Chapter IV: "That's him!" (2)

"I took great care of my pet, and would curl its long wool over a stick, Finally, it was killed by an angry cow. I have a pair of little stockings, knitted of yarn spun from the lamb's wool, the heels of which have been raveled out and given away piecemeal as mementoes."--Yours truly,

J.M.D.

* * * * *

Bolinas, Cal.

DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: Were the "Arabian Nights" written by an Englishman or translated from the Arabic? In either case can you tell us the name of the author?--Yours sincerely,

ESTHER R. DE PERSE AND JIMMIE MOORE.

The "Arabian Nights" were collected and translated into English by Edward William Lane, an Englishman; but no one ever has found out where or by whom the tales were first told. On page 42 of ST. NICHOLAS for November, 1874 (the first number), is an article on the subject by Mr. Donald G. Mitchell, which you would do well to read.

* * * * *

Geneva, Switzerland.

DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: Perhaps some of your American readers have visited this far-away city, and even attended school here. Pupils come here for schooling from all parts of the world,--from America, Cuba, England, Germany, Russia, Greece, and even from Egypt. But many of the ST. NICHOLAS children never have been here; so I will tell them about the country and the people.

In the first place, Switzerland is a republic, with president and vice-president, as in the United States, but chosen every year. Switzerland is made up of twenty-two cantons, or states, each of which has two representatives; and, besides these, there are 128 members of the National Assembly, and seven members of the Federal Council, each of which last is chosen once in three years. The country is only one-third as large as the State of New York, being 200 miles long and 156 broad; and two-thirds of it is composed of lofty mountains or deep ravines. The people are apparently such lovers of law and order as to need no rulers at all. I think there must be propriety in the air they breathe. They have honest faces, and honesty beams out of their clear blue eyes. The school-boy even, instead of stopping to throw stones or climb fences or wrestle with another boy, walks along to school, at eight o'clock in the morning, with his square hair-covered satchel on his back, as orderly as if he were the teacher setting an example to his pupils. The laborers, in blouse-frocks of blue or gray homespun, make no noise, no confusion. All is done quietly, orderly and correctly; each one knows his duty and does it.

Although Berne is the capital, Geneva is the largest city; and I think if you could see it as it is, with grand snow-capped mountains at both sides, the clear blue lake,--not always blue, for sometimes it is green, and then the blue Rhone can be distinctly seen flowing through it,--the pretty green parks and gardens, clean streets, and oddly dressed people, you would think, as I do, that it is a very nice place to be in.

There are several little steamers which ply on the lake, and numberless little sail and row boats, and beautiful white swans, with tiny olive-colored cygnets, swimming and diving for food. On the banks of the rapid river, which leaves the lake at the city, are the wash-houses--a great curiosity. But my letter is getting too long, so I must stop.--Yours truly,

S.H. REDFIELD.

* * * * *

Easton, Pa.

DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I send you an acrostic which I have made, and I hope you will print it.--Yours truly,

B.

ACROSTIC.

My first has a heart that has ne'er throbbed with pity;
My next has strong arms, but ne'er strikes for the right;
My third has a head, but is not wise or witty;
My fourth, a neat foot, but in country or city
Is never seen walking, by day or by night;
My fifth, with a mouth that is surely capacious
Enough for a lion, is never voracious.
Guess from these five initials my whole, if you can;
'Tis a path ever used, yet untrodden by man.

_Ans._ Orbit. Oak, Reel, Barrel, Iambic, Tunnel.

* * * * *

CITY CHILDREN'S COUNTRY REST.

Brooklyn, E.D.

DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: Here is news to do your heart good. Last summer, a Brooklyn lady, who herself has been bed-ridden and in pain for many years, felt very sorry for the children of the tenement houses, who are unable to get relief or a chance to enjoy the fresh air and bright sunlight of the country. She longed to help them, and said so to Mr. P., a clergyman in northern Pennsylvania. He spoke of it to his congregation, and asked them if they would invite some of the poor city children to visit their farm-houses and cottages for a week or so; and they gladly said they would, and told him he might bring along as many as he could get to come. This generous reply he told to the lady, and she let others know, and the result was that, although late in the season, more than sixty children from the poorest neighborhoods of Brooklyn--pale, deformed, city-worn, and ill-fed--spent a happy fortnight in the country.

