Chapter XII: Another Birthday

Text size

Again a spring morning, only two or three years ago. Evercombe and the Watch House look much as they did when we first saw them; one could fancy that but a few months instead of ten years had passed since then. The swallows are there, established in their summer quarters above the oriel window, the same and yet not the same, though their chirping voices may, for all we know, be telling of the little boy who for so long lay on his couch below, and loved them so well.

He is not there now, nor is his couch in its old place. Instead of the small white face and eager blue eyes, there stands at the post of observation a tall young girl, a very pretty girl, with a bright flush of happy expectancy on her fair face.

"Mamma, mamma," she exclaims to some one farther in the shade of the room. "I think I hear wheels. Surely it will be they this time! If it isn't I really shan't have patience to stand here any longer."

But "this time" her hopes were fulfilled. Another moment and a carriage, which Christine, for Christine of course it was, quickly recognised as their own, turned in at the lodge gates. And before those inside had time to look up at the window, Chrissie had flown downstairs followed by her mother.

"Ferdy, Ferdy," she exclaimed, as the carriage-door opened, and her brother, his face flushed with pleasure equal to her own, got out, slowly, and with a little help from his father, for the young man was slightly lame, though his face told of health and fair strength. He was sunburnt and manly looking, full of life and happy eagerness.

"Isn't he looking well, mamma?" said Chrissie, when the first loving greetings had sobered down a little.

"And haven't I grown?" added Ferdy, drawing himself up for approval. "And isn't it delightful that I managed to get back on my birthday after all?"

"Yes, indeed, my darling," said Mrs. Ross; while his father gently placed his hand on the young fellow's shoulder, repeated her words--"yes, indeed! When we think of this day--how many years ago! Ten?--yes, it must be ten--you were nine then, Ferdy, how very, unutterably thankful we should be to have you as you are."

"And to judge by my looks you don't know the best of me," said Ferdy. "I can walk ever so far without knocking up. But oh! what heaps of things we have to talk about!"

"Come in to breakfast first," said his mother. "It is ten o'clock, and after travelling all night you must be a little tired."

"I am really not, only very hungry," said Ferdy, as he followed her into the dining-room, where the happy party seated themselves round the table.

Ferdy had been away, abroad, for nearly two years, both for study and for health's sake, and the result was more than satisfactory. School-life had been impossible for him, for the effect of his accident had been but very slowly outgrown. Slowly but surely, however, for now at nineteen, except for his slight lameness, he was perfectly well, and able to look forward to a busy and useful life, though the exact profession he was now to prepare himself for, was not yet quite decided upon. A busy and useful and happy life it promised to be, with abundance of interests for his leisure hours. He was no genius, but the tastes which he had had special opportunity for cultivating through his boyhood, were not likely to fail him as he grew up. And in many a dull and sunless home would they help him to bring something to cheer the dreary sameness of hard-working lives. They had done so already, more than he as yet knew.

Breakfast over and his old haunts revisited, Mrs. Ross at last persuaded him and his sister to join her on the lawn, where she had established herself with her work for the rest of the morning.

"This is to be a real holiday, Ferdy," she said. "Chrissie and I have been looking forward to it for so long. We have nothing to do but to talk and listen."

"I have heaps to tell," said Ferdy, "but even more to ask. My life in Switzerland was really awfully jolly in every way, but I'll tell you all about it by degrees; besides, I did write long letters, didn't I?"

"Yes, you did," said his mother and Chrissie together; "you have been very good about letters all the time."

"Of course," began Ferdy, after a moment or two's silence, "the thing I want to hear most about is how the classes have all been getting on. You kept me pretty well posted up about them, but in your last letters there was some allusion I didn't quite understand--something that the Mayhews have been trying to arrange."

Christine glanced at her mother.

"I may tell him, mayn't I, mamma? Now that it is all settled? It is not only the Mayhews' doing, but Jesse Piggot's too." And as Ferdy's face lightened up at the mention of his friend's name--"He hasn't told you about it himself, surely?" in a tone of some disappointment. "I know that he wrote you long letters regularly, but I thought he understood that we wanted to keep this new thing as a surprise for you when you came back."

Ferdy looked puzzled.

"He hasn't told me anything special except about himself. The last big piece of news, since of course it was all settled about his getting that capital berth at Whittingham, that Brock was so delighted about--the last big piece of news was his getting the order for the carved reredos at Cowlingsbury Abbey. But that was some time ago!"

"Oh yes," said Christine, "we have got over the excitement about that. Though when you think of it," she went on thoughtfully, "it is wonderful to realise how Jesse has got on."

"And is going to get on," added Mrs. Ross. "And without flattery, Ferdy dear, we may say that it is greatly, very greatly owing to you."

Ferdy's face grew red with pleasure.

"I can't quite see that," he said. "Genius must make its own way. But do tell me the _new_ news, Chrissie."

