Project Gutenberg's Harper's Young People, March 28, 1882, by Various This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. Title: Harper's Young People, March 28, 1882 An Illustrated Weekly Author: Various Release Date: February 23, 2018 [EBook #56629] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE, MAR 28, 1882 *** Produced by Annie R. McGuire DOING SOMETHING. AN APRIL JOKE. THE STORY OF THE OPERA. THE TALKING LEAVES. "RAILWAY JACK." PEOPLE WE HEAR ABOUT. THE MOTH DANCE. APRIL-FOOLS' DAY. THE TITMOUSE FAMILY. HARE AND HOUNDS. HOW TO MAKE A MAGIC LANTERN. PUNCHINELLO. OUR POST-OFFICE BOX. PARLOR MAGIC. ENIGMA. HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE vol. iii.—no. 126. Published by HARPER & BROTHERS, New York. price four cents. Tuesday, March 28, 1882. Copyright, 1882, by Harper & Brothers. $1.50 per Year, in Advance. [Pg 337] DOING SOMETHING. BY ADA CARLETON. "Something'll have to be done," said Merry; and he put his elbows on the table, and dropped his chin into his palms. Beside Merry's elbows stood the remains of a very scanty breakfast. The remains were scanty too, consisting of a single roasted potato, a dish of salt, and a bit of bread. This was all the food there was in the little brown house by the creek where America Andrew and his mother lived. The rent, too, was a whole quarter in arrears, and Mr. Colley, their landlord, was beginning to screw up his lips and frown whenever he met them. So, with all this in mind, it was small wonder that Merry, with his elbows on the table and his chin in his palms, decided "Something'll have to be done!" "Yes," said Mrs. Andrew, looking into Merry's bright face which poverty had not been able to make a whit less plump or rosy, as if in hopes to catch a gleam of sunshine there. Merry saw this, for he smiled a brave, bright smile back into his mother's faded blue eyes and care-worn face. "Now don't you worry, mother. Summer's coming right along. Folks will be wanting their yards cleaned up. Mrs. Quipp told me last night, you know, if I'd clean hers up she'd have Mr. Quipp give credit for twenty-five cents on the grocery account. I'll go now, and I'll bring you half—the biggest half—of my dinner, sure." With that Merry left a kiss on his mother's cheek, for he hadn't got over showing that he loved her very dearly, and trudged away up the hill, whistling "Bonnie Dundee" in his own merry way. When he had left the gate a little way behind he heard the whistle of the down train, and it occurred to him that he would go round by way of the station and see if there wasn't a portmanteau to carry for somebody. There was not much hope of it, since the occasional stranger which the on-going train dropped into the sleepy old town usually preferred to carry his own luggage. But to-day, strange to relate, a gentleman stood on the platform with a large portmanteau in one hand, and a still larger valise in the other. "Hello, my man!" he called; "can you give me a lift?" "Yes, sir," answered Merry, shouldering the portmanteau and trying to appear as if carrying large packages were an every-day affair with him. This one, however, happened to be very heavy, even for its size, and he shifted it once or twice uneasily. The strange gentleman looked down at him with a quizzical twinkle, which Merry did not see. "Don't do that again," said a very small voice from the interior of the portmanteau. "I've got feelings as well as other folks." "Eh?" ejaculated Merry, gazing about in wide-eyed amazement. "Yes, I have," pursued the small voice; "and I've a mind to punch your head for banging me so." Merry gave a little gasp, and stopped. He put the portmanteau down gently, so astonished that he could not speak, because he never in all his life had heard a ventriloquist, and this Professor Wagner happened to be a remarkably good one. "Well?" said the Professor, with an inquiring smile. "I—I can't carry it," stammered Merry. Professor Wagner laughed until his deep-set blue eyes were twinkling like stars on a frosty night. "Never mind," said he; "Jack sha'n't trouble you any more; so pick up the portmanteau again, my lad. I show here to- night. Haven't you seen the bills?" Merry, taking up his load, began to understand. He had seen the bills. "Was it you, sir?" he asked, doubtfully. "I think it was," answered the Professor, who was a very kind, genial gentleman. When they reached the hotel the Professor gave Merry a silver quarter. Then he said, with a laugh, "I think you've earned something more;" and he took from his pocket two sky-blue complimentary tickets. "Bring your mother, if she'll come," said he. But Merry's mother shook her head at sight of the sky-blue tickets; and it was little Jack Hennessey whom one of them carried into enchanted land—little Jack, who might otherwise as well have wished for a trip to the moon. How funny and fine it all was! How Merry held his breath, and clapped his hands, and laughed aloud, by turns, in his excitement, to see his friend the Professor pick eggs by the dozen from Mr. Colley's hat; and follow the eggs with feathers enough for a bed; and send Mr. Quipp's watch into Deacon Wilson's pocket, to the great discomfiture of the Deacon, and the great enjoyment of everybody else; and perform all manner of impossible feats with the ease of a veritable magician! And to cap the climax of his delight, Merry heard again the small voice which had spoken to him from the portmanteau—only now it was the very gruff voice of a very sleepy landlord whom the Professor was vainly trying to arouse. Oh, it was wonderful! and Merry rehearsed it so faithfully to his mother that she declared it was much better than seeing it herself with not half the trouble. And he went over it all again in dreams, and his mind was still full of it when he ran up to the hotel next morning to carry the Professor's portmanteau to the station. The Professor, walking along beside him, and looking down at Merry's face, laughed to see the unfeigned admiration in the black eyes. "Why don't you get up something of the sort," he asked, "and ask the boys round five cents a-piece to go in? I used to earn a good many dimes that way when