[Illustration: HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE
AN ILLUSTRATED WEEKLY.]
* * * * *
VOL. II.--NO. 72. PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK. PRICE FOUR
CENTS.
Tuesday, March 15, 1881. Copyright, 1881, by HARPER & BROTHERS. $1.50
per Year, in Advance.
* * * * *
[Illustration: THE FIRST LESSON.]
[Begun in No. 58 of HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE, December 7.]
TOBY TYLER;
OR, TEN WEEKS WITH A CIRCUS.
BY JAMES OTIS.
CHAPTER XIV.
MR. CASTLE TEACHES TOBY TO RIDE.
When Toby got within sight of the ring, he was astonished at what he
saw. A horse with a broad wooden saddle was being led slowly around the
ring; Mr. Castle was standing on one side, with a long whip in his hand,
and on the tent pole, which stood in the centre of the ring, was a long
arm, from which dangled a leathern belt on a long rope that was carried
through the end of the arm, and run down to the base of the pole.
Toby knew well enough why the horse, the whip, and the man were there,
but this wooden projection from the tent pole, which looked so much like
a gallows, he could not understand at all.
"Come, now," said Mr. Castle, cracking his whip ominously as Toby came
in sight, "why weren't you here before?"
"Mr. Lord just sent me in," said Toby, not expecting that his excuse
would be received, for they never had been since he had arrived at the
height of his ambition by joining the circus.
"Then I'll make Mr. Job understand that I am to have my full hour of
your time, and if I don't get it, there'll be trouble between us."
It would have pleased Toby very well to have had Mr. Castle go out with
his long whip just then and make trouble for Mr. Lord; but Mr. Castle
had not the time to spare, because of the trouble which he was about to
make for Toby, and that he commenced on at once.
"Well, get in here, and don't waste any more time," he said, sharply.
Toby looked around curiously for a moment, and not understanding exactly
what he was expected to get in and do, asked, "What shall I do?"
"Pull off your boots, coat, and vest."
Since there was no other course than to learn to ride, Toby wisely
concluded that the best thing he could do would be to obey this new
master without question; and he began to take his clothes off with as
much alacrity as if learning to ride was the one thing upon which he had
long set his heart.
Mr. Castle was evidently accustomed to prompt obedience, for he not only
took it as a matter of course, but endeavored to hurry Toby in his work
of undressing.
With his desire to please, and urged by Mr. Castle's words and the
ominous shaking of his whip, Toby's preparations were soon made, and he
stood before his instructor clad only in his shirt, trousers, and
stockings.
The horse was led around to where he stood, and when Mr. Castle held out
his hand to help him to mount, Toby jumped up quickly without aid,
thereby making a good impression at the start as a willing lad.
"Now," said the instructor, as he pulled down the leathern belt which
hung from the rope, and fastened it around Toby's waist, "stand up in
the saddle, and try to stand there. You can't fall, because the rope
will keep you up, even if the horse goes out from under you; but it
isn't hard work to keep on if you mind what you are about, and if you
don't, this whip will help you. Now stand up."
Toby did as he was bidden, and as the horse was led at a walk, and as he
had the long bridle to aid him in keeping his footing, he had no
difficulty in standing during the time that the horse went once around
the ring; but that was all.
Mr. Castle seemed to think that this was preparation enough for the boy
to be able to understand how to ride, and he started the horse into a
canter. As might have been expected, Toby lost his balance, the horse
went on ahead, and he was left dangling at the end of the rope, very
much like a crab that has just been caught by the means of a pole and
line.
Toby kicked, waved his hands, and floundered about generally, but all to
no purpose, until the horse came round again, and then he made frantic
efforts to regain his footing, which efforts were aided--or perhaps it
would be more proper to say retarded--by the long lash of Mr. Castle's
whip, that played around his legs with merciless severity.
"Stand up! stand up!" cried his instructor, as Toby reeled first to one
side and then to the other, now standing erect in the saddle, and now
dangling at the end of the rope, with the horse almost out from under
him.
This command seemed almost needless, as it was exactly what Toby was
trying to do; but as it was given, he struggled all the harder, until it
seemed to him that the more he tried, the less did he succeed.
And this first lesson progressed in about the same way until the hour
was over, save that now and then Mr. Castle would give him some good
advice, but oftener he would twist the long lash of that whip around the
boy's legs with such force that Toby believed the skin had been taken
entirely off.
It may have been a relief to Mr. Castle when that first lesson was
concluded, and it certainly was to Toby, for he had had all the teaching
in horsemanship that he wanted, and he thought, with deepest sorrow,
that this would be of daily occurrence during all the time he remained
with the circus.
As he went out of the tent he stopped to speak with his friend the old
monkey, and his troubles seemed to have increased when he stood in front
of the cage calling "Mr. Stubbs! Mr. Stubbs!" and the old fellow would
not even come down from off the lofty perch where he was engaged in
monkey gymnastics with several younger companions. It seemed to him, as
he afterward told Ben, "as if Mr. Stubbs had gone back on him because he
knew that he was in trouble."
When he went toward the booth, Mr. Lord looked at him around the corner
of the canvas--for it seemed to Toby that his employer could look around
a square corner with much greater ease than he could straight
ahead--with a disagreeable leer in his eye, as though he enjoyed the
misery which he knew his little clerk had just undergone.