"It is that Mr. Mayhew has got ground and money and everything for a sort of,--we don't know what to call it yet--'Institute' is such an ugly word, we must think of something prettier,--a sort of art college at Draymoor for the afternoon and evening classes. It won't be on a large scale. It would spoil it if it were, and a great part of their work can still be done at home, which is of course the real idea of it all. But this little college will really be for teaching what, up to now, has had to be done in odd rooms here and there."

"Oh!" Ferdy exclaimed, "that is splendid!"

"For you see," Chrissie continued, counting up on her pretty fingers as she spoke, "what a lot of different kinds of work we've got to now. Wood-carving to begin with--we must always count it first!"

"No," said Ferdy, laughing, "strictly speaking, moss baskets came first."

"Wood-carving," repeated Chrissie, not condescending to notice the interruption. "Then the modelling, and pottery classes, basket work, brass hammering, and the iron work, not to speak of the girls' embroidery and lace work. Yes," with a deep sigh of satisfaction, "it _is_ time for a little college of our own."

"A great, great deal of it," said Ferdy, "is owing to Miss Lilly--I always forget to call her Mrs. Mayhew. If only she hadn't gone and got married we might have called it the 'Lily College,' after her."

"If she hadn't gone and got married, as you elegantly express it, Mr. Mayhew would never, probably, have been the vicar of Draymoor," said Chrissie. "For it was through his being such a great friend of Dr. Lilly's that he got to know the old squire, who gave him the living. And just think of all he has done--Mr. Mayhew I mean--for Draymoor."

Ferdy did not at once reply. He gazed up into the blue sky and listened to the sweet bird-chatter overhead, with a look of great content on his face.

"Yes," he said, "things do turn out so--quite rightly sometimes. Just when you'd have thought they'd go wrong! There was that row of Jesse's to begin with, when he thought all he had tried to do was spoilt, and then there were all the difficulties about the evening classes, while I was still ill, and it almost seemed as if we would have to give them up. And then--and then--why! when it was fixed for me to go away two years ago, I could scarcely believe they'd go on, even though Mr. Mayhew had come by that time. Yes, it's rather wonderful! I say, Chrissie," with a sudden change of tone, "doesn't it really sound as if the swallows were rather excited about my coming home!"

Christine looked up at the oriel window with a smile.

"I wonder," she said, "if _possibly_ any of them can be the same ones, or if they are telling over the story that has been handed down from their great-grandparents--the story of the little white boy that used to lie on the couch in the window?"

* * * * *

This is not a completed story, dear children, as you will have seen. It is only the story of the beginning of a life, and of the beginning of a work, which in many and many a place, besides gloomy Draymoor, started in the humblest and smallest way. If ever, or wherever any of you come across this endeavour to brighten and refine dull, ungraceful, and ungracious homes, you will do your best to help it on, I feel sure, will you not?

THE END

A NEW UNIFORM EDITION OF MRS. MOLESWORTH'S STORIES FOR CHILDREN WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY WALTER CRANE AND LESLIE BROOKE.

* * * * *

In Ten Volumes. 12mo. Cloth. One Dollar a Volume.

* * * * *

Tell Me a Story, and Herr Baby.
"Carrots," and A Christmas Child.
Grandmother Dear, and Two Little Waifs.
The Cuckoo Clock, and The Tapestry Room.
Christmas-Tree Land, and A Christmas Posy.
The Children of the Castle, and Four Winds Farm.
Little Miss Peggy, and Nurse Heatherdale's Story.
"Us," and The Rectory Children.
Rosy, and The Girls and I.
Mary. Sheila's Mystery.
Carved Lions.

* * * * *

THE SET, TWELVE VOLUMES, IN BOX, $12.00.

* * * * *

"It seems to me not at all easier to draw a lifelike child than to draw a lifelike man or woman: Shakespeare and Webster were the only two men of their age who could do it with perfect delicacy and success; at least, if there was another who could, I must crave pardon of his happy memory for my forgetfulness or ignorance of his name. Our own age is more fortunate, on this single score at least, having a larger and far nobler proportion of female writers; among whom, since the death of George Eliot, there is none left whose touch is so exquisite and masterly, whose love is so thoroughly according to knowledge, whose bright and sweet invention is so fruitful, so truthful, or so delightful as Mrs. Molesworth's. Any chapter of _The Cuckoo Clock_ or the enchanting _Adventures of Herr Baby_ is worth a shoal of the very best novels dealing with the characters and fortunes of mere adults."--MRS. A. C. SWINBURNE, in _The Nineteenth Century_.

MRS. MOLESWORTH'S STORIES FOR CHILDREN.

