[Illustration: HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE]
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VOL. II.--NO. 83. PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK. PRICE FOUR
CENTS.
Tuesday, May 31, 1881. Copyright, 1881, by HARPER & BROTHERS. $1.50 per
Year, in Advance.
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[Illustration: PHIL AND HARDWICK.]
TWO KINDS OF COURAGE.
BY M. E. W. S.
Old Slack Limestone had sat on the steps of the tavern in Dicksonville,
and chewed tobacco and told stories until he had acquired the highest
perfection in the doing of each. Neither of these roads to fortune is to
be commended to youth; but as a proof that excellence is to be achieved
by constant practice, Slack Limestone's example became a good one.
Now and then he would condescend to be useful for a few days. He had a
specialty which was invaluable--he was good at laying turf. Perhaps
anything that was destined to keep still for a number of years attracted
Slack Limestone. That was what _he_ would like to do. So when our
lawn-tennis ground was being made, Slack agreed to leave the village
door-steps to cool for a few days while he turfed the graded ground.
Horatio said that he was going to get Slack to tell him the story of
little hunchbacked Philip while the turfing was going on, and we all sat
round under the trees and listened. Slack spoke the purest Yankee. It
was like the French of the Academy, the pure Tuscan of Florence; it was
a language by itself.
"Wa'al," said Slack, pushing back the fringed edge of a lattice-work
that had once been a straw hat (Slack had better hats, for he was not
poor, but when he relapsed into usefulness he always put on this hat, as
a soldier does his helmet when going into action; it was a token to him
of the demoralizing influence of labor)--"wa'al, hunchbacked Phil's
back's considerably straighter to me than most folks' backs, I tell you.
When I comes to rekillect how an' where he got that 'ere back, it looks
to me like a plumb-line. He's what I call real grit, anyhow."
"It was some act of bravery in the war, I believe," said Horatio,
adroitly pretending to lay a piece of turf straight with his foot.
"No, it warn't," said Slack; "you're jest about as much out of your
perpendicler there as that 'ere piece of green swad is out of line. I
always calkilates to lay my green swad by water-level, and not to kick
it 'round with my boot."
"Oh!" said Horatio, retiring gracefully, "I remember: it was at sea."
"Wa'al, naow, I guess you're pretty well mistaken, tu; 'twarn't neither.
Philip he got that 'ere broken back up to Milliken's Mill a-doin' an act
of duty, such as none of them lazy fellows that went from here to the
war and got paid for layin' 'round and eatin' and kinder handlin' a
muskit never did."
"Don't abuse the soldiers, Slack," said Horatio, taking off his hat.
"Remember whose grave you turfed up in the cemetery."
"'Scuse me, sir," said Slack, rising and touching the lattice-work; "I
ain't forgot Mr. Max, sir. Didn't I take him fishin', didn't I teach him
to shoot? But there's soldiers _and_ soldiers, and if Mr. Max, your
brother, sir, went off to the war because he was a gentleman, there was
some as went off because they hedn't no call to stay to hum, and they
jest went to git the money. Naow poor little Phil he was too young to go
to the war, but I tell you he fit a battle up there to his mill that was
a good 'un."
Slack dallied with his "water-level" and his "green swad" for some
seconds; like the adroit story-teller that he was, he did not disdain
the art of delay.
"The machinery got too much for him, I suppose?" said Horatio, looking
at the turf with one eye shut, as if he doubted the water-level.
"Wa'al, there I guess you're as much out of kilter as you were before,
naow, for Phil he tended to that 'ere mill before he was seven years
old. I remember him, the little shaver, as straight as a popple-tree; no
hunch on to him then, naow, you better believe!"
"A child of seven tending that great wheel over that tremendous
water-power?" said Horatio.
Slack never answered a question except by asking another, unless his
emotions were aroused. He had, like most men of his queer class, a fund
of good feeling behind his humor which sometimes betrayed him; but he
preferred to be considered contrary and cross-grained.
"Don't you know nothin' about a saw-mill?" said he, cocking up a little
gray eye at Horatio, with an enormous contempt hidden behind his
pent-house eyebrow.
"Yes; I suppose I know that the water furnishes the power, and that the
man shoves in the log," said Horatio, modestly.
"Wa'al, 'tain't that egzactly," said Slack, stamping down a piece of
turf. "S'pose I couldn't make you understand ef you don't know nothin'
about saw-mills." So, with a deep sigh at the gulf of ignorance that
opened before him, he abandoned the idea of instruction, and plunged
into his story.
"Ye see, Tim Thompson, Phil's father, he married Seth Jaquith's daughter
down to Hardscrabble. She warn't a rugged woman, neither; pritty
good-lookin', though, an' real lady in her manners. She kep' the
deestrict school three winters, and I guess she hed some edication.
Wa'al, Tim he was ambitious, an' he hed a tannery, and a saw-mill, an' a
quarry for grave-stuns, and he hed I guess six or seven more irons in
the fire; an' sometimes he was rich, and then agen guess he was pritty
poor; an' his wife (Alice they called her) she was sick considerable
spell, and this 'ere boy Phil was all the children they hed; but they
lived up there to the saw-mill, and hed solid comfort when things were
a-goin' right. Wa'al, Phil he was awful smart at learnin', so they sent
him to the 'cademy winters, and let him tend mill in summer with the
feller that helped Tim. What was his name? Wa'al, I forgit names. Jest
naow I am a-gittin' old; we're all a-gittin' old all the time. An' Tim
he used to tell us, there to the tavern, how smart his little shaver
was. Spell! why, he could spell like a team o' horses before he could
walk 'most; an' grammar and jography I guess didn't fetch him neither.