The children were ferreted out, and their parents persuaded. They were then taken to the railroad depot, and there given in charge of Mr. P., who went with them, and sorted them among his people; and, when the time was up, brought them back, and turned them over to us at the depot. Then we took them to their homes. The total expense of carrying all the children there and back in three lots was about $180, and more money could have been had if it had been wanted. In fact, the minute the subject was broached every hearer wanted to help. The railroad company charged only half fares, and the employés got to know Mr. P. and his batches of children, and did all they could to make things easy and cheerful for them.

I can fancy how glad you would have been, dear old ST. NICHOLAS, to see the happy, hearty, bright-eyed boys and girls that came home in place of the pale-faced, dead-and-alive children that left two weeks before! They talked of nothing but the good times they had had. One little fellow, thinking to surprise us, said, "I seen a cow!" All of them fared well, and particularly enjoyed the "good country milk." When they came back, many wore better clothes than they had gone in, and all were laden with good things for the home folks. One boy carried under each arm a "live" chicken,--special gifts for his mother!

Now, if some of your readers in the country follow the example of these Pennsylvania people, they will know what it is to be downright happy; for every person who has had anything to do with this enterprise feels happy about it, and longs to do it again, and more besides.--Yours truly,

C.B.

* * * * *

ANSWERS TO MR. CRANCH'S POETICAL CHARADES, published on page 406 of the April number, were received, before April 18, from Neils E. Hansen, C.W.W., Arnold Guyot Cameron, Helen and Frank Diller, "Sadie," "Marshall," Emma Lathers, Arthur W. James, Louise G. Hinsdale, Ada C. Okell, E.K.S. and M.G.V., "Sunnyside Seminary," "Persephone," M.W.C., Genevieve Allis and Kittie Brewster, Florence Stryker, "Cosey Club," Mary and Willie Johnson, and Jeanie A. Christie.

ERRATUM.--The answer to No. 23 in "Presidential Discoveries" is "More" (Sir Thomas), not "William Henry," as given in the May number.

ANSWERS TO PUZZLES in the April number were received, before April 18, from R.H. Marr, Grace Sumner, "Prebo," Marion Abbot, Maxwell W. Turner, Willie W. Cooper, "Cosey Club," Samuel J. Holmes, "Three Sisters," Charles G. Todd, W.M., M.E. Adams, Mamie G.A., W. Thomas, Jeanie A. Christie, T. Bowdoin, Robert M. Webb, Allie Bertram, Willie Wilkins, Maggie Simon, Kitty P. Norton, M.W. Collet, Jay Benton, "Kaween," Morris M. Turk, Leonie Giraud, Catherine Cook, Willie B. Dess, Willie Cline, Frances M. Griffitts, Nellie J. Towle, "Isola," Mary C. Warren, Florence I. Turrill, Charles Fritts, "Angeline," Sam Cruse, John V.L. Pierson, "Ollie;" Tillie Powles and May Roys; Tyler Redfield, Grace A. Jarvis, Bennie Swift; Sarah Duffield and "No Name" and Constance F. Grand-Pierre; "Romeo and Juliet," "Jupiter," O.C. Turner, Jessie D. Worstell, Melly Woodward, R. Townsend McKeever, Eleanor N. Hughes, Ben Merrill; Annie and Lucy Wollaston; William Eichelberger and John Cress; "Clover-leaf and Pussy-willow," Alice Getty, Herbert D. Utley; Bertha and Carl Heferstein and Estella Lohmeyer; C. Speiden and M.F. Speiden; Angeline O., May Filton, "Winnie," Maggie J. Gemmill, Jennie McClure, "X.Y.Z.," Neils E. Hansen, Clara B. Dunster, Bessie L. Barnes, Willie B. McLean, Bessie T., Lauretta V. Whyte, Hattie M. Heath; Charles W. Hutchins and Abbie F. Hutchins; Belle Murray, Harry A. Garfield; Helen and Frank Diller; Gertrude A. Pocock, Helena W. Chamberlain, "Al Kihall," Wm. F. Tort, "Lizzie and Anna," Kittie Tuers, Taylor Goshorn, Emma Lathers, "Marshall," Arthur W. James, Otto A. Dreier, "O.K.," Ada B. Raymond, "Seymour-Ct.," "Three Cousins," "Hallie," Alice Lanigan, Alfred Whitman, "Golden Eagle;" E.K.S. and M.G.V.; H.B. Ayers, Fred Chittenden; William McKinley Cobb and Howell Cobb, Jr.; Katie Hackett and Helen Titus; "35 E. 38th St.," W.D. Utley, Mary Lewis Darlington, Louisa L. Richards, James Barton Longacre, Nellie Emerson, Chas. B. Ebert, Jennie A. Carr, W.H. Wetmore, Mattie Olmsted; Arthur W. Hodgman, E.H. Hoeber, A.H. Peirce; Kittie Brewster and Genevieve Allis; Fannie B. Bates, Louise Egleston, Florence Stryker, Hattie H. Doyle, Mattie Doyle, Mabel Chester, Alice N. Dunn. A.R., Mary F. Johnson, M. Alice Chase, Alice Anderson, Bessie T. Hosmer, "Heath Hill Club," Anna E, Mathewson, I. Sturges, Addie B. Tiemann, Harriet A. Clark, Clarence H. Young, B.P. Emery, Victor C. Sanborn, "Persephone," Eddie Vultee; "M.," Staten Island; Fred M. Pease, Cyrus C. Clarke, Geo. J. Fiske; and George H. Nisbett, of London, England.