* * * * *

"There is hardly a better author to put into the hands of children than Mrs. Molesworth. I cannot easily speak too highly of her work. It is a curious art she has, not wholly English in its spirit, but a cross of the old English with the Italian. Indeed, I should say Mrs. Molesworth had also been a close student of the German and Russian, and had some way, catching and holding the spirit of all, created a method and tone quite her own.... Her characters are admirable and real."--_St. Louis Globe Democrat._

"Mrs. Molesworth has a rare gift for composing stories for children. With a light, yet forcible touch, she paints sweet and artless, yet natural and strong, characters."--_Congregationalist._

"Mrs. Molesworth always has in her books those charming touches of nature that are sure to charm small people. Her stories are so likely to have been true that men 'grown up' do not disdain them."--_Home Journal._

"No English writer of childish stories has a better reputation than Mrs. Molesworth, and none with whose stories we are familiar deserves it better. She has a motherly knowledge of the child nature, a clear sense of character, the power of inventing simple incidents that interest, and the ease which comes of continuous practice."--_Mail and Express._

"Christmas would hardly be Christmas without one of Mrs. Molesworth's stories. No one has quite the same power of throwing a charm and an interest about the most commonplace every-day doings as she has, and no one has ever blended fairyland and reality with the same skill."--_Educational Times._

"Mrs. Molesworth is justly a great favorite with children; her stories for them are always charmingly interesting and healthful in tone."--_Boston Home Journal._

"Mrs. Molesworth's books are cheery, wholesome, and particularly well adapted to refined life. It is safe to add that Mrs. Molesworth is the best English prose writer for children.... A new volume from Mrs. Molesworth is always a treat."--_The Beacon._

"No holiday season would be complete for a host of young readers without a volume from the hand of Mrs. Molesworth.... It is one of the peculiarities of Mrs. Molesworth's stories that older readers can no more escape their charm than younger ones."--_Christian Union._

"Mrs. Molesworth ranks with George Macdonald and Mrs. Ewing as a writer of children's stories that possess real literary merit."--_Milwaukee Sentinel._

* * * * *

THE SET, ELEVEN VOLUMES, IN BOX, $11.00.

* * * * *

TELL ME A STORY, and HERR BABY.

"So delightful that we are inclined to join in the petition, and we hope she may soon tell us more stories."--_Athenaeum._

* * * * *

"CARROTS"; Just a Little Boy.

"One of the cleverest and most pleasing stories it has been our good fortune to meet with for some time. Carrots and his sister are delightful little beings, whom to read about is at once to become very fond of."--_Examiner._

* * * * *

A CHRISTMAS CHILD; A Sketch of a Boy's Life.

"A very sweet and tenderly drawn sketch, with life and reality manifest throughout."--_Pall Mall Gazette._

"This is a capital story, well illustrated. Mrs. Molesworth is one of those sunny, genial writers who has genius for writing acceptably for the young. She has the happy faculty of blending enough real with romance to make her stories very practical for good without robbing them of any of their exciting interest."--_Chicago Inter-Ocean._

"Mrs. Molesworth's _A Christmas Child_ is a story of a boy-life. The book is a small one, but none the less attractive. It is one of the best of this year's juveniles."--_Chicago Tribune._

"Mrs. Molesworth is one of the few writers of tales for children whose sentiment though of the sweetest kind is never sickly; whose religious feeling is never concealed yet never obtruded; whose books are always good but never 'goody.' Little Ted with his soft heart, clever head, and brave spirit is no morbid presentment of the angelic child 'too good to live,' and who is certainly a nuisance on earth, but a charming creature, if not a portrait, whom it is a privilege to meet even in fiction."--_The Academy._

* * * * *

THE CUCKOO CLOCK.

"A beautiful little story.... It will be read with delight by every child into whose hands it is placed."--_Pall Mall Gazette._

* * * * *

GRANDMOTHER DEAR.

"The author's concern is with the development of character, and seldom does one meet with the wisdom, tact, and good breeding which pervades this little book."--_Nation._

* * * * *

TWO LITTLE WAIFS.

"Mrs. Molesworth's delightful story of _Two Little Waifs_ will charm all the small people who find it in their stockings. It relates the adventures of two lovable English children lost in Paris, and is just wonderful enough to pleasantly wring the youthful heart."--_New York Tribune._

"It is, in its way, indeed, a little classic, of which the real beauty and pathos can hardly be appreciated by young people.... It is not too much to say of the story that it is perfect of its kind."--_Critic and Good Literature._

"Mrs. Molesworth is such a bright, cheery writer, that her stories are always acceptable to all who are not confirmed cynics, and her record of the adventures of the little waifs is as entertaining and enjoyable as we might expect."--_Boston Courier._

"_Two Little Waifs_ by Mrs. Molesworth is a pretty little fancy, relating the adventures of a pair of lost children, in a style full of simple charm. It is among the very daintiest of juvenile books that the season has yet called forth; and its pathos and humor are equally delightful. The refined tone and the tender sympathy with the feelings and sentiments of childhood, lend it a special and an abiding charm."--_Boston Saturday Evening Gazette._

"This is a charming little juvenile story from the pen of Mrs. Molesworth, detailing the various adventures of a couple of motherless children in searching for their father, whom they had missed in Paris where they had gone to meet him."--_Montreal Star._

"Mrs. Molesworth is a popular name, not only with a host of English, but with a considerable army of young American readers, who have been charmed by her delicate fancy and won by the interest of her style. _Two Little Waifs_, illustrated by Walter Crane, is a delightful story, which comes, as all children's stories ought to do, to a delightful end."--_Christian Union._

* * * * *

THE TAPESTRY ROOM.

