Chapter I: MUST tell you of something that happened one day last summer, when I

was at the Zooelogical Garden in Philadelphia.

Among the persons standing around the cage where the monkeys were kept, was an old lady who had on a pair of gold-rimmed spectacles. All at once, a big brown monkey stretched out his paw between the bars, snatched the spectacles, and scampered away, chattering and grinning with delight.

Of course, the poor lady was in distress. The keeper came to the rescue, and, by driving the monkey about the cage with a long pole, forced him at last to drop the spectacles. But one of the glasses had come out of it; and this the thief still held in his mouth, and refused to give up.

The keeper followed him sharply with the pole. Away he went, swinging from one rope to another, screaming and scolding all the time, until the keeper was so tired, that I feared he would have to let the monkey keep the glass. But this the keeper said would never do; for he knew, that, if he let the monkey carry the day, he never could control him again.

So the keeper still plied his pole. The monkey dodged it as well as he could, until the blows came so thick and fast, that he could bear them no longer, when he opened his mouth, and let the glass drop.

Now comes the funniest part of the story. The glass fell quite near the bars, just where the old lady was standing; and a gentleman took her parasol, which had a hooked handle, to draw it within reach. But he put the parasol in a little too far, and it slipped out of his hand.

Instantly a large yellow monkey wrapped his long tail around it, and started off. Imagine the feelings of the poor old lady--first robbed of her spectacles, and then of her parasol!

But her property was all recovered at last; the robbers were both punished; and she went on her way in peace.

MRS. E. S. R.

PUSS AND HER THREE KITTENS.

OUR old cat has kittens three;
What do you think their names should be?
One is a tabby with emerald eyes,
And a tail that's long and slender;
But into a temper she quickly flies,
If you ever by chance offend her.
I think we shall call her this--
I think we shall call her that;
Now, don't you fancy "Pepper-pot"
A nice name for a cat?

One is black, with a frill of white,
And her feet are all white fur, too;
If you stroke her, she carries her tail upright,
And quickly begins to purr, too.
I think we shall call her this--
I think we shall call her that;
Now, don't you fancy "Sootikin"
A nice name for a cat?

One is a tortoise-shell, yellow and black,
With a lot of white about him:
If you tease him, at once he sets up his back:
He's a quarrelsome Tom, ne'er doubt him!
I think we shall call him this--
I think we shall call him that;
Now, don't you fancy "Scratchaway"
A nice name for a cat?

Our old cat has kittens three,
And I fancy these their names will be:
"Pepper-pot," "Sootikin," "Scratchaway,"--there!
Were there ever kittens with these to compare?
And we call the old mother--now, what do you think?
"Tabitha Longclaws Tiddleywink."

THOMAS HOOD.

THE LITTLE RECRUIT.

THERE had been an insurrection in Dolldom. _Insurrection_ is a big word: what does it mean, I wonder? I will tell you: it means an uprising, a rebellion. If a number of persons should refuse to obey the law, and rise up in arms to resist it, they would be guilty of an insurrection.

Now, it happened (according to Tommy's story) that all the dolls in the house, headed by a naughty male doll of African descent, and known as "Dandy Jim," rose in insurrection against their lawful queen, Lucy the First, whose brother, Duke Tommy, was commander-in-chief of her Majesty's forces.

The rebels were well fortified in one corner of the play-room. They had mounted several cannon on alphabet-blocks; and a whole company of tin soldiers defended the outworks. Besides this, a china dog and a wooden elephant had been enlisted as allies, and stood bravely in front.

General Tommy felt a weight of responsibility upon his shoulders, and, like a prudent soldier, he resolved not to go into battle until his army was large enough to make victory certain. So he enlisted Queen Lucy the First as a recruit.

Queen Lucy looked very grand in her paper cocked hat, with a feather at the top. She carried a gun; and General Tommy taught her how to fire it off. When all were ready for the onset, he blew a trumpet.

The army marched in excellent order along the entry, into the play-room; and not a soldier drew back as they came within sight of the enemy. "Halt!" cried General Tommy. The army halted. The traitor, "Dandy Jim," stood pointing his sword, and the dolls all kept still.

One long blast of the trumpet, and then the brave General Tommy cried out, "Now, soldiers, on, on to victory!"

