Chapter IX

The hands, too, that had been going so fast, stood still. What could be the reason of it? Had it really stopped? Bessie put her ear quite near, and listened. Yes, there was not a sound.

She began to feel frightened, and to think that perhaps, after all, she had better have left it alone. Her mother came into the room and said, "What are you doing, Bessie? You must have broken the mainspring of the clock."

"I saw it was not going, mamma, and so I wound it up," sobbed out Bessie: "I did not mean to break it." That was all she could say.

DEEDS, NOT WORDS.

BENNY says he'll be a soldier:
He will march to fife and drum,
With a musket on his shoulder;
Never stouter heart nor bolder,
Where the shots the thickest come.
(Yet I've seen the speckled hen
Put to rout brave Captain Ben!)

Willie longs to be sailor:
He will cross the farthest seas;
'Mid the terror and commotion
Of the dark, tempestuous ocean,
He will pace his deck at ease.
(_Storms_ are _certain_ when we scrub
Willie in his bathing-tub.)

Nellie hears with awe and wonder
Of the perils they will seek;
Weeps at thought of cruel slaughter;
Prays for seamen on the water;
Blushes for her courage weak:
(Yet the best thing, Nellie dear,
Is to _do_ the duty near.)

A. D. W.

HOW THE WIND FILLS THE SAILS.

"WHAT makes the vessel move on the river?" asked little Anna one day of her brother Harry.

"Why," said Harry, "it's the wind, of course, that fills the sails, and that pushes the vessel on. Come out on the bank, and I will show you how it is done."

So Anna, Harry, and Bravo, all ran out on the lawn. Bravo was a dog; but he was always curious to see what was going on.

When they were on the lawn, Harry took out his handkerchief, and told Anna to hold it by two of the corners while he held the other two.

As soon as they had done this, the wind made it swell out, and look just like a sail.

"Now you see how the wind fills the sails," said Harry.

"Yes; but how does it make the ship go?" asked Anna.

"Well, now let go of the handkerchief, and see what becomes of it," said Harry.

So they both let go of it; and off the wind bore it up among the bushes by the side of the house.

In order to explain the matter still further to his sister, Harry made a little flat boat out of a shingle, and put in it a mast, and on the mast a paper sail.

Then they went down to the river and launched it; and, much to Anna's delight, the wind bore it far out towards the middle of the stream.

Bravo swam out, took it in his mouth, and brought it back; and Anna was at last quite satisfied that she knew how it is that the wind makes the vessel go on the river.

DORA BURNSIDE.

MOLLY TO HER DOLLY.

WELL, dolly, here I am again,
Just home from school, you see:
Let's come down to our cubby-house
Beneath the willow-tree.

There, dolly, now we're snug and safe,
Away from horrid boys;
Oh! don't we hate their teasing tricks,
Their rudeness and their noise!

Come, let me press your little cheek,
So rosy and so cool;
And I will tell you all about
The times I had at school.

I said my tables pretty well,
But missed on five times seven:
In spelling I went to the head
(The word, dear, was e-lev-en).

At recess, Nelly Fay and I
A splendid "teter" made:
O dolly! we went up so high,
_You_ would have been afraid.

And Nelly promised she would come
And spend this afternoon:
So, dolly, I must change your dress,
For she will be here soon.

She'll bring with her her stylish doll,
(Miss Maud May Rosalie)
Who wears real ear-rings and a watch
(As vain as she can be)!

Ah, dolly! by her Paris dress
Yours will look plain, I fear;
But you have twice as sweet a face,
My _ownty_ darling dear!

IDA'S MOUSE.

ONE morning when Ida went to the closet for the birdseed to feed her canary, she found a wee brown mouse in the bottom of the bottle where the seed was kept. Instead of screaming and running away, Ida clapped her fat little hand over the mouth of the bottle, and mousie was a prisoner.

Mamma said mousie should be drowned; but Ida begged so hard to keep him, that mamma got a glass jar, put mousie into it, with a bit of bread and cheese to keep him company, tied a piece of tin, all pricked with little holes, over the mouth of the jar, and set it on the shelf.

Ida spent half the day in watching the mouse.

When papa came home at night, he brought a funny little tin house for mousie's cage. Mousie was put into it; and he soon began to make the wire-wheel go round. He turned the wheel so fast and so long, that he soon made his nose sore. Ida thought he was very tame; but I think he only wanted to get out and run away.

One day mousie managed to get his door open and scamper off. Then Ida cried and cried, and was afraid her dear mousie would starve. But after a day or two, as grandma was going up stairs, she saw little mousie hopping up ahead of her.

He ran into Ida's closet. Ida brought the cage; and mamma and grandma made mousie run into it.

"Perhaps it is not the same mouse," said grandma.

"Oh, yes, it is!" said Ida. "I know him by his sore nose."

Ida took good care of mousie till warm weather came, and it was time to go into the country for the summer. Then she took the cage outside the back-gate, and opened mousie's door. Mousie was very quiet at first; but soon he peeped out, and, seeing nothing to hinder, he ran away as fast as his little legs could carry him.

I am glad that he was set free; for I do not think he was happy in the cage. I hope he will keep away from traps and cats, and live to a good old age.

AUNTIE MAY.

ALMOST LOST.