"Mrs. Molesworth is the queen of children's fairyland. She knows how to make use of the vague, fresh, wondering instincts of childhood, and to invest familiar things with fairy glamour."--_Athenaeum._

"The story told is a charming one of what may be called the neo-fairy sort.... There has been nothing better of its kind done anywhere for children, whether we consider its capacity to awake interest or its wholesomeness."--_Evening Post._

"Among the books for young people we have seen nothing more unique than _The Tapestry Room_. Like all of Mrs. Molesworth's stories it will please young readers by the very attractive and charming style in which it is written."--_Presbyterian Journal._

"Mrs. Molesworth will be remembered as a writer of very pleasing stories for children. A new book from her pen will be sure of a welcome from all the young people. The new story bears the name of _The Tapestry Room_ and is a child's romance.... The child who comes into possession of the story will count himself fortunate. It is a bright, wholesome story, in which the interest is maintained to the end. The author has the faculty of adapting herself to the tastes and ideas of her readers in an unusual way."--_New Haven Paladium._

* * * * *

CHRISTMAS-TREE LAND.

"It is conceived after a happy fancy, as it relates the supposititious journey of a party of little ones through that part of fairyland where Christmas-trees are supposed to most abound. There is just enough of the old-fashioned fancy about fairies mingled with the 'modern improvements' to incite and stimulate the youthful imagination to healthful action. The pictures by Walter Crane are, of course, not only well executed in themselves, but in charming consonance with the spirit of the tale."--_Troy Times._

"_Christmas-Tree Land_, by Mrs. Molesworth, is a book to make younger readers open their eyes wide with delight. A little boy and a little girl domiciled in a great white castle, wander on their holidays through the surrounding fir-forests, and meet with the most delightful pleasures. There is a fascinating, mysterious character in their adventures and enough of the fairy-like and wonderful to puzzle and enchant all the little ones."--_Boston Home Journal._

* * * * *

A CHRISTMAS POSY.

"This is a collection of eight of those inimitable stories for children which none could write better than Mrs. Molesworth. Her books are prime favorites with children of all ages and they are as good and wholesome as they are interesting and popular. This makes a very handsome book, and its illustrations are excellent."--_Christian at Work._

"_A Christmas Posy_ is one of those charming stories for girls which Mrs Molesworth excels in writing."--_Philadelphia Press._

"Here is a group of bright, wholesome stories, such as are dear to children, and nicely tuned to the harmonies of Christmas-tide. Mr. Crane has found good situations for his spirited sketches."--_Churchman._

"_A Christmas Posy_, by Mrs. Molesworth, is lovely and fragrant. Mrs. Molesworth succeeds by right to the place occupied with so much honor by the late Mrs. Ewing, as a writer of charming stories for children. The present volume is a cluster of delightful short stories. Mr. Crane's illustrations are in harmony with the text."--_Christian Intelligencer._

* * * * *

THE CHILDREN OF THE CASTLE.

"_The Children of the Castle_, by Mrs. Molesworth, is another of those delightful juvenile stories of which this author has written so many. It is a fascinating little book, with a charming plot, a sweet, pure atmosphere, and teaches a wholesome moral in the most winning manner."--_B. S. E. Gazette._

"Mrs. Molesworth has given a charming story for children.... It is a wholesome book, one which the little ones will read with interest."--_Living Church._

"_The Children of the Castle_ are delightful creations, actual little girls, living in an actual castle, but often led by their fancies into a shadowy fairyland. There is a charming refinement of style and spirit about the story from beginning to end; an imaginative child will find endless pleasure in it, and the lesson of gentleness and unselfishness so artistically managed that it does not seem like a lesson, but only a part of the story."--_Milwaukee Sentinel._

"Mrs. Molesworth's stories for children are always ingenious, entertaining, and thoroughly wholesome. Her resources are apparently inexhaustible, and each new book from her pen seems to surpass its predecessors in attractiveness. In _The Children of the Castle_ the best elements of a good story for children are very happily combined."--_The Week._

* * * * *

FOUR WINDS FARM.