"Can you ride yet?" he asked, mockingly, as Toby stepped behind the
counter to attend to his regular line of business.
Toby made no reply, for he knew that the question was only asked
sarcastically, and not through any desire for information. In a few
moments Mr. Lord left him to attend to the booth alone, and went into
the tent, where Toby rightly conjectured he had gone to question Mr.
Castle upon the result of the lesson just given.
That night old Ben asked him how he had got on while under the teaching
of Mr. Castle, and Toby, knowing that the question was asked because of
the real interest which Ben had in his welfare, replied,
"If I was tryin' to learn how to swing round the ring, strapped to a
rope, I should say that I got along first-rate; but I don't know much
about the horse, for I was only on his back a little while at a time."
"You'll get over that soon," said old Ben, patronizingly, as he patted
him on the back. "You remember my words, now; I say that you've got it
in you, an' if you've a mind to take hold an' try to learn, you'll come
out on the top of the heap yet, an' be one of the smartest riders
they've got in this show."
"I don't want to be a rider," said Toby, sadly: "I only want to get back
home once more, an' then you'll see how much it'll take to get me away
again."
"Well," said Ben, quietly, "be that as it may, while you're here the
best thing you can do is to take hold an' get ahead just as fast as you
can; it'll make it a mighty sight easier for you while you're with the
show, and it won't spoil any of your chances for runnin' away whenever
the time comes."
Toby fully appreciated the truth of that remark, and he assured Ben that
he should do all in his power to profit by the instruction given, and to
please this new master who had been placed over him.
And with this promise, he lay back on the seat and went to sleep, not to
awaken until the preparations were being made for the entrée into the
next town, and Mr. Lord's harsh voice had cried out his name, with no
gentle tone, several times.
Toby's first lesson with Mr. Castle was the most pleasant one he had;
for after the boy had once been into the ring, his master seemed to
expect that he could do everything which he was told to do, and when he
failed in any little particular, the long lash of the whip would go
curling around his legs or arms, until the little fellow's body and
limbs were nearly covered with the blue and black stripes.
For three lessons only was the wooden upright used to keep him from
falling; after that he was forced to ride standing erect on the broad
wooden saddle, or pad, as it is properly called, and whenever he lost
his balance and fell, there was no question asked as to whether or not
he had hurt himself, but he was mercilessly cut with the whip.
Messrs. Lord and Jacobs gained very much by comparison with Mr. Castle
in Toby's mind. He had thought that his lot could not be harder than it
was with them; but when he had experienced the pains of two or three of
Mr. Castle's lessons in horsemanship, he thought that he would stay with
the candy venders all the season cheerfully rather than take six more
lessons of Mr. Castle.
Night after night he fell asleep from the sheer exhaustion of crying, as
he had been pouring out his woes in the old monkey's ears, and laying
his plans to run away. Now, more than ever, was he anxious to get away,
and yet each day was taking him farther from home, and consequently
necessitating a larger amount of money with which to start. As old Ben
did not give him as much sympathy as Toby thought he ought to give--for
the old man, while he would not allow Mr. Job Lord to strike the boy if
he was near, thought it a necessary portion of the education for Mr.
Castle to lash him all he had a mind to--he poured out all his troubles
in the old monkey's ears, and kept him with him from the time he ceased
work at night until he was obliged to commence again in the morning.
The skeleton and his wife thought Toby's lot a hard one, and tried by
every means in their power to cheer the poor boy. Neither one of them
could say to Mr. Castle what they had said to Mr. Lord, for the rider
was a far different sort of a person, and one whom they would not be
allowed to interfere with in any way. Therefore poor Toby was obliged to
bear his troubles and his whippings as best he might, with only the
thought to cheer him of the time when he could leave them all by running
away.
But despite all his troubles, Toby learned to ride faster than his
teacher had expected he would, and in three weeks he found little or no
difficulty in standing erect while his horse went around the ring at his
fastest gait. After that had been accomplished, his progress was more
rapid, and he gave promise of becoming a very good rider--a fact which
pleased both Mr. Castle and Mr. Lord very much, as they fancied that in
another year Toby would be the source of a very good income to them.
The proprietor of the circus took considerable interest in Toby's
instruction, and promised Mr. Castle that Mademoiselle Jeannette and
Toby should do an act together in the performance just as soon as the
latter was sufficiently advanced. The boy's costume had been changed
after he could ride without falling off, and now while he was in the
ring he wore the same as that used by the regular performers.
The little girl had, after it was announced that she and Toby were to
perform together, been an attentive observer during the hour that Toby
was under Mr. Castle's direction, and she gave him many suggestions that
were far more valuable, and quicker to be acted upon, than those given
by the teacher himself.
"To-morrow you two will go through the exercise together," said Mr.
Castle to Toby and Ella, at the close of one of Toby's lessons, after he
had become so skillful that he could stand with ease on the pad, and
even advanced so far that he could jump through a hoop without falling
more than twice out of three times.
The little girl appeared highly delighted by this information, and
expressed her joy.
"It will be real nice," she said to Toby, after Mr. Castle had left them
alone. "I can help you lots, and it won't be very long before we can do
an act all by ourselves in the performance, and then won't the people
clap their hands when we come in?"
