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abundance of water, and where we would
have had the protection of the timber, in
cage of an attack. Some of his officers
remonstrated with him upon the impro
priety of halting in the open prairie,
when he knew that a large force of Mexi
cans was somewhere in the vicinity;
but Col. Fannin was not to be turned
from his purpose. I suppose ho thought,
that two hundred and fifty Americans,
under any circumstances and in any situ
ation, had nothing to apprehend from any
force the Mexicans could bring against
us. But as the sequel will show, this
delay proved to be a most fatal one to us.
Up to this time, we had seen no Mexi
cans, with the exception of two upon
horseback, who had made their appear
ance from some timber a long ways to
our right, and who seemed to be intently
watching our movements.
At length, after a halt of several hours
in the prairie, and just as we were about
to resume our march for the Coletto, a
long dark line was seen to detach itself
from the woods we had left behind us,
and another at the same moment from
the timber to our left. Every one ex
claimed, “Here come the Mexicans!”
and in fact, in a few moments more we
were able to perceive that these dark
lines were men upon horseback, moving
down upon us with great rapidity. As
they continued to approach, they length
ened out their columns, apparently with
the intention of surrounding us, and in
doing so, displayed their numbers to the
greatest advantage. I thought there
Avere at least ten thousand of them, though
in reality their whole force consisted of
not more than a thousand men, mostly
cavalry, and some two or three hundred
Indians. In the mean time, we had formed
ourselves into a hollow square, three
deep, to repel the charge we expected
would be made upon us, with our artillery
at the angles, and the wagons and oxen
in the centre. Our vanguard, under
bapt. Ilorton, had ridden on ahead, and
the first intimation they had of the ap
proach of the enemy was from the firing
ol our artillery upon the foe. They gal
loped back as rapidly as possible, and
endeavored to regain our lines, but find
ing the Mexicans already occupying the
U) ad 1° large force, they gave tip the
attempt, and retreated towards Victoria,
she Mexicans pursued them beyond the
folctto, but they finally made good their
escape to the settlements on the Guada
loupc river.
How sharp your toe nails is!” said
addy, when ho caught a hornet and
J eld it in his hand.
BURKE’S WEEKLY.
Written for Burke’s Weekly,
Little “ Pearly.”
FOR YOUNGEST READERS.
I know a pretty little girl,
With hair so soft and curly,
Her real name I cannot tell,
But her pet name is “ Pearly.”
She throws her dimpled arms around
The yard dog big and burly,
But though he growls at other folks,
He’ll li«k the hand of “Pearly.”
The cow that comes up to be milked
Is sometimes cross and surly,
And tosses up her crumpled horns,
But never troubles “Pearly.”
She goes to bed with the bright sun,
And in the morning early
She wakens full of life and fun—
God bless our little “ Pearly.”
Clarkesville, Qa. E. P. M.
+«+.
A Delightful Legend.
is a charming tradition
jffil connected with the site on which
the temple of Solomon was erect
fed. It is said to have been owned
in common two brothers, one
of whom had a family; the other
had none. On the spot was sown a field
of wheat. On the evening succeeding
the harvest, the wheat having been gath
ered in separate shocks, the elder brother
said unto his wife : “My younger brother
is unable to bear the heat and burden of
the day; I will arise, take of my shocks,
and place them with his, without his
knowledge.” The younger brother, being
actuated by the same benevolent motives,
said within himself: “My elder brother
has a family, and I have none; I will
Contribute to their support; I will arise,
take of my shocks, and place them with
his, without his knowledge.” Judge of
their mutual astonishment, when, on the
following morning, they found their
shocks undiminished. This course of
events transpired for several nights, when
each resolved, in his mind, to stand guard
and solve this mystery. They did so,
when, on the following night, they met
each other, half-way between their re
spective shocks, with arms full. Upon
ground hallowed by such associations as
these was the temple of Solomon erect
ed — s0 spacious and magnificent, the ad
miration of the world. Alas! in these
days how many would sooner steal their
brother’s whole shock than add to it a
single sheaf!
A fellow was told at a tailor's shop
that three yards of cloth, by being wet,
would shrink one quarter of a yard.
“Well, then,” ho inquired, “if you wet a
quarter of a yard, would there be any
left?”
He who writes what is wrong, wrongs
what is right.
Sowing Little Seed.
SI I 1 LE BESSIE had got a present
of anew book, and she eagerly
opened it to look at the first pic
lure. It was the picture of a boy
qY) sitting by the side of a stream, and
throwing seeds into the water.
“I wonder what this picture is about,”
said she ; “why does the boy throw seeds
into the water?”
“Oh ! I know,” said her brother Ed
ward, who had been looking at the book ;
“he is sowing the seeds of water lilies.”
“But how small the seed look?” said
Bessie. “It seems strange that such
large plants should grow from such little
things.”
“ You are just sowing such tiny seeds
every day, Bessie, and they will come up
large strong plants after a while,” said
her father.
“ Oh, no, father, I have not planted any
seeds for a long while.”
“I have seen my daughter sow a num
ber of seeds to-day.”
Bessie looked puzzled, and her father
smiled and said, “l"es, I have watched
you planting flowers, and seeds, and
weeds to-day.”
“ Now I know that you are joking, for
I would not plant ugly weeds.”
“I will tell you what I mean. When
you laid aside that interesting book, and
attended to what your mother wished
done, you were sowing seeds of kindness
and love. When you broke that dish
that you knew your mother valued, and
came instantly and told her, you were
sowing seeds of truth. When you took
the cup of cold water to the poor woman
at the gate, you ivcre sowing seeds of
mercy. These are all beautiful flowers,
Bessie. But I hojm my little girl has
been planting the great tree of Hove to
God,’ and that she will tend and watch
it, until its branches reach the skies and
meet before His throne.”
“And the weeds, father ?”
“When you were impatient with baby
you sowed the seeds of ill-temper. When
you waited some time after your mother
called you, you sowed disobedience and
selfishness. These are all noxious weeds.
Pull them up. Do not let them grow in
your garden.”
♦♦♦
Our passions are strong coursers that
must be bitted and bridled, otherwise
they may at any moment bear us to
swift destruction.
—
God’s light, which, itself unseen, makes
all things visible and hides itself in
clouds. Thine eyes find not the rays,
hut the heart is warmed by them.
87