"Mrs. Molesworth's books are always delightful, but of all none is more charming than the volume with which she greets the holidays this season. _Four Winds Farm_ is one of the most delicate and pleasing books for a child that has seen the light this many a day. It is full of fancy and of that instinctive sympathy with childhood which makes this author's books so attractive and so individual."--_Boston Courier._

"Like all the books she has written this one is very charming, and is worth more in the hands of a child than a score of other stories of a more sensational character."--_Christian at Work._

"Still more delicately fanciful is Mrs. Molesworth's lovely little tale of the _Four Winds Farm_. It is neither a dream nor a fairy story, but concerns the fortune of a real little boy, named Gratian; yet the dream and the fairy tale seem to enter into his life, and make part of it. The farm-house in which the child lives is set exactly at the meeting-place of the four winds, and they, from the moment of his birth, have acted as his self-elected godmothers.... All the winds love the boy, and, held in the balance of their influence, he grows up as a boy should, simply and truly, with a tender heart and firm mind. The idea of this little book is essentially poetical."--_Literary World._

"This book is for the children. We grudge it to them. There are few children in this generation good enough for such a gift. Mrs. Molesworth is the only woman now who can write such a book.... The delicate welding of the farm life about the child and the spiritual life within him, and the realization of the four immortals into a delightful sort of half-femininity shows a finer literary quality than anything we have seen for a long time. The light that never was on sea or land is in this little red and gold volume."--_Philadelphia Press._

* * * * *

NURSE HEATHERDALE'S STORY.

"_Nurse Heatherdale's Story_ is all about a small boy, who was good enough, yet was always getting into some trouble through complications in which he was not to blame. The same sort of things happens to men and women. He is an orphan, though he is cared for in a way by relations, who are not so very rich, yet are looked on as well fixed. After many youthful trials and disappointments he falls into a big stroke of good luck, which lifts him and goes to make others happy. Those who want a child's book will find nothing to harm and something to interest in this simple story."--_Commercial Advertiser._

* * * * *

"US."

"Mrs. Molesworth's _Us, an Old-Fashioned Story_, is very charming. A dear little six-year-old 'bruvver' and sister constitute the 'us,' whose adventures with gypsies form the theme of the story. Mrs. Molesworth's style is graceful, and she pictures the little ones with brightness and tenderness."--_Evening Post._

"A pretty and wholesome story."--_Literary World._

"_Us, an Old-Fashioned Story_, is a sweet and quaint story of two little children who lived long ago, in an old-fashioned way, with their grandparents. The story is delightfully told."--_Philadelphia News._

"_Us_ is one of Mrs. Molesworth's charming little stories for young children. The narrative ... is full of interest for its real grace and delicacy, and the exquisiteness and purity of the English in which it is written."--_Boston Advertiser._

"Mrs. Molesworth's last story, _Us_, will please the readers of that lady's works by its pleasant domestic atmosphere and healthful moral tone. The narrative moves forward with sufficient interest to hold the reader's attention; and there are useful lessons for young people to be drawn from it."--_Independent._

"... Mrs. Molesworth's story ... is very simple, refined, bright, and full of the real flavor of childhood."--_Literary World._

* * * * *

THE RECTORY CHILDREN.

"It is a book written for children in just the way that is best adapted to please them."--_Morning Post._

"In _The Rectory Children_ Mrs. Molesworth has written one of those delightful volumes which we always look for at Christmas time."--_Athenaeum._

"A delightful Christmas book for children; a racy, charming home story, full of good impulses and bright suggestions."--_Boston Traveller._

"Quiet, sunny, interesting, and thoroughly winning and wholesome."--_Boston Journal._

"There is no writer of children's books more worthy of their admiration and love than Mrs. Molesworth. Her bright and sweet invention is so truthful, her characters so faithfully drawn, and the teaching of her stories so tender and noble, that while they please and charm they insensibly distil into the youthful mind the most valuable lessons. In _The Rectory Children_ we have a fresh, bright story, that will be sure to please all her young admirers."--_Christian at Work._

"_The Rectory Children_, by Mrs. Molesworth, is a very pretty story of English life. Mrs. Molesworth is one of the most popular and charming of English story-writers for children. Her child characters are true to life, always natural and attractive, and her stories are wholesome and interesting."--_Indianapolis Journal._

* * * * *

ROSY.

"_Rosy_, like all the rest of her stories, is bright and pure and utterly free from cant,--a book that children will read with pleasure and lasting profit."--_Boston Traveller._

"There is no one who has a genius better adapted for entertaining children than Mrs. Molesworth, and her latest story, _Rosy_, is one of her best. It is illustrated with eight woodcuts from designs by Walter Crane."--_Philadelphia Press._

"An English story for children of the every-day life of a bright little girl, which will please those who like 'natural' books."--_New York World._

"... Mrs. Molesworth's clever _Rosy_, a story showing in a charming way how one little girl's jealousy and bad temper were conquered; one of the best, most suggestive and improving of the Christmas juveniles."--_New York Tribune._

"_Rosy_ is an exceedingly graceful and interesting story by Mrs. Molesworth, one of the best and most popular writers of juvenile fiction. This little story is full of tenderness, is fragrant in sentiment, and points with great delicacy and genuine feeling a charming moral."--_Boston Gazette._

* * * * *

THE GIRLS AND I.