"It'll be better for you to-morrow than it will for me," said Toby,
rubbing his legs sorrowfully, still feeling the sting of the whip. "You
see, Mr. Castle won't dare to whip you, an' he'll make it all count on
me, 'cause he knows Mr. Lord likes to have him whip me."
"But I sha'n't make any mistake," said Ella, confidently, "and so you
won't have to be whipped on my account, and while I am on the horse you
can't be whipped, for he couldn't do it without whipping me, so you see
you won't get only half as much."
Toby brightened up a little under the influence of this argument; but
his countenance fell again, as he thought that his chances for getting
away from the circus were growing less each day.
"You see, I want to get back to Uncle Dan'l an' Guilford," he said,
confidentially; "I don't want to stay here a single minute."
Ella opened her eyes wide in astonishment, as she cried: "Don't want to
stay here? Why don't you go home, then?"
"'Cause Job Lord won't let me," said Toby, wondering if it was possible
that his little companion did not know exactly what sort of a man his
master was.
Then he told her, after making her give him all kinds of promises,
including the ceremony of crossing her throat, that she would never tell
a single soul, that he had had many thoughts, and had formed all kinds
of plans for running away. He told her about losing his money, about his
friendship for the skeleton and the fat lady, and at last he confided in
her that he was intending to take the old monkey with him when he should
make the attempt.
She listened with the closest attention, and when he told her that his
little hoard had now reached the sum of seven dollars and ten cents,
almost as much as he had before, she said, eagerly: "I've got three
little gold dollars in my trunk, an' you shall have them all; they're my
very own, for mamma gave them to me to do just what I wanted to with
them. But I don't see how you can take Mr. Stubbs with you, for that
would be stealing."
"No, it wouldn't, neither," said Toby, stoutly. "Wasn't he give to me to
do just as I wanted to with? an' didn't the boss say he was all mine?"
"Oh, I'd forgotten that," said Ella, thoughtfully; "I suppose you can
take him; but he'll be awfully in the way, won't he?"
"No," said Toby, anxious to say a good word for his pet; "he always does
just as I want him to, an' when I tell him what I'm tryin' to do, he'll
be as good as anything. But I can't take your dollars."
"Why not?"
"'Cause that wouldn't be right for a boy to let a girl littler than
himself help him; I'll wait till I get money enough of my own, an' then
I'll go."
"But I want you to take my money too; I want you to have it."
"No, I can't take it," said Toby, shaking his head resolutely, as he put
the golden temptation from him, and then, as a happy thought occurred to
him, he said, quickly: "I tell you what to do with your dollars: you
keep them till you grow up to be a woman, an' when I'm a man I'll come,
an' then we'll buy a circus of our own. I think, perhaps, I'd like to
be with a circus if I owned one myself. We'll have lots of money then,
an' we can do just what we want to."
This idea seemed to please the little girl, and the two began to lay all
sorts of plans for that time when they should be man and woman, have
lots of money, and be able to do just as they wanted to.
They had been sitting on the edge of the newly made ring while they were
talking, and before they had half finished making plans for the future
one of the attendants came in to put things to order, and they were
obliged to leave their seats, she going to the hotel to get ready for
the afternoon's performance, and Toby to try to do such work as Mr. Job
Lord had laid out for him.
Just ten weeks from the time Toby had first joined the circus, Mr.
Castle informed him and Ella that they were to appear in public on the
following day. They had been practicing daily, and Toby had become so
skillful that both Mr. Castle and Mr. Lord saw that the time had come
when he could be made to earn some money for them.
[TO BE CONTINUED.]
THE YOUNG VIOLINIST.
BY GUSTAVE KOBBÉ.
[Illustration: EUGENIO MAURICIO DENGREMONT.]
Mauricio Dengremont, whose portrait is here given, is only fourteen
years old; but he has been playing the violin for eight years or more,
and is now one of the best violinists living. He knew the A B C of music
at an age when most boys have hardly had a glimpse at the A B C in their
spelling-book. His musical talent, like that of many famous musicians,
showed itself early in his life. Mozart, we are told, struck correct
chords on the clavichord--as they called the pianos used in his
days--when he was two years old, and when he was four, he wrote little
melodies which sound very prettily. Mauricio Dengremont's fondness for
music was observed at the same early age. His father led an orchestra in
Rio de Janeiro, and played the violin, and when he was playing at home,
little Mauricio, who was four years old, would sit at his feet and
listen, and he could not be induced to join in the sports of other
children as long as his father was practicing. Then already he asked to
be taught, but he was laughed at, and told he was too young to learn.
But he would not be put off, and kept coming to his father and asking
for lessons on the violin. At last, when he was six years old--the same
age at which Mendelssohn began to learn the piano--his father bought him
a toy violin for twenty cents, and thought he would give him a lesson,
just to see if he was in earnest. Before that, however, he told him how
hard he would have to work if he wanted to be a musician. But Mauricio
said he didn't mind working, he wanted to learn the violin just as soon
as he could. Fancy the father's surprise when he found during the first
lesson that Mauricio played his notes correctly and clearly.