"But there was a man named Hardwick up to the 'cademy, an' he was a
whacker. The boys called him Hardwhack, and I guess that kinder
described him. Seems though he tuk a great dislike to Phil, cos he
outspelled and outrecited everybody. He give him some terrible lickings,
and I tell you didn't Alice Thompson riz right out of a sick-bed, and go
down to the 'cademy, and give it to Hardwhack jest, you bet, before the
hull school, for licking them boys, and she tuk Phil away. Sez she, 'Mr.
Hardwick, I have been a teacher, an' I know that cruelty is not
necessary. I see amongst your pupils some of my former scholars, and
although they were big boys when they attended my school, I never hed
any difficulty with them. Is not that so, boys?' An', by George! if them
boys didn't git up and give her three cheers. And Hardwick he turned as
white as a turnip, and sez he, 'Miss Thompson,' sez he, 'you're severe;
your son deserved chastisement.'
"Sez she, 'No words, Mr. Hardwick. I hope my son _will return good for
evil_.'
"Wa'al, after that Hardwick he hedn't no show at all; the hull village
riz agen him, and he was turned out; and next we heard of him he hed
been a-sittin' of his own four-year-old onto a hot stove, and he licked
his wife, and he was as cruel as a meat-axe, and they tarred and
feathered him, and rid him on a rail out of town.
"That was the year old Stewart was murdered down to Crooked Forks, and
the last man it was seen with him was Hardwick.
"Wa'al, the hull county turned out to find Hardwick, and he jest warn't
to be found. Put yer finger onto a flea, and 'tain't there.
"Sez I to the Sheriff, sez I, 'Hardwick didn't do that murder; he hain't
the courage. Takes a bigger-sized man,' sez I, 'to commit a murder than
a man as whops boys and burns up children. He's a white-livered coward,
sez I.'
"'Oh, yes, he did, Slack,' sez he. 'Circumstantial evidence,'sez he.
"Wa'al, naow here's where the story comes in," said Slack, laying down
the water-level, and rising to the occasion. "Philip he got to be a
good-sized lump of a boy, and he tended saw-mill fust rate. Timothy
Thompson he hed to go off up to the quarry, and some days Phil was there
all alone, and Alice she used to come out and sit in the sun. She was
dreadful weakly all that year, but she and Phil hed solid comfort
together. Wa'al, she'd jest gone in to get him a meal o' vittles one
day, when there came out o' the woods the awfulest-looking man ye ever
see. Why, this hat o' mine is a John Jacob Astor fust-class satin beaver
compared to what he hed on, and he was all beard and whiskers, and dirt
and rags. Oh, he looked awful.
"Sez he, 'Philip, save me!' And who was it but that Hardwhack, that hed
licked him 'most to death!
"'Philip,' sez he, crouching jest like a hound, 'I hain't treated you
well,' sez he, 'but as God is my witness, I didn't commit the murder.
Hide me in the cock-loft of this 'ere mill till persecution's passed,
and I tell you I'll be a better man.'
"Phil he give a great gulp, and jest then he heard his mother a-singing
as she was gettin' his dinner. It seemed as though he couldn't help to
save that mean lick-spittle that was a-kneelin' there, but Alice she
kept on singing, and both on 'em heard her.
"'_Don't tell her! Don't tell her!_' sez Hardwick, a-tremblin' all over.
Phil he thought a minnit, and then he made room for him to pass.
"'Climb up the ladder there, master,' sez he, 'and put a lot o' sawdust
over ye. I'll go in and get ye something to eat.' Hardwick he climbed up
behind the wheel mighty quick. So Phil he fixes the gearing, and goes in
to dinner. I guess he looked pritty red, and the poor boy was a-cryin'.
"Sez Alice, 'Why, what's the matter, dear?'
"Sez he, 'Mother, don't you ask no questions. You can trust me, can't
you?'
"'Yes, my boy,' sez Alice, as proud as could be.
"'Then give me a plate of dinner to carry to the mill, and ef I appear
queer any time, you jest know that the time has come for paying good for
evil.'
"Alice she looked at him a minnit, and then she cried too. She warn't
one of the crying kind, but when she did go it, I tell you them
sluiceways warn't nuthing to her, and so she kissed him, and give him
the dinner. These two didn't need to talk; feelin's crept right out of
their elbows towards one another. Somehow, I guess, they understood each
other.
"'Twarn't an hour before the Sheriff and his posse they arrived to the
mill. There Alice was a-sittin', sewin' as if butter would melt in her
mouth, and Phil he was a-sawin' logs fit to kill.
"Sez the Sheriff, 'Miss Thompson,' sez he, 'hev you seen the murderer
Hardwick? He was seen half a mile back a-comin' this way.'
"'I hev not,' sez she. Wa'al, that was true; she hedn't seen nor heard
him.
"'It is your duty if you know anything of his whereabouts to communicate
that knowledge to me,' sez he. He was old Jimmy Grey, the Sheriff, and
he talked big.
"'I hev no love for Mr. Hardwick,' said Alice, simply. 'He whipped that
boy of mine almost to death. It is not probable that I should hide him.'
"That's true,' sez Sheriff Grey. 'But he's a-hidin' somewheres about,'
sez he.
"'_If I see him_, I'll let you know,' sez Alice, standin' up, and
looking at the Sheriff as stiff as a double holly-hock.