I was a youngster." And when they reached the station, and found that the train was not in, the Professor emphasized his advice by one or two simple lessons in sleight-of-hand. "Now all you need is practice on that," said he. "Here's my train. Good-by. Be a good boy, and take care of your mother." And that was the last of Professor Wagner. But it wasn't the last of the Professor's idea, which grew and grew until it filled Merry's head completely, and ran over at his lips when he stopped to expend the precious thirty-five cents at Mr. Quipp's counter on his way home. And Mr. Quipp, who might not have been altogether disinterested, said: "You'd better tidy up my place overhead, Merry, and use that for your fandango. I've been wantin' it cleared out this good while." Well, I haven't space to tell you of all the doings in all the days that followed—how Merry, after having obtained his mother's consent to a trial of his project, went to work with Jack Hennessey and one or two other boys; how he soon became well skilled in a few simple sleight-of-hand performances; how Mr. Quipp's place was tidied up, and a little platform arranged at one end, after the Professor's model; how at length the boy public came to understand, by means of an immense placard printed in burnt cork, that Merry Andrew would give an entertainment, to include speeches, recitations, sleight-of-hand tricks, and ventriloquism, in Mr. Quipp's chamber, on the night of April 1; that the admission price would be five cents for boys, and ten cents for grown folks, and that if anybody was not satisfied he should have his money back. Everybody was interested, for Merry was well liked by everybody in town; and when the first night of April came, there were not a few people in the little room over Mr. Quipp's shop. Merry's heart jumped into his throat, choking him, and bringing the tears to his eyes, when he stood on the little platform behind the lamp which Mr. Quipp had loaned for the occasion. But he went bravely through with his simple performances—with the ring trick, and the magic coin trick, in which a big copper could never be found when looked for, but turned up in the most unexpected places. Then there were speeches, some funny and some otherwise. Then [Pg 338] there was more sleight-of-hand. And how everybody laughed when Merry, having gained a great deal of courage, borrowed Mr. Colley's hat, and pulled out of it a pair of stockings, a bunch of feathers, a green silk handkerchief, and several other things. The entertainment was pretty well concluded, but on the platform was a box, bottom up, not more than eight inches high, but perhaps twice eight inches square. Upon this box Merry, his eyes shining with excitement, knocked. "Hello, Jack," said he. "What do you want?" How everybody started, and leaned forward, and stared at everybody else then! "I want my cat," said Merry. "I ain't got yer cat." "Yes you have. Hear that?" and Merry turned triumphantly to his audience, as there sounded an unmistakable "Me-ow." "I tell you that boy's a genius," whispered Mr. Colley, excitedly, to Mr. Quipp. "He might make a fortune. He beats Wagner all to pieces." The mock dialogue went briskly on; and Merry's eyes sparkled as his demand for his cat grew more and more eager, and Jack's refusal grew more and more decided, and the cat added her voice to the general tumult, and the whole small audience got upon its feet with a rustling, excited murmur, and at last— "You're a coward," cried Merry, with a great deal of make-believe anger. "Take it up, if you dare." Quick as a flash away went the box, and out popped, like a veritable Jack-in-the-box, the head and shoulders of Jack Hennessey, who, getting very much in earnest, had forgotten his part, and let his temper run away with him. "Take yer cat, then!" he cried, and he pulled a big black cat up through the hole in the platform, where he was standing, and flung her at Merry. And then, because his temper had suddenly cooled, he doubled himself into his place again; but not before the murmur had grown into a rushing, roaring shout, which threatened to carry Mr. Quipp's roof completely away. And somebody called out, "Fraud!" "It isn't fraud," cried Merry, in his loudest tone. "Jack was going to show himself, though not so soon. It was only for fun and an April-fool. That's why I said I'd pay back if anybody wanted me to." But nobody wanted him to. The first day of April was a day of jokes in Cherrythorpe. Even Mrs. Quipp, who was old enough to know better, had given Mr. Quipp cornmeal mustard on his boiled beef for dinner; and Mrs. Deacon Wilson had treated her family to a baked saw-dust pudding. And Merry—surely Merry had fooled them all with his "Jack" and his cat. "How about that fortune Merry's going to make, eh, neighbor?" cried Mr. Quipp, clapping Mr. Colley's shoulder. "Well, well, I don't say he won't do it some day." Mr. Quipp was right. The little store of dimes and half-dimes helped Merry and his mother over the hard places and into smoother ways. And years after, when Merry's industry and genial ways had carried him through school, and made him a great business man, the day came when the people of the State in which he lived called him "Governor Andrew." AN APRIL JOKE. BY M. D. BRINE. Master Ned on the door-step sat, Busily thinking away. "Now what shall I plan for a clever trick For an April-fool to play? There's Tom, he's mean as a boy can be, And he never can pass me by Without a word that is rude and cross, And maybe a punch on the sly. "Some trick I'll find that'll pay him off And teach him a lesson too." So Master Ned he pondered awhile, Till the dimples grew and grew, And he laughed at last as away he ran. [Pg 339] "I'll make him sorry," thought he, "For the many times he has done his best To tease and to trouble me." On April first, with the early dawn, Was found at Tommy's door A package tied, and "Master Tom" Was the only address it bore. "'Tis only a trick of Ned's," said Tom; "He owes me many a one; But I'll match him yet—he'd better beware— Before the day is done." Then Tom peeped in at his package. Oh, What a shamefaced fellow was he! A handsome