Dear little May sat grieving alone,
With a pout on her lip and a tear in her eye,
Till kind old grandmamma chanced to pass,
And soon discovered the reason why.
"The children are planning a fair," sobbed she,
"And 'cause I'm so little, they won't--have--me!"
So grandmamma thought of a beautiful plan,
And whispered a secret in little May's ear--
Something which brought out the dimples and smiles,
And scattered with sunshine the pitiful tear.
Then off to grandmamma's room they went,
On something important very intent.
Well, the fair came off on a certain day,
And what do you think was the first thing sold?
A beautiful pair of worsted reins,
All knit in scarlet and green and gold.
The "big girls" wondered how came they there--
"The prettiest thing in the children's fair!"
Then out stepped May, with her cheeks so red:
"You said there was nothing that _I_ could do,
'Cause I was little; but _I_ made those,
And now, I guess, I'm as big as you!"
So little May at the fair that day
Was the reigning queen, it is fair to say.
* * * * *
=The White Pebble Pit.=--It has frequently happened that miners have
discovered curious traces of former workings, hundreds of years ago, and
tools have been found which belonged to the ancient miners, and many
other relics.
A singular discovery was made, a few years since, by some workmen
engaged in the Spanish silver mine known as the White Pebble Pit. Whilst
digging their subterranean passages they suddenly found a series of
apartments, in which were a quantity of mining tools, left there from a
very remote period, but still in such good preservation that there were
hatchets, and sieves for sifting the ore, a smelting furnace, and two
anvils, which proved that the earliest miners had great experience in
their operations.
In one of the caverns there was a round building, with niches, in which
were three statues, one sitting down, and half the size of life; the
other two were in a standing position, and about three feet in height.
This building is supposed to have been the temple of the god who was
believed, in pagan times, to preside over mines. Several objects of art,
and some remarkable instruments, were also found, which have led
scientific persons to think that the workings might have been made by
the Phoenicians, the people who, as is well known, were, in the time
of Solomon, famous for their manufacturing and commercial genius.
In 1854 a discovery was also made by some miners excavating on the other
side of the mountain on which the White Pebble Pit is situated; this was
a fine figure of the heathen god Hercules, which was found in an old
working.
In digging for copper on the shores of Lake Superior, in this country,
the miners have made many similar discoveries, showing that the mines
were worked ages ago.
[Illustration]