The boy made such wonderful progress that after a few lessons a larger
violin was bought for him. In a few weeks he could play the scales, and
in ten months he was practicing difficult pieces, one of which he
performed in public fourteen months after his first lesson. Soon
afterward he travelled with his father in South America, giving
concerts. In Montevideo and Buenos Ayres he played so well that the
orchestras there presented him each with a gold medal. These youthful
triumphs were very much like those of Mozart; and in the midst of them,
Mauricio, like Mozart, remained a child in his feelings and behavior.
Mozart was so innocent that after one of his performances at court, when
he slipped on the polished floor, and was lifted up by the Empress Maria
Theresa of Austria, he said that he would marry her as soon as he was
old enough. In the same way Mauricio's manners remained unchanged,
though he was brought before the public when so young. Off the concert
stage he remained a child, playing with children, and sharing in their
pastime when he was not practicing. Only a short time ago, immediately
after his arrival here, his first appearance had to be postponed because
he had caught cold playing with snow-balls; and again he was prevented
from being at a concert because he had been eating too much candy.
The success of Mauricio's concerts in South America attracted the notice
of Dom Pedro, the Emperor of Brazil, and he was asked to play before his
Imperial Highness. Dom Pedro was so pleased with the boy's performance
that he gave him a beautiful medal, and promised to give him a good sum
of money every year, so that he could go to Paris and take lessons of
the famous violin-player Léonard. Dengremont's father accepted the
offer, and soon afterward he took the boy to Europe. Mauricio staid in
Paris until two or three years ago, when he began to travel and give
concerts. Everywhere he played he met with great success. People came to
his concerts in great crowds, and applauded him loudly; for he won their
hearts with his beautiful playing and modest behavior. In one of the
German cities he played a piece by Spohr when the composer's widow was
one of the listeners. Spohr himself was a very famous violinist, but the
widow said that Dengremont played the piece better than her husband
could have done, and gave him a piece of music in her husband's
handwriting.
Dengremont has been in this country only a short time, but he has
already made a good name for himself. Almost every one who has heard him
admires the rapidity and delicacy of his playing, and the grace with
which he handles the bow. All this he does in a manner which would be
remarkable for a man of great talent, who had been studying the violin
ever since he was able to hold the instrument, and yet he is not at all
conceited. He does not think he has nothing more to learn. On the
contrary, he will go to Paris in the spring, and study again with
Léonard for six months. After that he will give concerts in Russia.
To young people Mauricio Dengremont's career is a fine example. Of
course he has greater talent for music than hundreds of others. But it
is not his talent only to which he owes his early fame. It is owing as
well to his devotion to his art, his willingness to work, and his
modesty, which makes him feel that there is still room for him to
improve.
[Illustration: THE POOR LITTLE FROG ESCAPES FROM HIS ENEMIES.--DRAWN BY
W. F. BEARD.]
WHAT ONE POOR LITTLE FROG FOUND OUT.
A very young frog--very young indeed, scarcely out of tails (that is to
say, out of tadpolehood)--with a very great ambition and ordinary
ability, set out one morning with the purpose of seeing the world, and
by night-fall bringing back something to astonish the pool. "For," said
he to himself, "I am such a close observer, that I shall be sure to
observe and bring back correct reports of many strange things passed by
in stupid indifference by these commonplace old speckle-backs, who, no
doubt, neglect daily golden opportunities for storing their minds with
useful information, but who see nothing and know nothing but worms,
ants, beetles, and other insects and small animals to put in their ample
stomachs."
So saying, he leaped away gayly, but with eyes open and on the sharp
look-out, almost at the very start. "For," said he, "the most common
things possess a new interest when shown in a new light by the hand of
genius, and the ordinary things of one locality become objects of
curiosity in another where they are not found. Thus I could astonish
vain man, could I speak his jargon, with accounts of many things
familiar to my sight by daily contact in the bottom of the pool, but
which seldom or never meet his eyes."
So he journeyed on, well pleased with himself and what he thought his
life's mission, carefully eying every object in his way, lest some one
of interest should escape his notice. At length a great thistle came
within his gaze. "There," said he, "is something worth investigating."
After looking at it attentively at a little distance, that he might fix
all its _points_ in his mind, he approached for a closer study. Said he,
"I must not forget to ascertain if this strange plant--for plant it
undoubtedly is--has any peculiar odor; for that is very important." Thus
saying, he thrust his inquisitive nose against the prickers, which
brought him to the conclusion that he had carried the investigation
quite far enough; and storing this experience away in his memory for
future use, he went on his way, a little wiser, but no happier, for it
does not add to happiness to have our conceit pricked out, as it were,
by sharp experience.
Now a half-brick partly buried in the mud caught his curious eye.
"That's a singular rock," said he. "What a remarkable color it has! so
regular, too, in its form; it has also a peculiar texture"--as he put
his hand-like forepaw upon it.
Just at this moment he thought he heard something behind him, and
turning to see what, his terrified eye caught the dread form of an idle,
barefooted boy, also in search of adventure, though not for the
instruction of others, or even himself, as was the little frog's grand
motive, but merely for the amusement of the moment.
Young as his frogship was, he knew well enough what boys were, and made
off for his life with all possible speed.