"Perhaps the most striking feature of this pleasant story is the natural manner in which it is written. It is just like the conversation of a bright boy--consistently like it from beginning to end. It is a boy who is the hero of the tale, and he tells the adventures of himself and those nearest him. He is, by the way, in many respects an example for most young persons. It is a story characterized by sweetness and purity--a desirable one to put into the hands of youthful readers."--_Gettysburg Monthly._

"Jack himself tells the story of _The Girls and I_, assisted of course by Mrs. Molesworth, whose name will recall to the juveniles pleasant memories of interesting reading, full of just the things that children want to know, and of that which will excite their ready sympathies. Jack, while telling the story of the girls, takes the readers into his own confidence, and we like the little fellow rather better than the girls. The interest is maintained by the story of a lost jewel, the ultimate finding of which, in the most unexpected place, closes the story in a very pleasant manner. Jack, otherwise Mrs. Molesworth, tells the tale in a lively style, and the book will attract attention."--_The Globe._

"... A delightful and purposeful story which no one can read without being benefited."--_New York Observer._

* * * * *

MARY.

"Mrs. Molesworth's reputation as a writer of story-books is so well established that any new book of hers scarce needs a word of introduction."--_Home Journal._

* * * * *

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY, 66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK.

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY'S _CATALOGUE_ OF BOOKS FOR THE YOUNG.

* * * * *

_Messrs. MACMILLAN & CO. are the agents in the United States for the publications of the Oxford and Cambridge University Presses, and for Messrs. George Bell & Sons, London. Complete catalogues of all books sold by them will be sent, free by mail, to any address on application._

* * * * *

=ADVENTURE SERIES, THE.= Large 12mo. Fully Illustrated. $1.50 each volume.

=Adventures of a Younger Son.= By JOHN EDWARD TRELAWNY. With an
Introduction by EDWARD GARNETT.

=Madagascar; or, Robert Drury's Journal= During Fifteen Years'
Captivity on that Island, and a Further Description of Madagascar
by the Abbe ALEXIS ROCHON. Edited, with an Introduction and Notes,
by Captain S. PASFIELD OLIVER, F.S.A., author of "Madagascar."

=Memoirs of the Extraordinary Military Career of John Shipp,= Late
Lieutenant in His Majesty's 87th Regiment. Written by Himself.
With an Introduction by Major H. M. CHICHESTER.

=The Adventures of Thomas Pellow,= of Penryn, Mariner, Twenty-three
Years in Captivity among the Moors. Written by Himself; and
Edited, with an Introduction and Notes, by Dr. ROBERT BROWN.
Illustrated from Contemporaneous Prints.

=The Buccaneers and Marooners of America.= Being an Account of the
Famous Adventures and Daring Deeds of Certain Notorious
Freebooters of the Spanish Main. Edited and Illustrated by HOWARD
PYLE.

=The Log of a Jack Tar; or, The Life of James Choyce, Master
Mariner.= Now first published, with O'Brien's Captivity in France.
Edited by Commander V. LOVETT CAMERON, R.N., C.B., D.C.L. With
Introduction and Notes.

=The Story of the Filibusters.= By JAMES JEFFREY ROCHE. To which is
added "The Life of Colonel David Crockett." With Illustrations.

"Mr. Roche has faithfully compared and sifted the statements of
those who took part in the various expeditions, and he has also
made effectual use of periodicals and official documents. The
result is what may safely be regarded as the first complete and
authentic account of the deeds of the modern Vikings, who continue
to be wonderfully romantic figures even after the gaudy trappings
of myth, prejudice, and fiction have been stripped away."--_Boston
Beacon._

=The Voyages and Adventures of Ferdinand Mendez Pinto, the
Portuguese.= Done into English by HENRY COGAN, with an Introduction
by ARMINIUS VAMBERY.

"It is decidedly reading of the most attractive kind, brimful of
adventure piquantly related, and of rare interest in its recital
of the experiences of the author, who 'five times suffered
shipwreck, was sixteen times sold, and thirteen times made a
slave.'"--_Boston Saturday Evening Gazette._

=A Master Mariner.= Being the Life and Adventures of Captain Robert
William Eastwick. Edited by HERBERT COMPTON. With Illustrations.

=Hard Life in the Colonies, and Other Adventures by Sea and Land.=
Now first printed. Compiled from Private Letters by C. CASLYON
JENKYNS. With Illustrations. Large 12mo. $1.50.

=AESOP'S FABLES.= Illustrated. 50 cents.