"Wa'al, all there is about it is, the Sheriff's folks came a-watchin'
that mill all day, and that boy and his mother they sat and defended the
skulkin' dog in the cock-loft--a-sawin' and a-sewin'--and that day's
work broke Phil's back. He was a-growin' boy, and it jest killed him.
When night came, and Hardwick got away, Phil he fainted right down, like
a mowed mullein stalk.
"But the next day sez he, 'Mother, I'm a-goin' in to the Sheriff to tell
what I done. It warn't right of us to interfere with the law, even if we
did want to do good for evil.'
"And sez she, 'Phil, I guess you're right, and I'll go too.'
"I tell you there was a stir to Dicksonville when them two told their
story, and they clapped Phil right into jail. It was a cold, gloomy
place--jails ain't comfortable, particler in the fall when the courts
puts folks in, generally after the harvest's done. Naow there was Sol
Sullivan that murdered his wife; they knew it in August, but Sol warn't
arrested till October, cos they wanted him to help on his father's farm
gettin' in the wheat and corn and potatoes, and when they asked Sol why
he done it, he said 'he didn't want to winter her.' Farmin' folks think
o' these things. Wa'al, I guess that cold Phil took there didn't help
his back none, for he was awful sick afterwards.
"Tim Thompson and his wife they druv home considerably worked. Tim he'd
been awful mad at his wife for gittin' Phil into this scrape, or
a-helping it along, but she sat kinder quiet, and, sez she, 'Tim, you'll
see I did right. These men would hev torn Hardwick limb from limb if
they'd ha' catched him then.' 'Wa'al,' sez Tim, 'I shouldn't ha' minded
if they hed. I don't want Phil to sleep in that damp jail to-night
nohow.'
"Now here's the interestin' point of this 'ere story. Crazy Nichols was
the murderer after all, and they found that out three days afterwards,
and they let Phil out of jail in a burnin' fever, and old Dr. Twitchell
he took him up home in his own carriage, and then the Sheriff, he said,
and Lawyer Edwards, he said, and Lawyer Chamberlain, he said, sez he,
'Tim, your son has served the ends of justice,' sez he, 'for if we
hedn't had time to think, we should hev hanged Hardwick on
circumstantial evidence. We never should hev thought of crazy Nichols.'
"Wa'al, Tim Thompson he never got over it for years. He said he didn't
want his son ruined for nothing; but somehow Phil ain't ruined; he an'
his mother they kinder suffered along together there for a spell of
years, and then Phil got so as he could do some copyin', and Lawyer
Edwards he took him in, and he kinder studied law, and now he's a
forehanded man.
"I was up a-turfin' Miss Thompson's grave for him last year come fall,
and he said he was a-goin' to put up a monument. Wa'al, I guess it's
most done. I was in to Calhoun's a-lookin' at it, and I see the
letterin'. I don't egzactly rekillect what it was, all of it; somethin'
about 'Alice, beloved wife of Timothy Thompson,' but I knowed that he
said down to the foot that she hed two kinds of courage, and I guess she
hed, and _I knew_ that hump-backed Phil has hed courage, several kinds
of 'em, and so he looks all right to me," said Slack.
THE WEASEL.
The weasel is one of the prettiest and most graceful little creatures
that can be imagined. It lives in all cool countries, and makes its home
in hollow trees, in stone heaps, or in any convenient hole where it can
find shelter. It is no larger than a good-sized rat, but has longer
legs. It has a long, lithe, slender body, long neck, and dainty little
head, with small round ears and bright eyes. It is covered with smooth,
sleek hair, of a brown color on its back, and white below. It has long
whiskers on its nose, and a very short tail. Its weapons are its strong
claws and sharp teeth, which it knows how to use so well that many
larger animals live in constant terror of this bold and wicked little
marauder. The weasel itself has very few enemies. Even the powerful
birds of prey, which are ever on the alert for rabbits and other small
game, rarely swoop down on the weasel, for although they can easily
carry it away in their strong talons, it often proves very troublesome
booty. A hunter once noticed a large hawk, high in the air, which was
flapping its wings violently, and apparently in great trouble. Suddenly
it darted, and fell to the earth almost at the hunter's feet, where it
lay gasping and dying, while a tiny weasel sprang from the heap of
feathers, and scampered away to hide itself in the stone wall near by.
On examining the bird, the hunter found that its throat was torn to
pieces by the weasel's sharp teeth. The little creature, although unable
to escape from the powerful grip of the hawk, had twisted itself until
it could reach its enemy's throat, when it easily inflicted a deadly
wound.
[Illustration: THE WEASEL AND HIS VICTIM.]
The defenseless hares and rabbits are bitterly persecuted by the weasel,
which springs upon them, and with wonderful instinct knows exactly where
to fasten its sharp teeth. The unfortunate hare may scamper away as fast
as it can, but its enemy clings to its neck, and the poor little animal
must soon fall, faint and dying, from loss of blood. The tragedy
pictured in our engraving is acted over and over again by these two
pretty inhabitants of woodland thickets, and the rabbit is always forced
to yield to its little enemy.
Rats and mice, squirrels, moles, frogs, and birds of all kinds are
hunted by the weasel, and it may often be seen twisting itself in and
out of stone heaps or walls in the vicinity of barn-yards, where it
watches for chickens, doves, and other domestic fowls.
If taken very young, weasels may be tamed, and a whole army of cats will
not free a house so quickly of rats and mice as will one little weasel.
Pussy must sit patiently by the rat's hole and wait until the
mischievous beast ventures forth; but where a rat can go, the weasel can
follow. Weasels and ferrets are often kept on board of ships, and are
petted by the sailors, for a ship with a weasel as passenger is always
free from rats.