On they went. The tin soldiers were soon swept down. The dog and the elephant were handsomely beaten; and, rushing into the fort, General Tommy seized the traitor, "Dandy Jim," by the throat, and said, "Now, sir, your doom is a dungeon!"

The dolls all fell on their knees, and thus was the great insurrection in Dolldom put down without bloodshed, and the authority of Queen Lucy the First fully restored. Of course, there was great rejoicing; and, when the reporter left, General Tommy was preparing for a grand illumination.

EMILY CARTER.

ONE GOOD TURN DESERVES ANOTHER.

ON a fine summer day, a dove, that was perched upon the branch of a tree, saw a bee fall into a stream that was flowing past. The poor bee tried to get out of the water, but could not.

The dove, seeing that the bee was struggling for her life, dropped a leaf close beside her, so that she might climb on to it, and save herself. This the bee at once did, and very glad she was to find herself safe once more.

Not long after this, a sportsman, who was roaming through the woods for game, saw the dove flying about, and lifted his gun to shoot her. But, just as he was taking aim, something happened, that checked him in the act.

The bee, whose life had been saved by the dove, was going about from flower to flower in search of honey, when she saw the sportsman taking aim at the good dove that had befriended her in her time of need. "That dove once saved my life, and now I will save hers," thought the bee to herself.

With that she flew at the sportsman, and stung him on the lip. The poor fellow dropped his gun with a loud cry of pain, which so startled the dove, that she flew away; and the man did not have another chance to shoot her. "Surely one good turn deserves another," thought the bee, as she turned merrily to her work.

LEONORA.

A LETTER FROM TEXAS.

_Dear Children_,--I am writing this letter at my office-desk in San Antonio, Texas, a long way off from some of you who will read it. I am the big brother of a lot of little ones, and they call me "Doc."

We take "The Nursery," and the little folks think it is splendid. As soon as it comes, mamma reads the stories, and shows them the pictures.

They crowd around her to listen: some of them sit down on chairs like little ladies; some sit on the floor like beggars; and some--I am sorry to say--lie flat down on the carpet, like--certainly not like ladies and gentlemen.

What do you think, children, of boys and girls who lie on the floor, and kick up their heels in the air? _You_ would not do so, would you?

Now listen! I want to tell you something about our cat. When we first got her, she was a tiny kitten, and we fed her on milk in a saucer. You ought to have seen her lap it up with her little tongue! Don't you think it is a pretty sight to see a kitten drinking milk? I do. But our cat isn't a kitten any longer, but a great, big, grown cat.

Well, the other night she got locked up in the schoolroom. You know Miss Anna and Miss Emma teach a big school in our house, and Willie, Pressley, Eddie, May, and Emily go to it. Sadie, "Little Lalla," and baby are too young for school yet. These are my little brothers' and sisters' names. There are eight of them mentioned here. See if you can count them.

As soon as Emily found out that Kitty was locked up, she ran to Miss Eliza and mamma, and asked them to let her out; but they said, "No," for they knew that, if she got out of the schoolroom, she would surely run into the dining-room, and drink up the baby's milk. So she had to stay there all night.

Early next morning, Miss Eliza went into the schoolroom to let Kitty out; and what do you think she saw? There was Kitty, fast asleep in Willie's little wagon, and four little kittens lying by her side, fast asleep too.

When Miss Eliza went back to the nursery, and told the children what she had seen, Eddie, May, Emily, Sadie, and even "Little Lalla" set up a big shout, and, bursting out of the nursery, ran shouting and laughing to the little wagon in the schoolroom, where, sure enough, there they were, four little ones. Three were gray and white, and one gray and black. Kitty looked so pleased and so happy! You ought to have seen her. Wasn't that a nice surprise?

May chose the one that looked most like Kitty: Emily and Sadie each chose one of the gray-and-white ones, and Eddie took the gray-and-black fellow.

To-day is Emily's birthday. She is seven years old, and may have a little party. If she _does_, how I would like to have you all here to play with her! However, at some future time I may write, and tell you all about it.

But it is time for me to run home, and get some dinner: so good-by.

"DOC."

VOL. XXI.--NO. 4.]

A STORY OF A SEAL.

"THE seal is an amphibious quadruped."

"Oh, come now, Aunt Emily, do not puzzle us with your hard names," cries Johnny.