Correct solutions of all the puzzles were received from Arnold Guyot Cameron, "Bessie and her Cousin," Louise G. Hinsdale, Lucy C. Johnson; and L.M. and Eddie Waldo.

THE RIDDLE-BOX.

=EASY BEHEADINGS.=

The whole, most animals possess; behead it, and transpose, and there will appear an emblem of grief; behead again, and see what all men have; behead and curtail, and find an article. J.F.S.

=ACCIDENTAL HIDINGS.=

Find concealed in the following quotations three names for

METRICAL COMPOSITIONS.

"As hope and fear alternate chase
Our course through life's uncertain race."--_Scott_.

"Trained to the chase, his eagle eye
The ptarmigan in snow could spy."--_Scott_.

"Well-dressed, well-bred,
Well-equipaged, is ticket good enough."--_Cowper_.

Find concealed in the following quotations three names for

PORTIONS OF TIME.

"From better habitations spurned,
Reluctant dost thou rove."--_Goldsmith_.

"As ever ye heard the greenwood dell
On morn of June one warbled swell."--_Queen's Wake_.

"Each spire, each tower and cliff sublime,
Was hooded in the wreathy rime."--_Hogg_.

=MELANGE.=

1. Behead a plant, and leave a friend. 2. Curtail the plant, and give a pungent spice. 3. Syncopate the plant, and find an envelope. 4. Behead the spice, and leave affection. 5. Syncopate and transpose the friend, and find learning. 6. Behead the envelope, and leave above. 7. Syncopate and transpose the envelope, and give the inner part. 8. Transpose above, and find to ramble. 9. Syncopate to ramble, and leave a wild animal. ISOLA.

=EASY CLASSICAL ACROSTIC.=

My first is in deaf, but not in hear;
My second in doe, and also in deer;
My third is in May, but not in June;
My fourth is in song, but not in tune;
My fifth is in house, and also in shed;
My sixth is in cot, but not in bed;
My seventh is in chair, but not in stool;
My eighth is in lake, but not in pool;
My ninth is in pencil, and also in ink;
My tenth is in blue, but not in pink;
My eleventh is in dish, but not in pan;
My whole was a Greek and a well-spoken man.
ANNAN.

=ENIGMA.=

I am a common adage frequently used by good housewives, and am composed of twenty-two letters.

My 9 15 3 8 16 22 is pertaining to the place of birth. My 10 20 19 14 are things used to cook with. My 6 1 5 is a domestic animal. My 11 21 is a preposition. My 18 17 13 12 is to appear. My 7 4 2 is a pronoun. BESSIE.