book, and a line which read, "Accept this, Tom, from me." And this was the way in which Tom was "fooled"; And afterward, meeting Ned, "Your trick has beaten all mine for good— Forgive me, old fellow," he said. THE STORY OF THE OPERA. BY MRS. JOHN LILLIE. One evening toward the close of the sixteenth century, a group of gentlemen were hurrying up the staircases and along the corridors of a house in Florence. They were richly dressed, according to the custom of the time. But they were all students, all deeply absorbed in music, and they were on their way to the salons of one Giovanni Bardi, Conte di Vernio, for the purpose of discussing a new idea in their beloved art. Now if we followed these gentlemen, what should we hear and see? Something very interesting, but, from our point of view to-day, very strange; for they were determined to develop opera, yet they had but the vaguest idea how it should be done. Opera in its present form had so far been unheard of. The only idea these Italian gentlemen had of it was from the Greek lyrical dramas. You know that in ancient Athens there was a famous theatre where plays were given, accompanied by an orchestra of lyres and flutes. The chorus of the Agamemnon was sung, and some of the dialogue was given in a sort of recitative. Then, in early English times, music, or recitatives was introduced into the simple plays usually performed in the public streets. People in various countries had been gifted with some perception of the beauty of music and dialogue, but a regular opera, as I have said, was unknown. Our Italian gentlemen discussed this idea over and over again, and some efforts were made to carry it out. One of these gentlemen, named Caccini, wrote a series of songs or "pieces," which he sang at Bardi's house one evening, accompanying himself on the lute. He had a beautiful voice, and every one was delighted. Little by little the idea of a musical drama gathered strength, and one of the first performances we read of was at Mantua, in 1594, when a curious sort of work called L'Amfiparnasso was given. We who have seen opera in its perfection would be, I am sure, highly amused could we hear L'Amfiparnasso given just as it was then. There were five voices, no overture, and no instrumental accompaniment of any kind. But when two singers were on the stage, the remaining three stood behind the scenes singing a sort of accompaniment. Everybody in Mantua was delighted, and L'Amfiparnasso was a great success. What would dear old Master Vecchio, who wrote it, have said had he looked ahead nearly three hundred years, and seen the great Bayreuth Festival, where Wagner's operas were produced with such a wealth of orchestra and voices? I think it safe to say that the first true Italian opera, on which all others have been founded, was Euridice, by Peri, and this was produced in 1600, when Henry IV. married Mary of Medicis. Several noblemen performed in it. Behind the scenes they had a sort of orchestra: a harpsichord, a chitarone,[1] a sort of viol, and a large lute. Three flutes were added to this little orchestra. I have just been reading part of the score, and it has much delicacy and spirit. I have not space to tell you of the progress of the opera in Italy and Germany and France, but it advanced steadily, and in France, where a composer named Lulli lived in 1650, it reached a great height. Lulli had been brought from Florence as a page at the court of Louis XIV. He served the King's niece, Mademoiselle De Montpensier, and no doubt heard all the finest music in her boudoir. He it was who established the opera in France. Among Italian composers of this early period, the man who seems to me most interesting was Alessandro Scarlatti. He made many improvements in the form of the opera, varying its monotony in very original ways. Another famous Italian of the same period was Stradella, whose church music we hear now much more than formerly. Poor Stradella's life was a terribly sad one. He was a gentleman of great refinement, but he was not of the highest rank, so that when he fell in love with one of his pupils, whose rank was above his, there was a great deal of excitement over it in Venice. Stradella married his fair pupil, and for some years led a life of terror, as assassins pursued him. Once, we are told, three of these men, hired to kill him, followed him to the Church of St. John, in Rome, where he was to sing, and there, listening to his heavenly voice, their purpose changed. His music took away all their blood-thirsty feelings. But he was not destined to escape the vengeance of his wife's friends. In Genoa, after repeated attempts on Stradella's life, he and his wife were both cruelly stabbed to death, the assassins escaping. Stradella was only in his thirtieth year, but he had written some of the finest music in Italy. I could tell you much of the rise and progress of opera in England, but in our short space must group a few facts about some one centre. The English seemed from very early times to delight in combining music with dialogue. They used, as I have said, to give performances in the public streets. The singers stood in large carts, around which crowds of people collected. With all their grotesqueness and absurdity there was a dignity about them which impressed their rude audiences. In 1658 was born in London a boy named Henry Purcell. Music seemed to grow with him. When he was very young he was put into the choir school at Westminster Abbey, and it was only the other day I was standing in the old school-room where the boy Purcell sat, and looking at a quaint old picture of him which hangs upon the wall. The Westminster boys were taught music very fairly by old Cook and Humphries. It must have been a cheerful life. To-day the school has been enlarged and beautified, but even then it surely possessed the charm of peace, and yet great harmonies, for it stands almost in the shelter of the Abbey, and all day long the boys had the dear old cloisters to run about in, and twice a day they listened to glorious music on the organ. Purcell grew full of musical fire, and when he was eighteen he was appointed organist of the great