It would, perhaps, have been wiser if he had remained perfectly quiet,
as in all probability the careless boy would not have observed him; but
as the boy seemed bearing right down upon him, the sight was too
dreadful for his nerves, and he sprang forward with desperate leaps,
which, of course, attracted the urchin's attention, and with a shout of
delight he bounded off in pursuit. Hastily clutching the "curious
rock"--half-brick--he aimed to give the frog's head an external
application of this object of interest, and, I must say, with almost
fatal precision. With great nicety of calculation, he threw the brick
where he felt the frog would be when the brick got there. His estimate
was uncomfortably close, the little frog thought, as the brick just
grazed his protruding eye. He winked, dodged back, and started in
another direction with wild leaps.
As the boy went for the rolling brick for another throw the frog hid
himself in a tuft of clover, and though terribly nervous when the urchin
came very near his hiding-place--at length actually kicked the bunch of
clover in his search for him--he summoned all his fortitude, and
remained perfectly quiet, knowing that to be his only safety.
Soon, to his unspeakable relief, the cruel boy gave it up, and went
whistling on his careless way in search of other adventures.
The thoroughly frightened frog prudently waited, nor ventured out until
the boy had quite vanished in the distance. While he still lay in his
hiding-place a curious creature wriggled past, in beautiful sheeny coat
that glistened in the sunlight, and quite delighted him. He made no
motion, however, though he did not much fear this harmless-looking
creature; still, as the supple thing constantly darted out a double
tongue, he felt it more prudent to observe in silence.
When this creature had also gone quite out of sight, he again moved on
his journey, it must be confessed, with less self-confidence and more
caution.
But a little while of safe travelling was, however, enough to cause the
two sentiments to change places again--prudence lessened, and confidence
grew: and this would have cost him his life had it not been his good
fortune to be on the land side of a beautiful white crane, which he very
much admired, as he stood fixedly gazing into the waters of a sluggish
stream. He hopped very near, in his ignorant delight, wondering what the
magnificent creature was, and what could be his reflections as he fixed
his gaze so intently in the amber water. "Something grand, no doubt!" He
did not feel called upon to address him, however, which was lucky again,
since this "splendid bird" was looking for just such fellows as he, but
never suspected one of being so near him in the field.
At length our leaping student of nature tired even of his admiration of
this beautiful bird, and leaped on his journey again in search of other
objects of scientific interest, one of which he soon found in the person
of another curious bird, also with long legs, and not very unlike in
form the one he had just seen, though not near so beautiful.
His general color was a dull brown, varied and mottled with several
shades of the same, from light yellowish to dark spots, and in parts,
such as the crest, back of the neck, etc., deepening to a jetty black.
His neck, though, did not appear long, like that of the white bird, but
his head seemed as near the body as a chicken's; when some noise or
motion in the water, however, attracted his attention, it shot out like
a telescope, as long in proportion as the other's, though the comparison
of the telescope was not froggie's. He knew nothing of such a thing; the
figure suggested to his mind was a snail's eye.
He also bestowed some admiration upon this fellow, and passed on, still
unconscious that he was in dangerous proximity to a mortal foe.
Now as he ascended quite a little hillock, high enough for him to
overlook the fields, he was surprised to see that the very stream upon
the margin of which the two strange birds had stood was the one near
which was his native pool; in fact, upon this stream the inhabitants of
his pond depended for fresh supplies of water to replenish the waste by
evaporation, when it occasionally overflowed its banks in times of
freshets.
He knew the locality by a great rock, which he knew to be near his pond,
and found, too, with some satisfaction, that he was much nearer home
than he would have thought from the distance travelled. He had taken a
circuitous route, as did the stream, before reaching the great rock.
Using this stone as a landmark, he saw that a straight line to it would
be comparatively a short-cut back again.
This discovery was not unpleasant either, for not only his journey, but
his researches as well, began to grow wearisome. Now as he remembered
the events of the day, his adventures, and the strange sights he had
seen, and the discoveries he had made, his heart swelled with pride when
he thought what astonishment it would create when he brought them all
back, as it were, to the banks of the pool.
Settling this comfortably in his mind, he glanced about again, as a
traveller takes a farewell look at a strange land he is about leaving.
But now he made the additional discovery that a grove just before him
was the "forest," as he believed it, he had seen many times in the
distance while sitting on the banks of the pool.
Gazing into its dark recesses, he became suddenly aware of two great
yellow-rimmed eyes peering out of its sombre depths. Cold chills ran
over him. His thirst for knowledge, which his mother, in her croaking
way, called idle curiosity, got the better of his fears, however, as he
became satisfied that he himself was not the object of those eyes'
attention, if indeed anything in particular was, and he began again his
usual wise speculations. "What an eye!" said he. "I remember once, while
lying at the bottom of the pool, to have seen the full moon rising,
while a round leaf upon the brink intervening, darkened the centre,
leaving a yellowish rim; that eye reminds me of it. To whom or what can
it belong, I wonder? Let me see: surrounded by feathers?--yes, feathers!
Well, feathers are only worn by birds, therefore the owner of that eye
_must_ be a bird, that's clear; and that's pretty good logic, too, I
flatter myself."