=ANDERSEN= (HANS CHRISTIAN). =Fairy Tales and Sketches.= Translated by C. C. PEACHY, H. WARD, A. PLESNER, etc. With numerous Illustrations by OTTO SPECKTER and others. Seventh thousand. Handsomely bound. 12mo. $1.50.

"The translation most happily hits the delicate quaintness of Andersen--most happily transposes into simple English words the tender precision of the famous story-teller; in a keen examination of the book we scarcely recall a single phrase or turn that obviously could have been bettered."--_Daily Telegraph._

=Tales for Children.= With 48 Full-page Illustrations by WEHNERT,
and 57 small Engravings on wood by W. THOMAS. Thirteenth thousand.
Handsomely bound. 12mo. $1.50.

This volume contains several tales that are in no other edition
published in this country, and with the preceding volume it forms
the most complete English edition.

=ARIOSTO. Paladin and Saracen.= Stories from Ariosto. By W. C. HOLLWAY-CALTHROP. With Illustrations. $1.50.

=ATKINSON. The Last of the Giant Killers.= By the Rev. J. C. ATKINSON, author of "A Moorland Parish." _Shortly._

=AWDRY= (F.). =The Story of a Fellow Soldier.= A Life of Bishop Patteson for the Young. 16mo. $1.00.

=BAKER. Wild Beasts and Their Ways.= Reminiscences in Asia, Africa, and America. By Sir SAMUEL W. BAKER, F.R.S., etc., author of "Albert Nyanza," etc. With numerous Illustrations. Large 12mo. Cloth extra. Gilt. $3.50.

"A book which is destined not only to serve as a chart and compass for every hunter of big game, but which is likewise a valuable study of natural history, placed before the public in a practical and interesting form."--_New York Tribune._

=BEESLY= (Mrs.). =Stories from the History of Rome.= 16mo. 60 cents.

"Of all the stories we remember from history none have struck us as so genuinely good--with the right ring--as those of Mrs. Beesly."--_Educational Times._

=BERTZ= (E.). =The French Prisoners:= A Story for Boys. $1.25.

"Written throughout in a wise and gentle spirit, and omits no opportunity to deprecate war as a barbaric survival, wholly unnecessary in a civilized age."--_Independent._

"The story is an extremely interesting one, full of incident, told in a quiet, healthful way, and with a great deal of pleasantly interfused information about German and French boys."--_Christian Union._

=BUNCE= (J. T.). =Fairy Tales: Their Origin and Meaning.= 16mo. 75 cents.

=CARPENTER. Truth in Tale.= Addresses Chiefly to Children. By W. BOYD CARPENTER, D.D., Bishop of Ripon. $1.00.

"These ingenious and interesting tales by Bishop Carpenter are full of poetic beauty and of religious truth.... We would like to see a copy in every Sunday-school library."--_Sunday School Banner._

=CARROLL.= WORKS BY LEWIS CARROLL.

=Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.= With 42 Illustrations by
TENNIEL. 12mo. $1.00.

A German Translation. 12mo. $2.00.

A French Translation. 12mo. $2.00.

An Italian Translation. 12mo. $2.00.

"An excellent piece of nonsense."--_Times._

"That most delightful of children's stories."--_Saturday Review._

"Elegant and delicious nonsense."--_Guardian._

=Through the Looking-glass and What Alice Found There.= 50
Illustrations by TENNIEL. 12mo. $1.00.

"Will fairly rank with the tale of her previous
experience."--_Daily Telegraph._

"Many of Mr. Tenniel's designs are masterpieces of wise
absurdity."--_Athenaeum._

"Whether as regarding author or illustrator, this book is a jewel
rarely to be found nowadays."--_Echo._

=Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass.= In
1 vol. With TENNIEL's Illustrations. 12mo. $1.25.

=Rhyme? and Reason?= With 65 Illustrations by ARTHUR B. FROST, and
nine by HENRY HOLIDAY. 12mo. $1.50.

This book is a reprint, with additions, of the comic portions of
"Phantasmagoria, and other Poems," and of the "Hunting of the
Snark."

=A Tangled Tale.= Reprinted from the "Monthly Packet." With
Illustrations. 12mo. $1.50.

=Alice's Adventures under Ground.= Being a Fac-simile of the
original MS. Book afterward developed into "Alice's Adventures in
Wonderland." With 37 Illustrations. 12mo. $1.50.

=The Hunting of the Snark: An Agony in Eight Fits.= By LEWIS
CARROLL. With nine Illustrations by HENRY HOLIDAY. New Edition.
12mo. $1.00.

=Sylvie and Bruno.= With 46 Illustrations by HARRY FURNISS. 12mo.
$1.50.