Abbey. He wrote constantly— catches, glees, songs, and hymns, which to this day are listened to and sung with delight. It was when Purcell was about nineteen that he one day received an invitation from a school-master to call, on musical business, at his house in Chelsea. Thither he went. He found a young ladies' school, and an energetic master who wished his pupils to perform something operatic. So Purcell wrote the music, and Tate the words, of Dido and Æneas, a little operetta, in which he himself performed, and which was so successful that henceforth he wrote chiefly for the stage. But all the time everybody in London was singing or playing his glees and madrigals. In Westminster was a famous old tavern known as Purcell's Head, and clubs used to meet there to sing his music. Meanwhile we can fancy Milton as a youth playing his most solemn music in that quaint room of his with its faded hangings and grand organ, and at the theatre elaborate performances of The Tempest, The Indian Queen, and other plays, to which was added "Mr. Purcell's musicke." Those were rollicking and riotous times. Purcell's sweet music seems to come in with some feeling of soothing sounds, but had the times been better, he would have done more, I am sure, in his noblest direction. Everything at court and around it was careless and reckless. Dryden, the poet, who wrote many of the plays for which Purcell furnished music, bitterly regretted when he was older that he had wasted so much time amusing an ungodly people. Purcell seems only to have thought of his music, and certainly at this date, two hundred years after his death, his sweetness and charm are as strongly felt. In 1695 he died, and his tomb is in the Abbey where his childish feet so often passed and repassed, and beneath the organ where he so often played in his most innocent and most happy years. Opera seems from the end of the seventeenth century to have gone on gaining new force and beauty in every country, and to-day it is supposed by some critics to have attained its highest form in Wagner's music. I fear those eager Italian gentlemen who used to meet in Conte Vernio's brilliant rooms would be very much alarmed by some of the German operas of to-day, and I own that, with all love of Wagner's great music, there is a peculiar charm in the old airs of operas which people try to scoff at now. Ten minutes ago an organ-grinder stopped under my window and began [Pg 340] Drop Cap A droning out "Ai nostri morte," that sweet air in Verdi's Trovatore, and I felt as if it was very near the Italy of the seventeenth century. But this must not make you think that Wagner has not science and strength and the utmost beauty on his side. WHAT THE SPRING BROUGHT TO LITTLE LAME ELSIE. THE TALKING LEAVES.[2] An Indian Story. BY WILLIAM O. STODDARD. Chapter XXV. mong the number of persons who had wondered "what had become of those miners," no one had so much as guessed at the exact truth, although Murray had come nearer to it than anybody else. That sunrise found them, as they thought, once for all, safe within the boundary of the "foreign country," where no one would ask them any ugly questions about the stolen gold they had brought there. In fact, the first thing they did after finishing their hearty breakfast of fresh beef was to "unpack themselves." Every man was anxious to know if he had lost anything on the way. It seemed as if they all spoke together when they tried to express their regret at having been compelled to leave any of their treasure behind. "No use to think of going back for it now, boys. Some day we'll take another look at that mine, but there won't be a thing worth going for in that wagon." "What do ye mean to do next, Cap?" asked Bill. "I told you before. Give our horses a chance to feed, and then push right on. We can afford to use 'em all up now. Three days of hard riding'll carry us out of harm's way." "And then we can go jest whar we please." There was a wonderful deal of comfort in that for men who had been "running away" so long as they had, and over so very rough a country. It was not long before the stern summons of Captain Skinner called them to mount once more, and they were all ready to obey. All their troubles, they thought, were behind them, and they cared very little for those of the country they had gotten into. It was impossible, however, not to think and talk about the Apaches, and to "wonder how the Lipans came out of their attack on that village." [Pg 341] Captain Skinner's comment was: "I don't reckon a great many of 'em came out at all. The chances were against them. Old Two Knives made a mistake for once, and I shouldn't wonder he'd had to pay for it." Well, so he had, but not so heavily as the Captain imagined. At that very moment he was leading through the homeward pass just about half of his original war party, all that "had come out of the attack on that village." The village itself was in a high state of fermentation that morning. There was mourning in some of the lodges over braves who had fallen in that brief, sharp battle with the Lipans, but there were only five of these in all, so great had been the advantage of superior numbers in the fight, and of holding the ground of it afterward. The bitterest disgrace of To-la-go-to-de and his warriors had been their failure to carry off the bodies of their friends who had fallen. At least twenty of the Apaches had been more or less wounded, and every man of them was as proud of it as a school- boy who has been "promoted." A scar received in battle is a badge of honor to an Indian warrior, and he is apt to make a show of it on every fair opportunity. There was no need, therefore, of throwing away any pity on those who had been cut by the lances or "barked" by the bullets of the Lipans. Red Wolf himself had concealed a smart scar of a lance thrust along his left side, for fear he might be forbidden to go on that second war-path. Even now he refused to consider it as amounting to anything, and his sister's face glowed with family pride as she said to Rita: "Red Wolf is a true Apache. He is a warrior already. He will be a great chief some day. Knotted Cord is