He was right; the owner of the eye was a bird--an owl; and scarcely had
he "flattered" himself, when he became conscious that now he was the
object of attention by those terrible eyes. Losing no time, he turned
toward the rock, made several desperate leaps in quick succession before
he felt the shadow of the great wings, though he heard no sound, for the
flight of owls is as noiseless almost as that of thistle-down.
Fortunately, again (he was a lucky frog), it was a sunny afternoon, and
the light rather strong for the owls' eyes (by this time another had
joined her mate); so, dodging here and there, he managed to elude them,
always making toward home, however, followed blindly by the owls. Nor
was this all: the tall birds, attracted by the commotion, seeing him
dodging through the grass, joined in the pursuit. The snake he had seen
also made bold to follow with wide-open jaws to devour him, and
creatures of every kind--ducks, more cranes, even a pelican--came from
all quarters, and pursued him to the very brink of the pool.
So numerous were they, indeed, that they obstructed each other's way.
Meantime the little frog was making the best use of the time, lessening
the distance at every bound. But even a race for life must have an end,
either in disaster to the pursued or disappointment to the pursuers, and
just at the moment when the wide-open beak of the admired white crane
was about to close upon him, with all the other eager open jaws close
following, our adventurous student splashed into the waters of the pond.
As he settled, exhausted, in the soft mud at the bottom of the pond,
stirring up a cloud, as it were, his little brothers and sisters, still
in the polliwig state, wriggled around him with anxious inquiry, and
staid old croakers, in coats of green and brown, and mottled trousers,
looked with amazement from him to the bank, where still lingered the
excited throng of his hungry pursuers.
Not a word to the many questions asked could he reply, but stared out
from his muddy security in dazed speechlessness upon the horrid throng
of snapping beaks and jaws he had just escaped. He experienced a feeling
of pleasure upon seeing a disappointed owl pick up a disappointed snake,
and wing his noiseless way back toward the copse, followed by his mate.
Then the disappointed crane fastened upon another snake, and arose like
a white cloud, with his squirming victim in his strong beak. After
considerable quacking, snapping, and hissing, one after another of his
ferocious foes rose upon the wing, and went his way; the bank was
cleared, peace and quiet reigned again.
Our traveller was again asked for an account of his adventures. When he
came to speak of the "strange plant," a laugh from under the yellow vest
of "Old Spots" greeted his ear. And "Old Spots" (they called him "Spots"
on account of his strongly mottled green coat) curtly observed that a
little sharp experience seemed to simplify matters much, and a prick in
the nose to help an inquiring mind to a speedy conclusion. "But," said
he, more seriously, "a closer scrutiny would hardly have failed to
reveal to the eye so important a feature as prickers on a thistle,
without the necessity of thrusting them into one's very nose."
The story of the boy and the brick was allowed to pass without remark
from the older inhabitants of the pool, probably because the little
frog, in this instance, had managed the case as well as any one could
have done.
When he spoke of the tall bird in plumage of shining white, the comment
was, "The white crane! one of the deadliest foes of our race!" The brown
bird, he was informed, was the bittern, commonly called "stake-driver,"
"fly-up-the-creek," etc., also a mortal foe.
When he made rather careless mention of the glistening snake, the old
frogs shuddered as they informed him that of all their enemies this was
most to be dreaded, because of its stealthy way of creeping upon its
victim unawares through the grass, fastening its fangs upon him, and
sometimes taking hours to swallow its prey, which all the while remained
alive, in painful and agonized certainty of his slow-approaching death.
The owls, they said, were less to be dreaded than any of his pursuers;
they were not particularly fond of frogs, would as soon have a snake,
and much preferred mice.
In short, every bird, reptile, and object of peculiar interest, as well
as localities, with all their characteristics, seemed so familiar to
these recently despised "old croakers," that the little frog hardly knew
whether to be most astonished or humiliated at the discovery of this
unboasted knowledge in the possession of his elders, and could but admit
to himself that it was the only discovery of any importance he had made
through the day, since all the others, it seemed, were no discoveries at
all.
A FOOLISH RABBIT.
BY R. K. MUNKITTRICK.
A meditative rabbit once
Within a brake sat thinking
Why he and all his timid kind
Are always sadly winking.
He told his story to a wren,
There in the fragrant grasses.
The wren replied, "Your eyes are weak;
Pray try a pair of glasses."
The rabbit smiled, and took the hint,
And early in the morning
The wren observed a dainty pair
His pleasant face adorning.
To show the animals the change,
He went into a clearing;
But when they saw the wild effect,
They all set up a jeering.
His reasoning was long and loud
And eloquent. Thereafter
The animals with one accord
Fell down and rolled with laughter.
And now he ever hides from view
Within the woodland passes,
And winks the more for having tried
To wear a pair of glasses.
LOUIS XVII. IN THE TEMPLE PRISON.
On the 29th of March, 1785, was born at the palace of Versailles, near
Paris, the most unfortunate of children. Louis Charles was the second
son of Louis XVI., King of France, and Marie Antoinette, his Queen, and
the royal infant seemed destined to know in life only the greatest
luxury and ease. He grew up a fair, graceful boy, his hair light, and
falling in curls upon his shoulders, his eyes blue, his form and
features regular, and he very soon began to show a quick, sensitive,
intelligent mind. When he was about four years old his elder brother
died, leaving him a little dog named Moufflet. He left him, too, heir to
the throne of France, the Dauphin, as the eldest son of the French Kings
was called, and Louis Charles was to be master of all the wide dominions
of his ancestors. He was marked by a strong love for his parents, and
particularly his mother, the graceful Marie Antoinette. The royal family
consisted of the King and Queen, the King's sister, Madame Élisabeth,
and two children--the Princess Marie Thérèse, who was some years older
than Louis, and the Dauphin. They seemed very happy together in the
splendid palace at Versailles. Louis cultivated a small plot of ground,
or a garden, where he raised flowers, and presented them to his mother.