"Alice was a delightful little girl, but hardly more pleasing than
are the hero and heroine of this latest book from a writer in
whose nonsense there is far more sense than in the serious works
of many contemporary authors."--_Morning Post._

"Mr. Furniss's illustrations, which are numerous, are at once
graceful and full of humor. We pay him a high compliment when we
say he proves himself a worthy successor to Mr. Tenniel in
illustrating Mr. Lewis Carroll's books."--_St. James' Gazette._

=The Nursery "Alice."= Containing 20 coloured enlargements from
TENNIEL's Illustrations to "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland,"
with Text adapted to Nursery Readers, by LEWIS CARROLL. 4to.
$1.50.

"Let the little people rejoice! the most charming book in the
world has appeared for them. 'The Nursery Alice,' with its wealth
of colored illustrations from Tenniel's Pictures, is certainly the
most artistic juvenile that has been seen for many and many a
day."--_Boston Budget._

=CHURCH.= WORKS BY THE REV. A. J. CHURCH.

=The Story of the Iliad.= With Coloured Illustrations. 12mo. $1.00.

=The Story of the Odyssey.= With Coloured Illustrations. 12mo.
$1.00.

=Stories from the Bible.= With Illustrations after JULIUS SCHNORR.
12mo. $1.50.

"Of all the books of this kind, this is the best we have
seen."--_Examiner._

"The book will be of infinite value to the student or teacher of
the Scriptures, and the stories are well arranged for interesting
reading for children."--_Boston Traveller._

=Stories from Bible.= Illustrated. Second Series. _Shortly._

=The Greek Gulliver.= Stories from Lucian. With Illustrations by
C. O. MURRAY. New edition. 16mo. Paper. 40 cents.

"A curious example of ancient humor."--_Chicago Standard._

=The Burning of Rome.= A Story of the Times of Nero. With
Illustrations. 12mo. $1.00.

=CLIFFORD= (Mrs. W. K.). =Anyhow Stories, Moral and Otherwise.= With Illustrations. $1.00.

=CRAIK.= WORKS BY MRS. CRAIK, author of "John Halifax, Gentleman."

=Sermons out of Church.= New Edition. 12mo. $1.75.

=Children's Poetry.= Globe 8vo. $1.25.

=The Little Lame Prince and His Travelling Cloak.= A Parable for
Young and Old. With Illustrations. 12mo. $1.25.

=Little Sunshine's Holiday.= Globe 8vo. $1.00.

=Adventures of a Brownie.= With Illustrations. 16mo. $1.00.

=Alice Learmont.= A Fairy Tale. With Illustrations. 16mo. $1.00.

=Our Year: a Child's Book.= Illustrated. 16mo. $1.00.

=The Fairy Book.= The Best Popular Fairy Stories. Selected and
rendered anew. _Golden Treasury Series._ 18mo. $1.25.

=DEFOE. The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe.= Edited from the Original Edition by HENRY KINGSLEY. _Globe Edition._ $1.25.

_Golden Treasury Series._ 18mo. $1.00.

=DE MORGAN. The Necklace of Princess Florimonde, and other Stories.= By MARY DE MORGAN. Illustrated by WALTER CRANE. New and cheaper Edition, cloth extra. $1.25.

"The stories display considerable originality, and Mr. Walter Crane's characteristic illustrations combine with Miss De Morgan's pretty fancies in forming a charming gift-book."--_Graphic._

"A real gem."--_Punch._

=ENGLISH MEN OF ACTION SERIES.= 12mo. Cloth, limp, 60 cents; cloth, uncut edges, 75 cents.

"An admirable set of brief biographies.... The volumes are small, attractive, and inexpensive."--_Dial._

"The 'English Men of Action' promises to be a notable series of short biographies. The subjects are well chosen, and the authors almost as well."--_Epoch._

=Gordon.= By Col. Sir W. BUTLER.

=Henry the Fifth.= By the Rev. A. J. CHURCH.

=Livingstone.= By THOMAS HUGHES.

=Lord Lawrence.= By Sir R. TEMPLE.

=Wellington.= By GEORGE HOOPER.

=Dampier.= By W. CLARK RUSSELL.

=Monk.= By JULIAN CORBETT.

=Strafford.= By H. D. TRAILL.

=Warren Hastings.= By Sir ALFRED LYALL, K.C.B.

=Peterborough.= By WILLIAM STEBBING.

=Captain Cook.= By WALTER BESANT.

=Havelock.= By ARCHIBALD FORBES.

=Clive.= By Col. Sir CHARLES WILSON.

=Drake.= By JULIAN CORBETT.

=Warwick, the King Maker.= By C. W. OMAN.

=Napier.= By Col. Sir WILLIAM BUTLER.

=Rodney.= By D. G. HANNAY.

=Montrose.= By MOWBRAY MORRIS. _Shortly._

=EWING= (J. H.). =We and the World.= A Story for Boys. By the late JULIANA HORATIO EWING. With seven Illustrations by W. L. JONES, and a Pictorial Design on the Cover. 4th Edition. 12mo. $1.00.