white. He has no scars. He has never been on a war-path." She was speaking in her brother's hearing, and Steve was at no great distance, at that very moment, talking in a low, earnest tone with Murray. Their conversation could not be overheard by their friends, but it must have been of more than a little importance, to judge by the expressions that came and went upon their faces. Dolores was busy at the camp fire, as usual, with her frying-pan, and they were looking at her. "How old do you think she is, Steve?" "It's hard to guess, Murray. Maybe she's forty-five." "She is not much above thirty. The Mexican women grow old sooner than white ones. She was not much above twenty when she cooked for my miners on the Santa Rita mine." "Do you feel perfectly sure about that?" "I've watched her. There's no doubt left in my mind. Still, I may ask her a few more questions. Then there is one thing more I want to make sure of." "Will it keep us here long?" "It may keep me, Steve." "Then it will keep me, Murray. You will need me if you have anything on hand. I am anxious enough to get off, but I will not leave you behind. I'll stay and help." Murray held out his hand. "It's a fact, Steve. I may need all the help you can give." "Take care. Here comes Many Bears himself and two of his cunningest old councillors." "More advice wanted," thought Murray; but it was not asked for so soon as he expected. Many Bears had something very heavy on his mind that morning, and in order to get rid of it he had to tell the whole story of the buffalo hunt his band had made away beyond the mountains, and into the country claimed by the Lipans. That was the way they came to be followed so closely by Two Knives and his warriors. Murray and Steve listened closely, for the chief spoke in very good Mexican-Spanish most of the time, and they both understood him. Then came the story of the return through the pass, and it wound up with the finding of the Talking Leaves by Rita. "Send Warning knows the rest." "No," said Murray, "I have not seen the Talking Leaves." "Great medicine. Tell Apache chief about miners. Tell about old fight. Tell about blue-coat soldiers come and where go. Tell about big talk and treaty and presents. Many Bears want to hear more." "Ask young squaw." "Can't hear all. Send Warning listen. Say what he hears." "All right. Bring young squaw." Ni-ha-be and Rita were near enough to hear, and the latter at once darted into the lodge for her treasures. She was gone but a moment, and her whole body seemed to glow and tremble with excitement as she held out the three magazines to Murray. "Take one, Steve. You haven't forgotten your reading, have you?" [Pg 342] "RITA, RITA, MY DEAR LITTLE DAUGHTER!" "Send Warning hear leaves," said Many Bears, anxiously. "The Knotted Cord is young." "He is white. He can hear. The great chief will listen." "There, Murray," said Steve, "the chief was right. There's a picture of cavalry. All the others he spoke of are here. Here is the picture of the big talk and the treaty." "Here is the mining fight—" And just there Murray paused, as if he could say no more, and the Indians looked at him in undisguised astonishment. His breast was heaving, his lips were quivering, and the hands that held the magazine were trembling as if their owner had an ague fit. "What find?" exclaimed Many Bears. "Is it bad medicine?" It was some seconds before Murray could trust himself to speak, but he was thinking very fast. "The Talking Leaves have told Many Bears the truth. Now Send Warning is troubled in his mind." They could all see that, and it made them not a little anxious. "What want? What do?" "Go into lodge with young squaw. Knotted Cord stay and talk with Apache chief. Nobody come into lodge. Take a little time. Then tell what hear." It was an unusual request, but there could be no objection, in view of the fact that there was "great medicine" to be looked into. An Indian conjurer always required the absence of all observers for the performance of his most important jugglery. It was at once decided that Send Warning should have his way. Rita listened, pale and serious, while Ni-ha-be looked on in jealous amazement. "I am an Apache girl. Why can he not teach me to hear the Talking Leaves?" No doubt he could have done so, if she would have given him plenty of time, and been willing to begin with A B C, as Rita had done long years before. How should all that A B C business have come back to her as it did when she found herself alone in her lodge with that white-headed old pale-face warrior? Not a human eye was looking upon them, but Rita had suddenly covered her face with her hands. "Speak," she said, earnestly. "I remember better when I do not see." She was talking English, just as he had done, only more slowly, and almost as if it hurt her. "I will read the first word, dear. Then you may spell it. M-i-n-e, mine. That means a gold mine, like ours, dear. Spell it, Rita, my darling!" "Our mine?—darling? Oh, if I could see my father!" Murray sprang to his feet as if he were a boy. His mouth opened and closed as if he were keeping back a great shout, and the tears came pouring down over his cheeks. "Rita! Rita! My dear little daughter! Here I am!" "Father!" His arms were around her now, and he was kissing her almost frantically. Slowly she opened her eyes. "I know it is you when you speak, and when my eyes are shut. When I open them, you are very old. My father was young and handsome. His hair was not white." "Rita darling, it has been just as white as it is now ever since the morning after I came home and found that the Apaches had carried you away. They killed your mother, and I heard that they had killed you too. I have been an old man ever since, but I think I shall grow young again now." Time was precious. They could only spare enough for a few hurried questions and answers, and Murray glanced rapidly over the pages of the three magazines. "Let me take them," he said. "I would like to read them carefully. I shall know what to say to the chief. You must not let anybody know I am your father. Not until the right time comes." "Oh, why not?" "Because the Apaches would know then that I