Every morning, in their season, the child would bring a bouquet to the
fair Queen, who fully returned his tender love. His aunt, Madame
Élisabeth, was always kind and good, and his sister, the Princess,
watched over him with affectionate care.
But suddenly the whole family were overwhelmed by a succession of
misfortunes. The French Revolution began; the foreign kings invaded
France; and the French people looked upon their own royal rulers with
suspicion, and even hatred, because they thought they had called in the
foreign armies. Marie Antoinette was the most unpopular of all. Paris
was filled with terrible disorders. One day a great crowd of savage men
and women came out to the palace of Versailles, and insisted that the
King and his family should come to Paris. He was obliged to yield. The
great coach was ordered, the whole royal family were led almost as
captives to the city, and were lodged in the midst of the enraged
people, in the palace of the Tuileries. At first they were not badly
treated. Louis had brought his dog Moufflet with him, and was even
allowed to cultivate a small garden, where he still raised flowers, and
gave them to his sad, terrified mother. Dreadful scenes and massacres
now took place in Paris. Louis was shown by his mother to the people,
wearing a red bonnet and the tricolor; but every moment seemed to
increase their danger. At last the King (June, 1791) resolved to make
his escape out of France; and one night Louis was called up, half
asleep, and dressed in disguise as a little girl. The poor child was too
young to understand his danger; and when his sister asked him what he
thought they were going to do, said it must be "to act a comedy." They
opened a gate in the palace, went down into the silent street at
midnight, wandered in the darkness over the Pont Royal, at last found
the carriage prepared for them, and escaped from the city. Had they made
haste they might have reached the frontier and safety; but they were
overtaken, seized, and brought back to Paris the prisoners of a savage
mob.
[Illustration: THE ROYAL PRISONERS IN THE TEMPLE.]
Soon after, amidst scenes of massacre and horror, they were all taken to
the Temple (an ancient prison), and shut up in a tower. Here they
remained many months, exposed to the most terrible insults, scantily
fed, and looking for death every moment. But the King employed his time
in teaching his son Louis to read Racine and Corneille, and endeavoring
to prepare him for a useful life. At last he was himself taken out,
tried before a revolutionary tribunal, sentenced to die (January, 1793),
and his head was cut off. Next, Marie Antoinette was taken away from her
family to a solitary prison, and at last was brought to the guillotine.
Her hair had turned white, and her face was rigid with suffering. But as
she mounted the scaffold she showed no sign of fear. Madame Élisabeth,
the most innocent and amiable of her race, was also executed.
The young Prince, now King of France by descent, was left alone, shut up
in his prison at the Temple, and guarded by the horrible men who had
tormented his mother and father. It was the custom of these wretches to
terrify their prisoners by threats, insults, and every malicious art.
Louis Charles was placed under the care of the infamous Simon, a monster
of cruelty. He was left entirely alone. No kind friend came to soften
the sorrows of his lot. Night and day passed over him in his miserable
cell without a joy or hope. His mind had become prematurely active
amidst his sorrows; he knew, no doubt, the fate of his parents and
relations. Simon endeavored to teach him to hate his mother, and the
young Prince would never afterward speak to his horrible jailer. He
would rather be alone in the darkest night in the fearful cell than see
the countenance of his foe. For a long time before his death he remained
utterly silent, refusing to speak, and living in dumb misery. The Reign
of Terror prevailed in Paris; Robespierre and his murderers filled it
with horror, and the Dauphin was left to perish in his solitary cell. He
was now nearly ten years old, but he still preserved his strange
silence, and seemed like a dumb and idiotic child.
Next Robespierre perished, and Louis might have been better treated. But
his long confinement and the filth and horrors of his prison had brought
on a severe illness. He wasted away. Dr. Desault, a famous physician,
was sent to attend him, but died a short time afterward. Louis, it is
said, still remained silent and speechless. He died on the 8th of June,
1795, in his solitary cell, alone, without a friend.
Such was the sad doom of Louis XVII., King of France. The annals of the
poor offer no fate so miserable as that of this descendant of the
proudest and most powerful of European monarchs. By some writers it is
asserted that Louis escaped from his imprisonment, that a child deaf and
dumb was substituted for him, and that the King, or Dauphin, died in
obscurity in some part of Europe or America. But the legend is
improbable, and Louis XVII. sleeps, no doubt, in the cemetery where he
was laid at Paris.
BEATA'S LOCKET.
BY LILLIAS C. DAVIDSON.
Twenty-one pearls!--no, twenty-two; thirteen in the B, and nine in the V
of the monogram, besides the six little nails with heads of real
diamonds! Beata had never seen such a locket, no, not even in a shop
window, and to have had it for her very own for four whole days, and not
be able so much as to wear it!
