Chapter C: Emma and Her Doll

EMMA has placed her doll Flora against the pillow. She says, "Now, dear Flora, I want you to be very good to-morrow, for I am to have company. It is my birthday."

Then Emma sat down in a chair, and said to herself, "Why, what an old person I shall be! I shall be four years old; and I shall have to go to school soon, and read in my books. I love to look at the pictures now."

Emma got down from the chair, and placed Flora in it, and said: "I want you to be very still now, my child, for I am going to say my evening prayers. You must not cry; you must not stir; for I shall not like it at all if you make the least noise."

Then Emma said her prayers, and Flora kept quite still all the while. "Now I shall take off my shoes, and get into bed," said Emma; and then she thanked Flora for behaving so well.

A. B. C.

OUR OLD BILLY.

WE call him _old_ Billy; but he is not really old: he is a young horse, and as full of capers as any puppy. After he has been standing in the barn for two or three days, he acts like a wild creature when he is taken out, and will whisk round corners, and scamper up and down the hill, as if he really meant to tear every thing to pieces. But just fill the carriage up with ladies or babies, and he will step along as carefully as if he thought an extra joggle would break some of them.

He is very fond of my aunt, who usually drives him; and, when she goes to ride, he always expects her to give him something good,--an apple, or a crust, or a lump of sugar. If she has nothing for him, he will grab the corner of her veil, or the ribbons on her hat, and chew them, to teach her not to forget him next time; and he will lap her face and hands, like a dog.

If she goes into a store, and stays longer than he thinks necessary, he will step across the sidewalk, carriage and all, and try to get his head in at the door to look for her.

There is another horse in the barn where he is kept,--a very quiet, well-behaved nag, named Tom; and sometimes, when Billy feels naughty, he will put his head over the side of the stall and nip Tom, not enough to hurt much, but just enough to tease him, and make him squeal.

One day auntie heard a great clattering in the barn, and went out to see what was the matter. When she opened the door, both horses were in their stalls, and all was quiet. She noticed that the meal-chest was open: so she closed it, and went out. Before she reached the house, the noise began again, and she went quietly back, and peeped in at the window.

There was Billy, dipping his nose into the meal-chest, which he had opened. "Billy, what are you doing?" said auntie; and it was fun enough to see him whisk into his stall, and stand there as quiet and demure as a cat that had just been caught eating up the cream.

Billy had slipped the halter, and so set himself free. Since then he has been fastened more securely; yet he still succeeds in freeing himself once in a while.

IDA T. THURSTON.

THE THRUSH FEEDING THE CUCKOO.

THE cuckoo is a queer bird. It arrives in England about the middle of April, and departs in the autumn for the woods of Northern Africa. In every language the well-known notes of the male bird have suggested its name.

In its habits it is shy; and its voice may be often heard whilst the eye seeks in vain to find the bird itself. Its food consists of caterpillars and various insects.

The female cuckoo makes no nest, and takes no care of her young. How do you suppose she does? Having a wide bill, she takes up in it one of her eggs, which she puts in the nest of some other bird that feeds on insects.

The strange nurses to whom the cuckoo confides her young become not only good mothers to them, but neglect their own children to take care of the young cuckoos.

As the young cuckoo thrives and grows strong, he thrusts the other birds out of the nest, so that he may have all the room to himself. For five weeks or more his adopted mother supplies him with food.

In the picture a thrush is represented as feeding a young cuckoo, that has probably driven off all the thrush's own children.

DORA BURNSIDE.

JIPPY AND JIMMY.

JIPPY and Jimmy were two little dogs:
They went to sail on some floating logs.
The logs rolled over, the dogs rolled in;
And they got very wet, for their clothes were thin.

Jippy and Jimmy crept out again:
They said, "The river is full of rain!"
They said, "The water is far from dry!
Ky-hi! ky-hi! ky-hi! ky-hi!"

Jippy and Jimmy went shivering home:
They said, "On the river no more we'll roam;
And we won't go to sail until we learn how,--
Bow-wow, bow-wow, bow-wow, bow-wow!"

LAURA E. RICHARDS.

THE JOLLY OLD COOPER.

A JOLLY old cooper am I,
And I'm mending this tub, do you see?
The workmen are gone, and I am alone,
And their tools are quite handy for me.
Now hammer and hammer away!
This hoop I must fit to the tub:
One, two--but I wish it would stay--
The workmen have gone to their grub.
How pleased they will be when they find
That I can do work to their mind!

Yes, a jolly old cooper--But stop!
What's this? Where's the tub? Oh, despair!
Knocked into a heap there it lies.
To face them now, how shall I dare?
The knocks I have given the tub
Will be echoed, I fear, on my head.
They are coming! Oh, yes! I can hear,--
I can hear on the sidewalk a tread.
Shall I stay, and confess it was I?
Yes, that's better than telling a lie!

ALFRED SELWYN.

THE CAT AND THE STARLING.

THE European starling is a sprightly and handsome bird, about eight inches long, of a black color with purple and greenish reflections, and spotted with buff. It may be taught to repeat a few words, and to whistle short tunes.

A little boy in England, who had one as a pet, which he named Dicky, tells the following story about it:--

"I took it home with me, and got a cage for it. But Master Dicky was not satisfied with so little room, and got out, and took possession of the whole house. One morning I was awakened by his chirping, and, on looking around, I saw him on my pillow, to which he used to come every morning.

"We had at the same time a cat, with whom he soon became very good friends. They always drank milk out of the same saucer. One afternoon, a basin of milk being on the table, Master Dicky thought he would take a bath: so in he went, splashing the milk all over the table.

"Sometimes he would take it into his head to have a ride on the cat's back, to which she had no objection. At night he would sleep with the cat and kitten; and once when the servant came down in the morning, she said that she saw the cat with her paw around the bird, keeping him warm, though that seems almost too much to believe."

R. B.

THE EXPRESS PACKAGE.

A PACKAGE came,
With Gold-Locks' name
Written in letters bold and free
Upon the cover:
She turned it over,
And cried, "Is it for me, for me?"

'Twas scarce a minute
Before within it
Her eyes had peeped with curious awe:
There, sweet as a rose,
And folded close
In tissue, what do you think she saw?

A doll? Ah, yes!
You would never guess
A dolly could be so very sweet,
Or have such grace,
From the blooming face
Down to the tips of her slippered feet.

She smiled, and smiled,
Like a real live child,
And opened her eyes of bluest blue,
As little Gold-Locks
From out the box
Lifted, and held her up to view.

In ruffles and puffs
Of gauzy stuffs,
She looked like a fresh white flower, full-blown,
And Gold-Locks' heart
Gave a happy start,
As she thought, "She is all my own, my own!"

MRS. CLARA DOTY BATES.

THE WHITE OWL.

Words by TENNYSON. Music by T. CRAMPTON.

1. When cats run home and light is come,
And dew is cold upon the ground,
And the far-off stream is dumb,
And the whirring sail goes round,
And the whirring sail goes round.
Alone and warming his fine wits,
The white owl in the belfry sits.

2. When merry milkmaids click the latch,
And rarely smells the new-mown hay,
And the cock beneath the thatch,
Thrice has sung his roundelay,
Thrice has sung his roundelay.
Alone and warming his fine wits,
The white owl in the belfry sits.

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Transcriber's Notes:

The July edition of the Nursery had a table of contents for the next six issues of the year. This table was divided to cover each specific issue. A title page copied from this same July edition was also used for this number and the issue number added after the Volume number.

Page 114, "go" changed to "got" (After we had got)

Page 128, period changed to a comma on chorus of song (his fine wits,)