There are many pretty stories told of tame weasels, and of the affection
they manifest toward those who care for them. A lady who received a
present of a very small and very young weasel fed it with milk, which it
drank from her hand. The little creature became so attached to its
mistress that whenever she called it, it would instantly appear from
whatever corner in which it was curled up, and would climb all over her
like a squirrel. It never bit her, and would play with her cat and dog,
often riding round on their backs; but it never injured them. Its
curiosity afforded its mistress much amusement. If she opened a box or
trunk, Master Weasel would raise himself on his hind-legs and make every
effort to peep inside.
This little creature is much hunted by man, and large numbers are caught
in traps, it being a general impression that they do more harm than
good; but although a weasel may now and then carry off a chicken from
the farm-yard, it does much good by freeing barns and corn fields of
mice and other small destructive animals.
[Begun in No. 80 of HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE, May 10.]
THE CRUISE OF THE "GHOST."
BY W. L. ALDEN,
AUTHOR OF "THE MORAL PIRATES," ETC.
CHAPTER IV.
"How do all the boats that go through the inlet manage, I wonder?" asked
Tom. "They can't all get as wet as we did, and we saw that the boat that
went through just ahead of us didn't take in any water."
"That was just her luck," Charley answered. "We followed right after
her, and happened to catch it pretty heavy."
"But I don't believe it's always so rough at the inlet. If it is, nine
boats out of ten would get full of water."
"I'll tell you how they manage it," exclaimed Charley. "They wait till
the tide is just right, and that's what we ought to have done. Don't you
see there is a swell coming in from the ocean, and it meets the tide
going, out? Now if the tide was coming in, or if it was slack water, the
inlet would be smooth enough. Boys, I made a mistake in starting before
the tide changed, and, come to think of it, I've been awfully stupid
about this whole business. If we had waited two or three hours, we could
have gone through the inlet without the least trouble; that is, if the
wind hadn't changed."
"It's going to change before long," remarked Harry. "The breeze is dying
away now, and in a little while we'll have a dead calm."
They were now entering the narrow channel leading to Hempstead Bay. A
few years ago a heavy winter storm threw up a low island of sand just
outside of the beach at Far Rockaway. The channel between this island
and the beach communicated with Hempstead Bay, and although the island
injured the business of the bathing-house proprietors, it saved the
Hempstead fishermen the risk of passing out to sea through the regular
inlets.
As the wind died out it grew uncomfortably hot; and as the _Ghost_ had
passed beyond the houses at Far Rockaway, the boys took in sail,
anchored, and had a splendid bath. After the bath they were, of course,
ravenously hungry, and so proceeded to get dinner. By this time the
breeze had completely vanished, and the _Ghost_ was lying motionless on
the glassy waters. Suddenly the low growling of thunder was heard. The
clouds had come up from the west without attracting the notice of the
boys, and they now saw that a thunder-shower would soon reach them.
"We're going to get wet again," said Joe, gloomily. "I think I'll quit
wearing clothes altogether, so that I can manage to have something dry
to put on."
"What's the use of getting wet?" said Harry. "We can rig up our canvas
cabin, and we won't get a drop of rain on us."
"If we're going to do that, we must be quick about it, for it's going to
rain in a very few minutes," said Charley. "I guess it's the best thing
we can do, though this isn't the best anchorage in the world. Come, Joe,
you and I will roll up the sails, while the other fellows rig up the
canvas. We've got to make things pretty snug, for it may blow hard."
The sails were quickly furled, and Tom and Harry had the canvas cabin
ready just as the first drops of rain began to fall. The boys crept
under the canvas, congratulating themselves that they had a secure
shelter, and that they had noticed the approach of the shower in time to
prepare for it.
The wind blew very hard, and the _Ghost_ began to pitch uneasily.
"It's a good job we've got such a lot of cable," said Charley. "When I
saw that the _Ghost_ had fifty feet of inch rope coiled up on her deck,
I couldn't help laughing, and wondering if Harry expected to anchor in
fifty feet of water; but, after all, a long cable is a handy thing to
have, and we needn't have the least fear that we shall drag our anchor
or part our cable."
"This canvas cabin works splendidly," remarked Harry. "Tom, you deserve
all our thanks for inventing it. Why, it's fairly dry on the inside." So
saying, Harry put the palm of his hand against the canvas over his head,
and rubbed it to see if it was wet.
"Now you've done it," cried Tom. "Don't you know how a tent will leak if
you touch it when it is wet? You'll have a stream of water running in
here presently."
Tom was right. In a few minutes the water began to drip steadily on the
unfortunate Harry, who was forced to sit with a tin pail in his lap to
catch the stream that he had introduced into the cabin.
The rain was now pouring down in a perfect cataract, and the gusts of
wind were trying their best to tear the canvas away. Tom felt a strong
desire to look out and see how things were getting on. Accordingly,
without saying anything to anybody, he quietly unfastened the opening in
the after-end of the cabin, and put his head out into the rain. No
sooner did the wind find an entrance into the cabin through the opening
Tom had made than the canvas gave a tremendous flap, which broke the
cords that held it in place; and had not Harry caught hold of it, and
dragged it inside the cockpit; it would have been overboard in a second.
"Well, I never in all my life!" began the astonished Tom.
"I told you we were going to get wet," said Joe. "We always do. We got
wet about three times every day in the _Whitewing_."
"There's nothing to be done but to sit here till the shower's over,"
said Charley. "It can't last very long, and it won't do us any harm.