am their enemy, and have good reason to be. Even if they did not kill me at once, they would not trust me, and I want them to do that. It is my only hope of carrying you away with me. Stay here in the lodge until you are sure your face will not betray you." She had been crying more copiously than her father, and that would have been a thing to be explained to Ni-ha-be and Dolores. Rita therefore remained in the lodge, while Murray with a great effort recovered his usual calm self-control, and walked slowly and dignifiedly out. He needed to put on all the dignity he was master of for his heart was thump, thumping against his ribs, and his brain was in a whirl as to when and how he should be able to claim and carry off the great treasure he had found. Treasure? The Buckhorn Mine, piled mountain high with twenty-dollar pieces, was nothing to it. [to be continued.] "RAILWAY JACK." About three years ago, a rather large dog of the fox-terrier variety entered the guard's carriage of a train that was just starting from Brighton, England, for Horsham station. He had no ticket, and did not explain his business; but the guard seeing that he was a respectable dog decided to let him ride free. From that day to this the dog, who is now well known all over England by the name of "Railway Jack," has constantly travelled on railway trains. For the first year or two he confined himself strictly to the trains of the London, Brighton, and South Coast Railway. This road has a great many branches, and a great many trains run over it every day, but Jack knew the time-table perfectly, and never troubled the ticket agents by asking them, "How can I go to such and such a place?" or "When does the next train start?" He took lodgings in a waste-paper basket in the station-house at Lewes station, and wherever he went he never failed to catch the last train from Brighton to Lewes. It was at first believed that Jack travelled in connection with some private business of his own; that he was, for example, engaged in organizing a "United Terriers' Society for the Destruction of Rats," or was an agent for some "Co-operative Bone Store," that proposed to supply dogs with the best quality of bones at less than ordinary prices. It was soon found, however, that he was engaged in inspecting the railway. While on the train he sat close to the window, and carefully watched to see if there were any signs that the embankments at the side of the track were out of order, or that the bridges needed repairs. He would stop at a station, and inspect the switches and the signals, and would then take the next train for some other station, where he would inspect the eating-room and test the quality of the food. It was thus very evident that he had appointed himself Inspector of the London, Brighton, and South Coast Railway, and every one connected with the company recognized him as a faithful and efficient officer. One day a lady presented him with a collar with the inscription, "I am Jack, the London, Brighton, and South Coast Railway dog. Please give me a drink of water. This collar was presented by Mrs. J. P. Knight, Brockley." Jack seemed to feel that in gratitude for this present he ought to increase his labors. He therefore made a practice of taking frequent trips all over England to see if he could discover anything in the management of other railways which he could [Pg 343] recommend his own railway company to copy. Sometimes he went as far as Scotland, and on one occasion when he visited London, and went to the Isle of Dogs to see if there was any good reason for its name, he lost his way, and was absent for some weeks. A few days after he had been found and brought back to the railway, one of the men employed by the company died, and was buried at Hastings. On the day of the funeral, Jack arrived by the noon train, and went to the church, where he reverently listened to the funeral service, and then followed the coffin to the grave. He also attended the funeral of another railway servant at Lewes, and showed that he felt that the company had sustained a powerful loss. A short time ago Jack met with a serious accident, which very nearly proved fatal. He was crossing the track late one evening at one of the stations of his own railway, when he slipped and fell just as a train rushed by, crushing one of his fore-legs. He was carried home to Lewes, where chloroform was given to him, and his leg was cut off close to the shoulder. There is no doubt that he was a little careless in crossing the track when a train was approaching; but although he had just returned from attending a wedding at Berwick, Scotland, it is admitted by every one that he was perfectly sober. Jack bore the loss of his leg very well; but a day or two afterward he took off the bandages while his nurse was absent from the room, and very nearly bled to death before he could receive proper attention. Since then he has steadily improved, although his anxiety to return to duty has made him a little feverish at times. The fact that no accident has occurred on the London, Brighton, and South Coast Railway since he was injured has been a great consolation to him, and he feels that it is due to the thorough way in which his work of inspection has been done. Hereafter poor Jack will have to limp on three legs, for nobody has yet invented artificial legs for dogs. He will, however, be able to do his work, and will undoubtedly be more careful in avoiding danger than he was before the accident. His photograph—the one from which the picture in this number of Young People was taken—is considered to be an excellent one, and though it can not be called a beautiful picture, it is the portrait of an upright, faithful, and universally respected dog. PEOPLE WE HEAR ABOUT. BISMARCK. The first day of April—"All-Fools' Day"—is the birthday of one who has done more to change the map of Europe than any man now living. Otto von Bismarck was born in 1815, the year of the battle of Waterloo. When quite a little fellow he was sent away to boarding-school. The boys were badly fed and strictly ruled, and the lad who, many years afterward, was called "the man of blood and