=ANAGRAMS.=

Each anagram is formed from a single word, and a clue to the meaning of that word is given after its anagram.

1. A dry shop; rambling composition. 2. I clean rum; belonging to number. 3. Poet in dread; the act of making inroads. 4. Oxen are set; clears from blame. 5. Gin danger; displacing.

CYRIL DEANE.

=PICTORIAL PUZZLE.=

=EASY DIAMOND PUZZLE.=

1, A vowel. 2. A fairy. 3. Change. 4. Not many. 5. A consonant.

WILLIE F.

=CHARADE.=

I.

My first, a god once worshiped, now fills a lowly place, Though sometimes raised to favor by the wayward human race.

II.

My second, a bold captain, leads a goodly company, Whose numbers march in columns, like knights of chivalry. They serve us at our bidding, yet we are in their power, And the weapons that they carry may wound us in an hour. It grandly leads the ages, as their cycles onward roll, But stoops to lend its presence to my shadowy, fearful whole. It lives in ancient romance, it floats upon the air, And flower-deck'd May without it would not be half so fair.

III.

My third holds humble office, a servant at your will, But an instrument of torture if 'tis not used with skill. Beauty before her mirror studies its use with care, And deigns, perchance, to choose it an ornament to wear.

IV.

Consider, all ye people, what my strange whole may be; 'Tis gloomy, dark and awful, and full of mystery. Ponder the tales of ages, of human sin and woe, Turn to historic pages, if you its name would know. E'en kings their heads have rested, a-weary of the crown, Upon its curious couches, though not of silk or down. The stately seven-hilled city may boast her ancient birth, But this was old and hoary ere she had place on earth. Some tremble when they see it; some its secrets would explore, And, peering through its shadows, they seek its mystic lore.

A.M.W.

=NUMERICAL PUZZLE.=

A boy named 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 thought it singular he should become such a monster as a 1 2 3 4 6 7 8 9 10 by dropping the first letter of his surname.

C.D.

=FOUR-LETTER SQUARE-WORD.=

The base is a title. Fill the blanks in the following sentence with words which can be arranged in order, as they come, to form a word-square:

The (1)---- made an (2)---- of his minstrel, and yet he himself could not tell one (3)---- from another, or distinguish a dirge from a (4)----.

B.

=EASY CROSS-WORD ENIGMA.=

1. In road, but not in street;
2. In hunger, not in eat;
3. In inn, but not in tavern;
4. In grot, but not in cavern.

The whole is the name of one of the United States.

R.L. M'D.

=METAGRAM.=

Whole, (1) I am to beat; change my head, and I become, in succession, (2) stouter, (3) final, (4) substance, (5) to sprinkle, (6) to rend, and (7) a terrier of a much prized kind.

A.C. CRETT.

=EASY ACROSTIC.=

My first is in can, but not in may;
My second in opera, not in play;
My third is in shine, but not in bright;
My fourth is in string, but not in kite;
My fifth is in tea, but not in coffee;
My sixth in candy, also in taffy;
My seventh is in rain, but not in hail;
My eighth is in bucket, but not in pail;
My ninth is in ice, but not in snow;
My tenth is in run, but not in go;
My eleventh is in hop, but not in run;
My twelfth in powder, but not in gun;
My thirteenth is in bell, but not in ring;
My fourteenth is in scream, but not in sing.
My whole is a noted city of Europe.

GOLD ELSIE.

=BLANK WORD-SYNCOPATIONS.=

Fill the first blank, in each sentence, with a certain word; the second, with a word taken out of the word chosen for the first blank; and the third with the letters of that word which remain after filling the second blank.

1. On the ---- we first played ----, and then we all began to
----. 2. While ---- on the wharf, we saw a vessel come into ----,
which made us ---- again. 3. The game of ---- I will ---- you
play, if you will show me the ---- to the fair.

CYRIL DEANE.

=CHARADE.=

My first embodies all despair;
My second fain my first would flee,
Yet, flying to my whole, full oft
Flies but to life-long misery.
Still Holy Writ doth plainly show;
My whole, though causing, cureth woe.