You're sure the covers of those cushions are water-proof, Harry?"
"Oh, they're all right. They'll be dry enough if we just rub them off
with a towel."
"It's all my fault," said Tom; "but who would ever have thought that the
whole concern would blow away that way?"
"Never mind, Tom," said Charley. "It will teach us to use stronger cords
to lash the canvas down with next time. There! the sun's coming out
again, and the rain is about over. Let's try and get the inside of the
boat dry, and the canvas rigged up again, before dark."
The cabin was a little damp, it must be confessed, but the beds and
blankets were dry. This time the canvas was lashed down so stoutly that
it would have stood a gale of wind, and under it the crew of the _Ghost_
slept without hearing the singing of a single mosquito, and without
suffering any unpleasant effects from the dampness.
[Illustration: THE MAN IN THE ROW-BOAT.]
The boys had finished their breakfast the next morning, and were
preparing to resume their voyage, when they were hailed by a man in a
row-boat.
"Where be you from?" asked the new-comer.
"From New York," replied Charley. "Whereabouts is the best channel in
Hempstead Bay? Do we want to keep near the beach, or near the other
shore?"
"Where be you going?"
"To Amityville or thereabouts. Will we have any trouble in finding the
way there?"
"Who be you, anyway?"
"Oh, never mind him," said Harry, in a low tone. "He'll ask questions
all day, and never answer any."
But the man was not quite so exasperating as Harry imagined. After
looking at the _Ghost_ with some admiration, and expressing the opinion
that she was "a tidy boat," he condescended to answer Charley's
questions about the channel.
"Channel? Why, bless you, you can't find the channel to save your life.
It jest winds in among the islands, and runs every which way. You've got
to be brung up on this bay before you can ever learn the channel."
"But we can find it if we keep searching for it, can't we?" inquired
Charley.
"You'll be growed up before you do," answered the man. "You can try it,
I s'pose, if you want to. You must keep a-gradooally working up to the
nor'ard, and if one of you gets up the mast and watches the color of the
water, mebbe you can find the way. Say, where was you last night--aboard
this consarn?"
"We've been here ever since that thunder-shower came up."
"You hain't seen nothing of no suspicious-looking fellows in a row-boat,
have ye?"
The boys told him that they had seen nobody since they had cast anchor.
"Well," resumed the man, "you keep a smart look-out. There's been half a
dozen sail-boats stole out of this bay in the last two weeks by some
fellows that sneak 'round in a row-boat at night. Why, they stole a
colored man's boat last week while he was asleep in her. Chucked him
right overboard, they did. Those fellows is regular pirates, and if they
catch you lying at anchor in some out-of-the-way place, you'll have
trouble with 'em."
The man's caution did not alarm the boys, but they thanked him, and said
they would remember his advice. "We'll set an anchor watch at night,"
said Charley. "It's what we ought to do, anyway. This anchoring the
boat, and then going to sleep and letting her look out for herself, is
too much like the way Frenchmen manage ships. We might have been run
down by some big fishing-boat last night, for we didn't hang out our
lantern, and we were all sound asleep."
The wind was fair, and the crew of the _Ghost_, thinking that the man
had greatly exaggerated the difficulty of finding the channel, were not
disturbed when they presently found themselves in what looked like a
narrow creek winding through a low marshy meadow. Charley climbed up the
mast hoops, and saw that the _Ghost_ had entered an archipelago. In
every direction, as far as he could see, the low meadow was divided into
hundreds of little islands, separated by narrow creeks varying in width
from a few feet to a dozen rods. He made up his mind that it was going
to be a difficult task to find a channel deep enough for the _Ghost_,
for he could see that the water had the appearance of being very shallow
in nearly all the creeks. He had just decided on the course that it
would be best to steer for the next ten minutes, when the _Ghost_ ran on
a mud-bank, and came to a stop.
It was some time before she could be pushed off again, so deep and
sticky was the mud; and when at last she was once more on her course,
Charley took the helm, and sent Joe aloft to look for the channel. Joe
had no sooner climbed the mast hoops than the _Ghost_ was aground again,
and another half-hour had to be spent in getting her afloat. The whole
morning was passed in this unsatisfactory way, and the boat was at least
half the time stuck in the mud. At noon the crew let her remain aground
while they had lunch, and rested for an hour. Then they resumed the
tiresome business of running aground and getting afloat again, and when
the end of the afternoon approached, they anchored in a little cove
where the water happened to be deep enough to float the boat, and
acknowledged to one another that the inquisitive old man was right, and
that they would probably have to spend a long time in working their way
out from among the islands.
"I don't believe what the old man said about pirates," said Harry, as
they were rigging the canvas cabin, and preparing for the night; "but I
did see what you may think was a suspicious-looking boat when I was up
aloft this afternoon."
"Let's hear about it," said Charley.
"It was a row-boat tied up to the shore in a little bit of a creek about
half a mile from here, and there were three men lying asleep in her. Now
what were they doing that for, I'd like to know?"
"I don't see what could induce anybody to row into such a place as this,
and then go to sleep. If they had been fishing, now, I could understand
it," said Charley. "What sort of looking men were they?"
"I could only see the face of one of them. He woke up, and lifted up his
head to look at me, and he didn't look a bit like a fisherman. He seemed
to me just like one of those fellows that you see in New York--a regular
'rough,' you know."
"You're sure he saw our boat?" asked Charley.
"Sure as sure can be," replied Harry. "And he watched it very sharp,
too."
"Boys," asked Charley, "has anybody got a pistol? I know there isn't any
gun aboard."