iron" was a "home boy," and did not like school. At the university, however, he seems to have overcome his gentleness in some degree, for he was always in mischief, and very popular. It is not until he is thirty-three years old that we find him in public life as a member of the Prussian Diet, or parliament. His sympathies were with the King as against the people, because he thought that Germany could only exist as a kingdom. Of course his views on this subject brought him plenty of enemies. He complains in a letter to his wife that he is "famous, but not popular." On two occasions he has been shot at and wounded, and the first of these would-be assassins he seized with his own hands, gave him into charge of the police, and then returned home to a dinner party in his own house. Though Bismarck is a statesman by profession, and not a soldier, he has seen much of war. The short but decisive campaign between Prussia and Austria in 1866 was Bismarck's doing, and his forethought hastened on the great war between France and Germany in 1870, for he knew that the Germans would win. In 1871, Count von Bismarck was appointed Chancellor of the German Empire, and created a Prince. No man in Europe wields greater power than he, and yet in his tastes he is extremely simple, being fond of country life and sports. [Pg 344] THE MOTH DANCE. Little moth maidens, stop in your flight: Where did you come from out of the night? Why do you never come in the day, Like the dear butterflies? Where do you stay? Little moth maidens, look to your wings: Candles are pretty but dangerous things. Waltzing so airily round and around, Where could two daintier coquettes be found? Silly moth maidens, why so unwise? Have you no sense, then—nothing but eyes? Beating the mirror, fanning the flame, Blinded and dying, and—who is to blame? APRIL-FOOLS' DAY. For a longer time than any one can remember, the 1st of April has been known as April-fools' Day, but why, no one seems to know. In old times, April-fooling was quite a serious thing; and people were made so uncomfortable by senseless jokes that they went out of fashion. It is a very poor kind of enjoyment that consists in giving pain to others, and telling untruths besides; and sport of this kind is always carried too far. But on one occasion, in France, the well-known practices of April-fools' Day were the means of saving the lives of a noble couple. The Duke and Duchess of Lorraine, who were prisoners at Nantes, made their escape merely because it was the 1st of April, when every one was trying to send his neighbor on some ridiculous errand. The story reads that the Duke and his wife disguised themselves as peasants, the gentleman carrying a hod on his noble shoulder as naturally as possible, while the elegant court lady had a basket of rubbish bound fast to her back. At a very early hour in the morning of April-fools' Day they passed through the city gates. But early as it was, a woman who knew them by sight happened to meet them, and she hurried off to the guard to give notice that the Duke and Duchess were escaping in disguise. The soldier, however, remembered the day of the month, and he was not to be taken in so easily. "April-fool!" was the only answer he made to the excited woman, and then all the guard shouted "April-fool!" and the messenger was laughed at for her pains. Finally the story came, as a good joke, to the Governor's ears, and he thought it just as well to inquire into the matter. By this time the Duke and Duchess were quite out of reach, and a great many men had made fools of themselves in their anxiety not to let any one else do it for them. The April-fool is not confined to any one land or any one language. In Scotland he is called the "April-gowk," and in France the "Poisson d'Avril" (April-fish). Sweden has her April-fools, for a great Swedish traveller named Toreen writes, "We set sail on the 1st of April, and the wind made April-fools of us." In fact, each and every country seems to have had its idea of giving one day at least to the business of being foolish, or making other people so. In Spain people play the fool in various ways on the Sunday and Monday preceding the holy season of Lent. Before very long, however, all April-fooling in civilized countries will probably be a thing of the past. As the world grows older, and people learn wisdom and common-sense, they discover so many better and more reasonable ways of enjoying themselves that such ridiculous practices are given up by common consent. A very old legend of an instance in which folly served a good purpose is that of the "wise fools of Gotham," though it will hardly do to place too much confidence in its truth. Gotham was a village in England that fell under the displeasure of King John, who sent messengers to inquire into their conduct in preventing him from passing that way. Being afraid of punishment, the people concluded to act like fools, to excuse themselves; and the King's messengers found them employed in all sorts of ridiculous ways. Some were trying to drown an eel in a pond, some were dragging their carts and wagons to the top of a barn to shade a wood from the sun, some were rolling cheeses down a hill to find their way to market, and some were hedging in a cuckoo that had perched upon a bush, as though he couldn't fly off at the top. The report taken back to the King was that none but fools lived in Gotham, and fools were of course unworthy of a king's notice. But they thought themselves wise, and so came to be called "the wise fools of Gotham." "Spring, the sweet Spring, is the King of the Year."