It had come on Christmas-day--come in a little case all packed with
cotton-wool, and lined with silver paper--a case which Beata's fingers
could hardly open, they shook so with excitement and eagerness; and it
came all the way from Germany and her German godmother, Madame Von
Thausandmal.
"A beautiful locket, certainly, my dear," said Mrs. Vyner, Beata's
mamma, in confidence, to Beata's papa, when locket and case, and
Beata--rosy and joyful and proud--had all vanished with a rush out of
mamma's pretty blue morning-room. "But so utterly unsuitable to a child!
What can Helga von Thausandmal have been thinking of to send her such a
thing? Of course it was exceedingly kind of her, but I'm afraid it will
turn Beata's head, and it won't be the least use to her for years to
come."
"Why not, eh?" asked the Squire, who was deep in the morning paper, and
perhaps wasn't attending as he might have been. "I thought it pretty
enough."
"It's lovely; that's just it. It's too bad to tantalize her with a thing
she can't wear, and no properly brought up little girls wear such
jewelry; even if they did, I should not let Beata do anything so silly
and improper. No; it must be put away for her till she is eighteen, and
'comes out.' Poor child! I won't take it away for a week or two; it
would be cruel; but go it must. Why couldn't Helga have sent her some
books, or a doll, or anything sensible?"
But of all this Beata heard not a word, and her cup of bliss seemed as
if it would run over. Such a locket! as grand as a grown-up young
lady's, and for her very own! She had shown it at least three times over
to every servant in the house, down to Elizabeth Jane, the kitchen-maid,
who had won Beata's genuine respect by her "Law, miss, if it ain't fit
for a duchess at the very least!" and she only sighed to think her
governess had gone home for the holidays, and could not see it for a
whole fortnight.
But now a little shadow, like a small cloud, had come over the sunshine.
What was the good of a locket, and such a locket as Beata's, if other
people didn't see and admire? And how could they see it, if it were not
worn? And what chance had she to wear it?
To be sure, the house was full of visitors, who had come the very day
after Christmas, and Rex and she went down to dessert every night, and
into the drawing-room for half an hour afterward; but somehow Beata
never quite ventured to suggest "Locket," as nurse dressed her in her
well-worn little frock of black velvet, and tied her plain red silk
sash; indeed, she rather fancied she could see nurse's face if she did;
and as to wearing it to church on Sunday--well, even Beata's little head
could dimly understand somehow that God's house wasn't the place for
finery and display; and so--
"But now, to-day, there _is_ a chance," she thought, with a gasp which
was half exultation and half pure fright at her own daring; for Rex and
she were going skating.
Down in the park at Dene Hall there is a beautiful little lake, where
the wild fowl swim in summer, and where Beata and Rex were wont to
paddle about in a flat-bottomed boat, a "tub," Rex called it. But now
the water was covered with firm smooth ice, and the ladies and gentlemen
staying at the Hall had gone down there to skate, and Cousin Cecil had
promised to look after the children if they might come too; and Beata
was tempted.
Rex was shouting from the hall. Without another pause the locket was out
of its case, slipped on a ribbon, and the ribbon tied round Beata's
neck. Was it dread of Rex's scorn or of mamma's observation that made
Beata slip it under her little fur boa as she ran down the old oaken
stairs?
"Rex, you've no overcoat," she said, as they hurried together through
the snow, which lay like a soft white blanket over garden and park. That
hidden locket filled her mind so full that she must speak about it, and
she artfully began to talk about dress, to work the conversation round
to that beloved topic. But all in vain.
"Overcoat!" echoed Rex, in high disdain, swinging Beata's dainty little
skates and his own together. "Who wants an overcoat? The Spartans never
wore 'em."
"But then you're not a Spartan."
"Wish I was." Rex was beginning ancient history, and had a Grecian craze
just now. "Never mind, I mean to harden just as if I was;" but he
couldn't help a shiver all the same.
Beata tried again. "Doesn't the snow look like pearls, Rex?"
"Can't say I see it. Oh, you're thinking about that swell locket of
yours. Now in Sparta they never allowed them to wear bosh like that."
"Then Sparta was a stupid place," began Beata, hotly; but they came
round the corner by the lake, and the sight there put everything else
out of both their minds.
Such a pretty sight! Ice as smooth and clear as sweeping could make it;
white banks of snow gleaming like a wreath about it; crowds of gayly
dressed ladies and knickerbockered gentlemen skimming about, or being
pushed in chairs; the ring of a hundred skates keeping time to the band
that was playing in the rustic boat-house; and another crowd of people,
but not gayly dressed, standing and looking on at it all.
"What a rabble!" said Beata. "These aren't only village people and
servants; some of them look like gypsies. Look at that woman in the red
shawl--she's a tramp."
But here, skating down to them with a pretty grace, her sweet face
glowing above her warm furs, came Cousin Cecil, and just behind her the
fair mustache of Captain Strangways, the children's firm friend; and
after that there could be nothing but delight.
To skate between Cousin Cecil and Captain Strangways, holding a hand of
each, seemed to Beata the summit of human felicity. Rex, still Spartan
even in his pleasures, preferred to stagger about alone. Beata forgot to
try and pretend she was grown up.