"We didn't bring pistols, for Uncle John wouldn't consent to it,"
answered Harry; "and he said we wouldn't need a gun. I've got a lot of
powder for the cannon, but it wouldn't be much good against the pirates
that the old man told us of."
"We have got a cannon, haven't we!" said Charley, thoughtfully. "I'd
forgotten that. Let me have a look at it."
He examined the cannon closely, and carefully dried the bore with the
help of his handkerchief and a small stick. Then he came back to the
cockpit and asked, "Does anybody happen to have anything that will do
for shot?"
"I've got about a handful of marbles," said Joe. "I forgot to leave them
behind."
"They're just the thing," said Charley. "Give 'em to me, will you, and
let me have a lot of that thick brown paper that was wrapped round the
stove, provided there is any of it left."
Charley wrapped the marbles in three or four thicknesses of paper, and
then loaded the cannon, ramming the package of marbles close up against
the powder. Then he laid a piece of cloth over the cannon to protect it
from the dew, and put the powder-flask in his pocket. "Now if anybody
attacks us," he exclaimed, "we can give him a dose of canister-shot."
"You'll have to ask him to be kind enough to come right up in front of
the cannon," remarked Joe, "for you can't aim it at anybody while it's
lashed fast."
"That's so," said Charley. "I am smart not to think of cutting the
lashing." So saying, he cut the cannon loose, so that he could turn it
in any direction. "Now, boys, turn in, and I'll keep a look-out till ten
o'clock, for I'm not a bit sleepy. I don't believe anybody will trouble
us, but at any rate we'll take care not to be surprised."
The boys felt so safe, in spite of what the old man had said, that they
were soon peacefully sleeping, with the exception of Charley, who was
sitting very wide awake, with his back against the mast. It was not yet
ten o'clock when Tom was awakened by feeling a hand laid on his
forehead. "Hush!" whispered Charley. "I can hear a row-boat coming
toward us. Wake up Harry and Joe, and come on deck; but don't make any
noise. I've unshipped the tiller, and you can use it for a club."
[TO BE CONTINUED.]
HISTORICAL TREES OF THE UNITED STATES.
BY MARY A. BARR.
I have a suggestion to make, my little friends, which I think you will
all like. It is to keep an Album of Leaves. Not only can you collect and
exchange leaves of different varieties, but of famous trees, of which
there are many in the United States. Arrange them neatly; write below
them where and why you gathered them, if they are historical or famous,
and what made them so; and to prove to you how interesting such an album
can be made, I will tell you of some trees that are as celebrated as
either Washington or General Grant.
In the year 1682, under the wide-spreading branches of a huge elm in
Philadelphia, the good and wise William Penn held a council with the
chiefs of the Pennsylvania Indians, and made a treaty with them which
was never broken, and from which the tree received its name and fame as
"Penn's Treaty Tree." It was blown down in 1810, and when its rings were
counted it proved to be 283 years old, having been 155 years old at the
time of the treaty. It was so honored that when the English held
possession of Philadelphia during the winter of 1778, Colonel Simcoe
placed a sentinel under it to protect it from the soldiers who were
cutting down all the trees near for fire-wood. A large part of it was
sent to the remaining members of Penn's family at Stokes, near Windsor,
in England, where it still remains, and the rest was made into
work-boxes, chairs, and many other ornaments.
You have all heard of the "Charter Oak" at Hartford, Connecticut; it
became famous in 1687, just five years after Penn's treaty with the
Indians in Pennsylvania. King James sent a proud, tyrannical man from
England as Governor of Connecticut, called Sir Edmund Andros, who on his
arrival at Boston immediately demanded the surrender of the charter of
Connecticut. Of course he was refused, and nearly a year went by, every
day of which proved him to be more masterful, and unworthy the trust and
confidence of the people. So at last, in October, 1687, he took a
company of soldiers and went to Hartford, where the Assembly met, and
again demanded from the people their charter. He was received with great
politeness, and calmly listened to until candle-light, when the charter
was brought out and laid upon the table around which the Assembly sat.
Sir Edmund was just about to seize it, when the lights were suddenly put
out, and there was a great tumult and much confusion, and before the
candles could be relit, one Captain Wadsworth, of Hartford, seized the
charter, and, unseen, carried it off, and put it into the hollow trunk
of a large oak-tree near. Of course Sir Edmund was very angry, but no
one could or would tell where the charter was, and his lordship had to
go back without it. The Hartford people are very proud of their oak, and
I am sure some of you have seen the piano made from it after it had been
blown down in 1856. The Vice-President's chair in the Senate-Chamber at
Washington is also made of the Charter Oak, and many other things,
which, perhaps, some of you own.
At the corner of what is now Washington and Essex streets, Boston, there
stood a large elm-tree, in 1765, called the "Tree of Liberty." Under its
branches a society calling themselves the "Sons of Liberty" held
meetings against taxation and oppression of all kinds from the English
government. Sir Francis Bernard, the royal Governor at that time, had
not interfered with them for fear of serious consequences, and so, early
on the morning of August 14, 1765, several of the Sons of Liberty hung
two effigies, or pictures, from a limb of Liberty Tree, one of which was
a likeness of Andrew Oliver, Secretary of the Colony, and the newly
appointed stamp distributer for Massachusetts, and the other represented
Lord Bute as the devil peeping out of an enormous boot. Crowds gathered
around the tree all day, and at night the effigies were cut down and
carried in a great procession through the streets, while the people
cried out, "Liberty and prosperity forever! No stamps! No taxation
without our consent!" Four months after that, the people made Andrew
Oliver go under Liberty Tree and publicly read his resignation. This
famous elm of liberty was cut down in 1775 by the British soldiers,
exactly ten years to the month after the Sons of Liberty had decorated
its branches with the pictures of Andrew Oliver and Lord Bute. The
soldiers made fire-wood of Liberty elm, and got fourteen good cords from
it.