—Nash. [Pg 345] THE TITMOUSE FAMILY. A small bird, with a grayish-white head, black wings, and a dull brown coat, a soft puffy little creature, may be found at all seasons hopping merrily about in the hedge-rows and orchards of England and France. It is known as the long-tailed titmouse, and is one of the most remarkable members of the great titmouse family, which numbers more than eighty-seven varieties. Its nest is a wonderful specimen of bird-architecture. The little birds work industriously, and at the end of fifteen days the beautiful home is finished and ready to receive the small speckled eggs. The nest is fastened to twigs covered with thick foliage, and a location near a small water-course is usually selected. It is shaped like a large egg. The little round door is at one side near the top, and some nests have been found with a similar opening on the other side, lower down. As the birds can not speak and explain this freak in the construction of their house, the reason has never been found out. Some naturalists think it is for better ventilation. To weave its nest the bird collects bits of wood, soft moss, and the strong silken winding of certain cocoons, which it twists together in thick impenetrable walls, within which its little ones may lie secure from rain and storm and cold. The exterior of the nest is artistically covered with beautiful lichens and bits of soft bark, which make it in color and outward texture so much like the branches to which it is secured that a very sharp eye is needed to distinguish it. When the little house is complete, it is furnished with a soft thick bed of downy feathers, and the mother begins to brood over seven or eight little rose-white eggs delicately specked with red. These long-tailed titmice are the most faithful of all bird-parents. They keep their children near them until they are a year old, and as two broods are born during the warm weather, with seven or eight in each brood, a whole titmouse family —papa, mamma, and as many as sixteen little ones—may often be seen hopping about together and scouring the hedges in search of food. They are ravenous little creatures, and always hunting from morning till night, and as they are very sociable, they go in large flocks, twittering and chirping gleefully as they spy a swarm of fat flies, or discover among old stone heaps or in the bark of trees the hiding-places where tiny worms are lying asleep in a chrysalis shroud. They will also eat beech- nuts, acorns, hemp, and other oily seeds. English boys call these birds tomtits, and consider them the most impertinent of all the feathered inhabitants of the country; for small and graceful as they are, there are few birds which possess such a violent temper or such cruel instincts. They will fight furiously with each other for the possession of a plump insect or some other dainty morsel, and —sad to relate—they show no mercy toward a poor wounded or sick bird. No matter whether it is one of their own kind or of some other species, the titmice set upon it and kill it with sharp blows from their strong little beaks. When it is [Pg 346] dead, they pick open its skull and eat its brains. In France titmice are often captured in snares, but unless the specimen is very young, it will make a savage attack on the hands of the hunter who takes it from the net. It is not difficult to tame them. They make very wise and amusing pets, and if allowed to fly about will quickly clear a room of flies and mosquitoes. But they should never be put in a cage with other birds, for they will harass and worry them to death. Titmice are very useful inhabitants of gardens and orchards, as they wage continual war on all kinds of saw-flies and other small insects, which do much injury to fruit-bearing trees and shrubs, and a wise gardener will allow the saucy tomtit full liberty to hop and jump about in search of a breakfast for himself and his numerous family. In the United States ten varieties of titmice have been found, and there are no doubt more. The most familiar among them is the chickadee, which may be heard any sunny day during our long northern winter trilling its merry chickadee- dee-dee in the fields and woods. It is one of the few birds that remain with us during the entire year, and is always the same lively, blithe little creature. HARE AND HOUNDS. NED MORNINGSTAR'S STORY. BY M. EYTINGE. This ain't much of a story, only you fellows say I've got to tell something, and I can't think of anything else. Harry Hunter was the one that first started the game. He came there just after Professor Weston had taken Merrit's place in the academy. He was a first-rate fellow, and a reg'lar out-and-out Englisher. He didn't really drop his h's, but it suited us to pretend he did, 'cause some English fellows do, you know. Ben Price—he's near-sighted—came in one Monday morning with two pairs of eyeglasses on his nose, one pair over the other, and he looked under all the desks and into every corner. "What ever are you looking for?" says Hunter. "Some of those h's you dropped last week," says Price. "I'm afraid we won't have enough for this week's lessons if we don't find a few of 'em." "No fear of that," says I. "Harry picks 'em all up as he goes along, and hangs them on to all sorts of words wherever they'll fit handy." One thing about Hunter was he never got mad when he was chaffed, but just laughed with the rest of us. But the riddle he gave us one recess when we were guessing conundrums and things!—it was just awful. "Why is that dog," he asked, "that I just saw run up the road, like an article in general use in country places after night-fall?" And when we all shook our heads, says he, as grave as a judge, "Because he is the cur-I-seen." Well, I rolled off my seat at that. It certainly was the worst conundrum I ever heard. Well, Harry taught us how to play Hare and Hounds. "An Irish game, I suppose," says Charley Bennet. "It sounds very like something I've heard our gardener say, and he's just over from the 'gem of the sea.'" "No gem of the sea about it," says Hunter. "It belongs to merry old England." Hare and Hounds is the correct thing. S'pose most of you fellows know it, but I'll explain if there's any that don't. You see we take pieces of rather thick paper—tearing up old copy-books and compositions is the best, 'cause thin paper would fly too much. That's for the scent. Then the hare stuffs his pockets, or a little bag he carries slung over his left shoulder, and away he starts, dropping a handful here and a handful there, and the rest of the boys—the hounds, you know—follow him by the scent, and catch him if they can. They're bound to follow wherever he leads, and he darts behind trees, and doubles, and doe...