"But, Johnny, a lad seven years old ought to know that _amphibious_ means 'capable of living on land or water;' and that _quadruped_ means 'having four feet.'"

"Oh, now I understand," said Johnny. "But does the seal have feet?"

"It has a sort of feet; but they are so wrapped up in the skin, that they are not of much use on land, except to help it to creep, after a fashion. So the seal passes most of its time in the sea, coming on shore only to bask and sleep in the sun, or to suckle its young ones. It is covered with a close thick fur and is a very good swimmer."

"But let us have the story," said Jane.

"The story is this: once a fisherman, after harpooning an old seal, found one of its young ones on the sand, and took it home. Here it became the playmate of the children, whom it seemed to love very much. They named it Blue-eyes. It would play with them from morning till night, would lick their hands, and call them with a gentle little cry, not unlike the human voice in its tone.

"It would look at them tenderly with its large blue eyes, shaded by long black lashes. It was very fond of music. It would follow its master to fish, swimming around the boat, and taking a great many fish, which it would give up without even biting them. No dog could have been more faithful, or more quick to learn what was wanted.

"But the fisherman's half-sister was a silly old woman. She had come to help nurse his wife, who was ill. This half-sister took it into her head that the poor seal would bring bad luck to the family. She told her brother that he must get rid of it.

"Weary of her teasing, he at last took the poor seal, rowed with it out into the open sea, and there, more than seven miles from the shore, threw it into the water, and then hurried home as fast as sails would carry him.

"But, when he entered his cottage, the first thing he saw was the faithful seal lying close beside the cradle of one of his children. As soon as it saw its master, it showed great joy, and tried to caress him. But he took the seal and gave it away to a sailor, who was going on a long voyage. Two weeks afterward, as the fisherman came back from his boat, he saw the seal at play with the children.

"'If you do not kill that seal, I will kill it myself,' said the old aunt. The children began to cry. 'No, no, you shall not kill it!' cried Hans with flashing eyes. 'You shall kill me first,' cried little Jane. 'You have no right to kill it,' cried Mary, the eldest girl.

"'Am I to be ruled by these children?' said the silly aunt, turning to her brother.

"'The seal shall live,' said he: 'the children shall have their way. Your notion that the poor seal brings bad luck is a very silly notion. You ought to be ashamed of it.'

"'Hurrah!' cried Hans. 'Blue-eyes, the vote is taken: you are to live, and all this nonsense about your bringing bad luck is blown away.'

"The seal began to flop about as if in great joy.

"'I shall leave the house at once,' said the silly aunt.

"'Do as you please,' said the fisherman.

"And so it turned out, that the only ill luck brought to the family by the seal was the departure of the cross and silly old aunt. And, if the truth were known, this was found to be a very good thing for all. The fisherman prospered, the mother of the children got well at once; and all were happier than ever before, including Blue-eyes, who now was the jolliest seal that ever played with children."

EMILY CARTER.

FUN IN WINTER.

THE ground was white with snow. The sky looked black as though another storm were coming. The day was very cold; but the tough boys and girls did not mind the cold weather. They were out to have some fun.

Their rubber boots, and thick coats and mittens, kept them dry and warm. One of the boys, though, had come out bare-headed. He was the boy who never _could_ find his cap when he wanted it. His name was Tom.

"Now look here, Tom," said his brother Sam, a sturdy little chap, who was always trying to keep Tom in order; "this won't do. You go into the house and get your cap. Go quick, or you'll get this snowball right in your face."

"Fire away!" said Tom, dancing around, and putting up his arm to keep off the snowball.

"I'm going to have a hand in this game," said Joe, aiming a snowball at Sam. "Look out for yourself, old fellow."

"Clear the track!" cried Bill and Ned, rolling a huge snowball down the hill.

Mrs. O'Sullivan, who was just going up the back-steps to ask for cold victuals, looked around to see what was going on; while Charles had his own fun in dragging his little sister up the hill on her sled.

All this time, a little boy named Jim, who had been having a private coast in the field near the house, was peeping over the fence, and wishing he were old enough to play with the other boys. He didn't venture to join them, for he was bashful, and rather timid: but he saw all that took place, and he will remember all about it when he sees this picture.

UNCLE SAM.

OLD WHITEY.