The same year that the Sons of Liberty were gathering under Liberty Tree
in Boston, the Declaration of Independence was read and meetings were
held under a splendid live-oak at Charleston, South Carolina, which the
people also called Liberty Tree, and decorated in very nearly the same
manner as the Boston Liberty Tree. It also was cut down and burned by
the British in 1780, five years after the one in Boston. Many canes and
a ballot-box were made from what was left of it, but the box was
destroyed in the great fire at Charleston in 1838.
An oak brought from the forest and planted in an open field at Norwich
was Connecticut's Liberty Tree, and under it meetings were held. On the
celebration of the repeal of the Stamp Act, its branches were hung with
appropriate devices, and it was crowned with an enormous Phrygian cap. A
tent was erected under it, and here the people gathered to hear the
news, and to encourage each other in resisting every kind of oppression.
One morning, the 3d of July, 1775, General Washington, accompanied by
the officers of his staff, walked under the shadow of a magnificent
elm-tree which grew near the entrance of his quarters at Cambridge,
Massachusetts, and which is still standing, made a few remarks, drew his
sword, and took command of the American army. This elm is famous also as
the tree under which the celebrated preacher Whitefield preached to
those who had a much harder battle to fight with themselves and the Evil
One than Washington and his brave soldiers, who fought for liberty and
gained it.
If any of my readers ever visit Fort Mercer, at Red Bank, New Jersey,
they may perhaps still see the remains of an old hickory-tree that was
used for a flag-staff during the battle of Fort Mercer in 1777.
The only trees left standing on Rhode Island after the British had
occupied it in 1779 were two sycamores, which were preserved as long as
possible by the owner of the land on which they grew.
When Lafayette visited Yorktown in 1824, the people made a crown of
laurel, which they took from a beautiful tree that grew near the place
where they received him, and put it upon his head, with many assurances
of love and respect; but he took it from his head, and stepping forward,
placed it upon the brow of Colonel Nicholas Fish, of the Revolution, who
was present, saying as he did it, "No one is better entitled to wear
this mark of honor than our friend."
Peter Stuyvesant, the last and most renowned of the Governors of New
Amsterdam (now New York) while it belonged to the Dutch, brought from
Holland many fruit and flower trees for the garden which surrounded his
house of yellow brick that stood near Tenth Street and Second Avenue.
One of these, a pear tree, which he planted in 1647, on what is now the
corner of Thirteenth Street and Third Avenue was still in existence in
1868, and bore fruit until very near that time. Many of the pears have
been preserved in liquor as curiosities, and I have a little friend who
has a wreath made of the leaves pulled from the old tree and the one
planted after it had been blown down. Both are now dead, and there is
nothing left to show where this famous landmark used to be.
At Fort Edward, on the Hudson, there once stood a beautiful
balm-of-Gilead-tree, under which a little Indian boy gave to a wounded
soldier, during the Revolution, his last crust of bread, saying as he
did so, "I am a warrior's son; I want nothing." The soldier adopted him,
and took him to England with him, but he came back, married a daughter
of the same officer, and it is not long since I saw one of his
descendants, who are very proud of their Indian ancestor.
The chestnut-tree under which the brave General Wooster received his
death-wound has long since been cut into rails, and Lossing, the
historian, says: "The owner of the land pointed out the locality to me,
and expressed the patriotic opinion that Congress ought to do something.
He had long contemplated the erection of a chestnut post at his own
expense, but having done that, the public would expect him to paint some
lettering on't, and he was not disposed to bear the whole burden
himself."
The oak on the Van Cortland estate which was used as a whipping-post
during the Revolution; the chestnut on Gallows Hill, where the spy
Edmund Palmer was hanged by order of General Putnam, who would not
listen to the poor young man's wife as she begged piteously for his
life; the tulip-tree on which ten Tories were hanged the morning after
King's Mountain battle in 1780; and the whitewood under whose shadow the
captors of André caused him to strip, and found the papers they were
looking for, in his stockings, and which was struck by lightning the
very day that the news of Arnold's death reached Tarrytown, and many
more--are all of interest; and a leaf from the old trees or those that
have sprung from them, or even a blade of grass from the spot, could be
got with a little trouble, and would make a most interesting album. At
the Peekskill Military Academy there are several historical oaks, and
one under which General Putnam watched the British fleet off the
Dunderberg, and the smoke of the British encampment at Verplanck's
Point, and on which the spy Daniel Strong was hanged for enticing men to
desert from the American army. Salem, New Jersey, has a venerable oak in
one of its principal streets that must have been a tree of majestic
proportions when John Fenwick landed there one fine October day 205
years ago. New Haven, Connecticut, is noted for its elms, and is called
the "City of Elms"; those around the public square and vicinity were
planted by the Rev. David Austin and the Hon. James Hillhouse, and some
of them are quite famous for the deeds they have witnessed.
At Charleston, South Carolina, upon the grounds of a colored man called
Mitchell, are the only cork-trees in North America. They were given him
by a lady to whom he had rendered some slight service. There are two of
them, and he is very proud of them, giving a leaf from them as so much
gold. There have been many beautiful poems written about trees that
might well be copied into your leaf albums, and which would add greatly
to their interest.
