.

COUNT NO ACCOUNT.

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No. 2.

ANAGRAM.

Your page help person.

EDGAR SEEMAN.

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No. 3.

A HALF-SQUARE.--(_To Benny Fishel_).

1. The mulberry. 2. A nautical term. 3. A mark made by folding. 4. To accommodate. 5. The fruit of the oak or beech. 6. Resentment. 7. An abbreviation. 8. A letter.

I. SCYCLE.

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No. 4.

INVERTED PYRAMID.

Across.--1. A white stone. 2. Narcotics. 3. Furnished with ears. 4. An animal. 5. A letter.

Down.--1. A letter. 2. An interjection. 3. An animal. 4. Inclination. 5. A man's name. 6. Confusion. 7. To spread abroad new-mown grass. 8. An abbreviation. 9. A letter.

I. SCYCLE.

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No. 5.

ENIGMA.

From that half-dozen, miss, take nine,
And from that nine take half of twenty.
'Tis easy done so far; but now
You must from forty borrow fifty,
Then you will see it is quite plain
Just half a dozen still remain.

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No. 6.

WORD SQUARE.

1. Part of the body. 2. To come in. 3. To reconcile. 4. Gaps. 5. A ringlet.

HELEN.

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ANSWERS TO PUZZLES IN No. 142.

No. 1.

Michael Angelo.

No. 2.

L C
C O T D O T
L O V E R C O V E R
T E A T E N
R R

C S T
C U P N E T L E G
C U P I D S E V E N T E X A S
P I E T E N G A P
D N S

No. 3

1. G-old. C-oat. C-up. S-in. P-ink. H-and. F-red-red-ed.

2. C-ore. S-hovel. Y-ear. S-tick. S-hoe. S-pool. T-rick. D-rug.

No. 4.

A dreary place would be this earth,
Were there no little people in it;
The song of life would lose its mirth,
Were there no children to begin it.

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[_For Exchanges, see 2d and 3d pages of cover._]

A NEW SERIAL.

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"THE CRUISE OF THE CANOE CLUB,"

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By W. L. ALDEN,

AUTHOR OF "THE MORAL PIRATES," "CRUISE OF THE 'GHOST,'" ETC.

In the next number of YOUNG PEOPLE our readers will have a chance to renew the acquaintance of the four lads whose adventures they followed so eagerly in Mr. Alden's former stories. This time the boys have become the fortunate possessors of four canoes, in which they make a cruise through some of the rivers and lakes of Canada. Just in proportion as a canoe excels a row-boat or a sail-boat in its easy motion, its delightful swiftness, and its liability to capsize, so do the experiences and adventures of the boys on this cruise exceed those of the cruises that have preceded it in excitement, picturesqueness, and general interest. Mr. Alden's stories for young readers are full of the genial wit and clever handling of amusing situations that have won him such a brilliant reputation as a humorist.

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A HORSE WHICH MADE A SENSATION.

Tahiti is one of the Society Islands, a small group in the Southern Pacific, lying many hundreds of miles away from any mainland. The Spaniards claim to have discovered them first, but it was famous Captain Cook who explored them thoroughly, and carried the story of their wonderful tropical fruits and strange inhabitants back to England.

Some years after, the good people of England began to send missionaries to the islands. They were well received, and among their converts was King Pomare.

Now neither King Pomare nor any of his subjects had ever seen a horse, and as they were curious to know something about an animal which the English people described as so noble and willing and useful, it was finally decided that one should be sent him as a present. So among the cargo of a vessel sent to Tahiti from New South Wales was a splendid horse, with a silky coat and flowing mane and tail, for King Pomare.

It was originally intended that the horse should be taken ashore from the vessel in which he had made his voyage, in a large canoe which had been sent alongside for the purpose, but the slings in which he was fastened gave way as he was being lowered, and the poor animal fell into the sea. He at once struck boldly out for the land; but the natives no sooner saw him than they plunged into the waves and swam after him like a shoal of porpoises; they seized his tail and his mane, and nearly pulled him under. The King shouted and the Captain screamed at them in vain, while the terrified horse struggled as hard as he could. As soon as he reached the land the crowd there fled for their lives in every direction, climbing rocks and trees, and hiding behind bushes. One by one, however, they returned when they saw a sailor slip a halter around the creature's neck and lead him along.

Next morning, in the presence of a great number of admiring natives, the Captain put a saddle on the horse, and rode him up and down before the King's tent. As he cantered, galloped, and trotted, obedient to the rein, the people shouted and danced, crying _Buaa-hora-fenna_ and _Buaa-afai-taata_ (land-running pig, and man-carrying pig).

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PARLOR MAGIC.

THE MYSTERIOUS BOX.

The use of this box is as follows: Hand the box round for examination, and allow a marked dime to be put into it. Let one of the company lock the box and keep the key, and also tie a string round it lengthways and crossways, lay it on the table, touch it with your wand, and command the dime to vanish and pass into a tumbler, hat, etc. Tell the person who locked the box to open it and see if he can find the dime within, when, to the astonishment of all, it will be found to have vanished from the box, and be found in the place you indicated.

The secret of this box is as follows: The bottom is divided into three or four panels, one of the end ones of which is on a swivel exactly in the centre, and fixed in its place by a nail at each side, the box being put together with driving nails. The nails being all alike, there is no likelihood of the secret being discovered. The trick is performed as follows: When the box has been tied and locked, hold the box on a slope to the swivel end, slip out the two nails just far enough to allow the panel to move, push up one end, and the dime will fall out at the other into your hand. Shut the slide, and put the nails into their places again, lay the box down on the table, go for your magic wand, and take that opportunity of putting the dime into the hat or elsewhere.

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End of Project Gutenberg's Harper's Young People, August 8, 1882, by Various