SOON after school had commenced, it began snowing so, that the mistress dismissed all the scholars, and they started for their homes.

Among the girls were two little sisters, Julia and Emily Burns, who lived a mile and a half from the schoolhouse, and had to cross a wide field, and pass through a wood, before they could reach the well-known road that led up to their own house.

They had an umbrella with them; and Julia, the elder sister, had a leather bag on her arm, containing their luncheon. Soon the snow began to fall with blinding force: the wind blew, and they could not see their way.

They were by this time near the entrance to the wood. Emily began to cry with alarm; but Julia said, "Do not be afraid. See! there is the little old shanty where the wood-choppers used to go in winter to eat their dinners. We will go in there, and stop till somebody comes for us."

So they went in; and, as good luck would have it, Julia found some matches in an old box on the shelf. There were plenty of pine-chips, too, lying in the corner of the one room, which was all that the shanty afforded.

Soon Julia had a merry fire blazing on the hearth; then Emily began to laugh. They sat down on a log, and warmed themselves; and Julia drew forth their luncheon from the leather bag, and they ate a hearty meal.

What do you suppose the sisters did after that? Why, they began to sing songs, and tell stories, and repeat riddles; and they were in the midst of this, when they heard the sound of voices.

"Oh, dear! what's that?" cried Emily.

"It sounds very much like papa's voice," said Julia; "and that bow-wow sounds like the voice of old Tiger. Yes, here they come."

And the next moment the children's father, with two big boys, sons of one of their neighbors, burst into the room; and papa exclaimed, "Why, you little rogues, how I have worried about you! And here you are as comfortable as a mouse in a meal-bag!"

Then old Tiger began to frisk round them, and to jump up as if to kiss them. "Down, old fellow!" said Mr. Burns: "you told us where they were; didn't you, old Tiger?"

Tiger barked loudly, as much as to say, "Yes, I told you where they were; and I think I am the smartest dog that ever lived. Bow-wow! Of all the dogs ever told about in 'The Nursery,' I am the wisest, the bravest, the handsomest, and the best. Bow-wow!"

MARY ELMORE.

LITTLE MAY.

THERE were pigs and chickens and cows and a good old gray pony on the farm where little May lived.

May loved them all; and they all seemed to love her.

The cows, as they lay chewing their cud, would let the little girl pat them as much as she pleased. They never shrank from the touch of her soft little hands. Sometimes papa would let May stand beside him when he milked. Then she would be sure to get a good saucer of milk to feed the kittens with. She was a great friend of all the cats.

She took great delight in feeding the chickens; and she even liked to throw bits to the pigs. It made her laugh to see piggy, with one foot in the trough, champing his food with such a relish.

Once she saw her papa scratch piggy's back with an old broom. So, a few days after, she thought she would try it; but, instead of getting an _old_ broom, she took a nice new one, and, reaching over the side of the pen, managed to touch the pig's back with it.

Now, what do you think that ungrateful animal did? He caught the broom in his mouth, and began to chew it.

Off went May to her mother as fast as her little feet could carry her. "Mamma, mamma!" said she, "come quick. Oh, dear, dear! piggy is eating the broom."

To be sure, there was mamma's best carpet-broom all chewed down to a stub; and the pig was still eating away.

May cried then; but it was so very funny, that mamma only laughed, and by and by May laughed too. When papa got home, he was told the story, and it made him laugh.

May was almost ready to cry again; for she felt sorry, and she did not like to be laughed at. "There's nothing to cry about, darling," said her papa; "but don't try to scratch the pig's back again until I show you how to do it."

AUNTY MAY.

AN IMPORTANT DISCLOSURE.

"I WANT to tell you something, Tommy."

"What is it?"

"The country is going to ruin."

"You don't say so! What's the matter?"

"Rag currency is the matter."

"What's that?"

"I'll explain. You paid for that kettle of milk ten cents. You paid in rag currency. Did you ever see a silver dime?"

"No, Billy; but my big brother has seen one."

"Well, that is specie. Now, what we want is specie payment."

"How do you know?"

"My father says so."

_Carlo the dog listens attentively, and seems to be absorbed in a profound reflection upon the currency question._

T. CRAMPTON

_Lively_.

VOICE AND PIANO.

1

Timothy Tippens drove a cart
To a market up the town, oh!
He carried a lot of turnip tops,
And sold for half a crown, oh!
His waistcoat was red and so was his head,
But his little coat was brown, oh!

2

Timothy Tippens's horse was blind,
Because he couldn't see, oh!
He'd two legs in front, and two behind;
And that's one more than three, oh!
Though if two be be-four, and behind two more,
It looks very like six to me, oh!

3

Timothy Tippens's horse he died,
And Tim cried, "Gee," and "Woe," oh!
And sold his cart to his neighbor Jack,
Because it wouldn't go, oh!
Without a horse: and you know, of course,
It was likely it should be so, oh!

* * * * *

Transcriber's Notes:

Obvious punctuation errors repaired.

Page 96, the final line of the second verse was not indented in the original text.

This issue was part of an omnibus. The original text for this issue did not include a title page or table of contents. This was taken from the January issue with the "No." added. The original table of contents covered the entire year of 1873. The remaining text of the table of contents can be found in the rest of the year's issues.

End of Project Gutenberg's The Nursery, March 1873, Vol. XIII., by Various