A leaf can be obtained from the Washington Elm, Peekskill Oak, New Haven
Elms, Salem Oak, and the Mitchell Cork-trees, as they are still
standing, and a blade of grass or a flower can be easily got from the
place where most of the others grew.
[Illustration: SUMMER GARDENING--SETTING OUT PLANTS.--DRAWN BY S. G.
MCCUTCHEON.]
[Illustration: THE SLIPPER-MAKER'S BAZAR.--FROM A PAINTING BY F. A.
BRIDGMAN.]
AN AFRICAN SLIPPER-MAKER.
BY DAVID KER.
Noon in Algiers--a scorching African noon--bringing out the white-walled
houses and white-domed mosques of the city, and the black shadows which
they cast, sharp and clear as in a photograph, driving even the seasoned
Arabs to the shelter of roofs and gateways, and making old Selim the
slipper-maker, as he puffs his long pipe in the shady doorway of his
shop, stroke his white beard with a self-satisfied air while eying the
hot faces and dusty uniforms of the luckless French soldiers who come
tramping past in the full mid-day glare.
To look at the old fellow as he squats there on his little mat, with his
huge blue turban pulled over his eyes, and the long white folds of his
heavy _burnoose_ (mantle) rippling over the floor on every side, as if
some one had upset a pitcher of milk over him, you would think that no
amount of customers would get _him_ on his feet again to-day. But there
is _one_ customer coming who will do it in a moment.
Dodging fearlessly past the huge gaunt camels which almost block the
narrow street as they go slouching past with their long, noiseless
stride, roped together in single file like beads on a string, a tiny
figure stands upon the threshold, looking down at Selim from under its
party-colored hood, with a great show of white teeth and laughing black
eyes.
"Aha!" cries the old slipper merchant, springing up with wonderful
briskness for a Mussulman. "Welcome to this house of mine, my pearl!
What seeks Zuleika, daughter of Hussein, from her father's friend?"
"I want a pair of shoes," answered the little woman, with a
business-like air; "and my father says they must be very fine indeed,
for to-morrow some friends are coming to us, and _you_ are to come too,
and eat of our pilaff [rice and roast meat] and our sweetmeats, and see
what a welcome we'll give you!"
Old Selim, with a sly twinkle in his small gray eye, rummages among the
clusters of shoes that hang like grapes overhead, and produces a pair
that make Zuleika's eyes open wide in wondering delight. _Such_ a pair!
all ablaze with scarlet and bright green and spangles of shining tinsel.
And when he had tied them on, and set her down again, Selim gave her
back two of the heavy copper pieces she had given him, and bade her buy
fresh dates with them.
But her joy was suddenly checked. A passing water-carrier had let his
skin bag come undone, and turned the dust into thick black mud all
around Selim's threshold. Poor Zuleika, unable to untie her shoes again,
unwilling to soil them, and not liking to disturb the old man any more,
looked very rueful indeed.
But just then Selim looked up, and seeing her difficulty, kicked off his
green slippers in a moment, carried her gallantly over the puddle, and
then, looking down at his bemired feet, said, with the hoarse chuckle
which is an Arab's nearest approach to a laugh, "Now are we even, my
daughter: if I have given thee colored shoes, thou hast given me black
ones."
And as the child held up her little rose-bud mouth to kiss him, Selim
the slipper merchant felt well repaid for his trouble.
ONLY A BIRD.
BY JAMES OTIS.
For the many words of loving sympathy from the warm little hearts of the
readers of YOUNG PEOPLE for Toby Tyler very many thanks are due. The
praise has been very sweet; and that I may in some measure repay you for
your kindness, I am going to tell you a true story of a little bird that
I owned at the time Toby's history was being written, and who sat on the
leaves of the book, keeping me company far into the night. The little
fellow is dead now, and there is a corner in my heart sacred to the
memory of the dearest little pet I ever had, even though it was only a
bird.
Two years ago, on a chilly, wet morning, the servant-girl came into the
library with a very ragged, discouraged-looking little fellow covered
with her apron, who, on being released from his imprisonment, hopped in
front of the fire, opening his mouth so wide that it seemed as if he was
about to swallow grate, coals, and everything warm. It was a young
robin, a naturally active little body, who had got up too early for the
worms. Ellen had found him on the curb-stone, where he was looking down
at the pools of water in the gutter much as if he believed it would be
better to drown himself at once rather than wait for the rain to wash
him entirely away.
Some crumbs of bread soaked in milk, and two or three worms, dropped
into the large hole that served as mouth, and which seemed nearly as big
as his entire body, had the effect of cheering Bobby wonderfully. In
less than an hour he was hopping around the library as if he was the
owner of it all; and from that time until he died he was thoroughly
saucy and perfectly independent while in that room.
For about a month it was necessary to feed Bobby, but after that time he
was able to take care of himself. If any one was eating anything that he
fancied he should like, he would hop on to his shoulder, and, without so
much as saying "By your leave," would peck at it until he was satisfied,
or driven away. In the latter case he would seat himself on his master's
shoulder, and scold at the offender until he was hoarse, and the
occupants of the room nearly deafened.
Now although Bobby was so nearly drowned on the day when he first made
his appearance in our family, a bath was his great delight, and whenever
he heard the water running from the faucet, he would fly up on the slab,
flapping his wings and screaming until the water was poured on his head
and back. Then, when he had had quite as thorough a bath as he thought
he needed, he would fly to the top of the canaries' cage, and shake the
water from his feathers over them, enjoying the trouble he caused.