M. O'B D.

=TRANSPOSITIONS OF PROPER NAMES.=

1. At ----, Fla., may be obtained ---- ---- for washing purposes.
2. Are not the public ---- small in the State of ----?
3. In ---- you may not see ---- ---- ----, though you certainly
will see many in Pennsylvania.
4. Amid the mountains of ---- there is doubtless many a ---- ----.
5. Having occasion to visit the city of ----, to my surprise I ----
---- except a few worn-out ---- ----.
6. If you wish to find or to ---- ---- -trees, you need not go to----.
7. When in ---- City I saw an old ---- ----, which was quite a relic.
8. In the city of ---- the cooks surely know how to ---- ----.
9. ----, my brother, ---- the falsehood by giving it a flat ----.
10. My aunt ---- planted a rose-bush ---- ---- ---- allotted to
fruit trees.

W.

=SQUARE-WORD.=

1. Sour fruit. 2. Imaginary. 3. To immerse. 4. A large bird. 5. Unconscious rest.

B.

=ADDITIONS.=

1. Add some liquor to a spirit, and make to fix on a stake. 2. Add something belonging to animals to the animals themselves, and make a lantern. 3. Add sharp to a girl's name, and make a kind of cloth. 4. Add an era to a vegetable, and make a boy-servant. 5. Add a boy's name to a cave, and make a foreign country. 6. Add anger to a serpent, and make to long after.

CYRIL DEANE.

=LABYRINTH.=

* * * * *

ANSWERS TO PUZZLES IN MAY NUMBER.

* * * * *

HOUR-GLASS PUZZLE.--Centrals: Greyhound. Across: Alligator. 2. Adoring. 3. Enemy. 4. Dye. 5. H. 6. Pop. 7. Elude. 8. Evangel. 9. Amendable.

BLANK APOCOPES.--1. Rafters, raft. 2. Rushlight, rush. 3. Larder, lard. 4. Scarlet, scar.

FRAME PUZZLE.--

F G
R R
H E A D B A N D

G D

R U

C H A P L A I N
N T
T E

EASY BEHEADINGS.--1. Beat, eat. 2. Candy, Andy. 3. She, he; your, our. 4. Table, able. 5. Pink, ink. 6. Scent, cent. 7. Brain, rain. 8. Orange, range. 9. Skate, Kate. 10. Helm, elm. 11. Crow, row. 12. Hash, ash. 13. Bowl, owl. 14. Scare, care. 15. Brush, rush.

EASY TRIPLE ACROSTIC.--Primals, Crow; centrals, Bear; finals, Gnat, 1. ComBinG. 2. ReverbEratioN. 3. OmAhA. 4. WoRsT.

HIDDEN FRENCH SENTENCE.--Ma ville de pierre,--"My city of stone," or "My city of Peter;" _i.e._. St. "Peter's-burg." ["Pierre" means "Peter" as well as "stone."]

PICTORIAL ANAGRAM PROVERB .--"It is good to be merry and wise."

THREE EASY SQUARE-WORDS.--

I.--P O E II.--F I R III.--L A W
O R E I R E A G E
E E L R E D W E D

EASY ENIGMA.--Diamond.

REVERSIBLE DOUBLE DIAMOND AND CONCEALED WORD-SQUARE. Perpendiculars, Revel; horizontals, Lever. Word-square: 1. Ten. 2. Eve. 3. Net.

EASY SYNCOPATIONS.--1. Brass, bass. 2. Bread, bead. 3. Chart, cart. 4. Clove, cove. 5. Crane, cane. 6. Farce, face. 7. Heart, hart. 8. Horse, hose. 9. Mouse, muse. 10. Peony, pony.

PICTORIAL TRANSPOSTION PUZZLES.--1. Entitles (ten tiles). Raja (ajar). 3. Palm (lamp). 4. Satyr (trays). 5. Causer (saucer).

EASY SQUARE-WORD.--1. Balm. 2. Aloe. 3. Lore. 4. Meek.

EASY DIAMOND.--1. W. 2. Nag. 3. Water. 4. Gem. 5. R.

[For the names of those who sent answers to puzzles in the April number, see the "Letter-Box," page 574.]