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the sergeant in command of the guard
told the mob if they did not give way he
would turn the ‘Texas cannibals” loose
among them. We heard and under
stood very well what he said, and to
carry out the joke, and make a diver
sion in our favor, three or four of us
grabbed as many old women and boys
who had ventured in reach of us, and
made out we were going to eat them up
at once, without salt or pepper.
I clinched an old wrinkled squaw,
who had been making herself very
“prominent” in the “melee,”and took
a good bite at her neck, but it was
tougher than a ten-year-old buffalo
bull’s, and though I bit with a will, and
can crack a hickory nut easily with my
grinders, I could make no impression
on it whatever. However, this unex
pected demonstration on the part of the
“Gringos” took the mob completely
by surprise, and they scattered like a
flock of partridges, and we were molest
ed no more that day.
-«*
The Grays.
the hollow of a chestnut,
In the woodland o’er the way.
Lives a busy, happy family—
?Mr. and Mrs. Gray.
Through the summer and the autumn,
They with nimble feet and spry,
Scamper up and down the forest,
Laying nuts and acorns by.
And when harvest-time is over,
They care not for wind nor weather,
As they, snugly in their hollow,
Sit and crack their nuts together.
J
Always happy, gay, and busy—
Laughing, working, crackingjokes—
We may learn a useful lesson
From those busy little folks.
Little Soiver.
AN AUTHOR’S FRIEND.
m Charles R., a poor author,
living in the outskirts of Paris,
had owing to him a debt of
five hundred and twenty francs he nev
er expected to get, so long had it been
due, and so often had he applied in vain
for it. However, finding himself entire
out of money, he resolved to try the
non-paying debtor once more.
What was his amazement and delight,
when a note of five hundred francs and
a twenty franc piece were placed in his
hands. Regarding it as a special provi
dence, he resolved to change the gold
piece, and testify his gratitude to Heav
en, by giving it in alms on his way home.
Placing the note in his pocket-book, he
fulfilled his benevolent design, and no
beggar applied in vain during his long
walk.
As he drew near home, a wretched
little dog came to him, and besought
his attention to its starving condition.
At any other time he might have rudely
driven it away; but this evening his
heart was open, and he concluded to
take the poor brute with him. True,
his wife hated dogs, but he trusted his
BURKE’S WEEKLY FOR BOYS AND GIRLS.
good fortune to soften her heart as it
had his. It was quite dark when he
reached his home, and he entered the
house with the dog close to his heels.
“ What is that?” cried the lady, pre
paring to drive the intruder out of the
door.
“ Only a poor little dog I have made
bold to bring home with me. But lis
ten, wife, to my good fortune.”
As he related the story, the good lady
became mollified, and the little dog was
almost forgotten.
“ See, here is the money, safe in my
pocket-book,” concluded the husband,
putting his hand into his pocket. But
no pocket-book was there ! It was gone,
and despair seized the poor author’s
heart.
Rage rose in the good wife, and the
dog was an excellent scapegoat. Seizing
a stick —“Get out of the house?” she
cried. “ But for attending to you, that
stupid man would not have lost his mon
ey.”
But the dog would not move, and
cowered closer to the feet of his first
friend, who had not now the heart to
save him. So, lifting him in her arms,
the angry lady prepared forcibly to eject
him, when lo! there, tightly grasped
in his mouth, was the missing pocket
book, which the obscurity had prevented
their seeing before. It had fallen through
a rent in the man’s pocket, and the grate
ful creature had picked it up, and kept
it safely till discovered.
There is at this day no more honored
member of the author’s family than the
now fat and sleek dog, who ever occu
pies the warmest corner of the hearth.
LOOKING FOR WINGS.
on board one of
the many ferry boats that are
constantly plying between the
opposite shores of the Mersey, (at
Liverpool, England,) may occasionally
see, on warm, bright days, a poor crip
pled boy, whose body has grown to al
most a man’s size, but whose limbs,
withered and helpless, are still those of
a child.
He wheels himself about on a small
carriage, similar to that the boys use in
play; and while the little boat threads
its way among the ships of all nations
that are anchored in the river, he adds
not a little to the pleasure of the sail,
by playing on his “ concertina,” airs
that show no mean degree of musical
skill. The few pennies that he always
receives, but does not ask for, not grudg
ingly bestowed, and are given not more
in pay for the music, than for the sim
ple honesty that shines in the boy’s blue
eyes.
One so helpless, it would seem, could
only be a burden to those who loved
him—could certainly do nothing toward
fulfilling the command, “Bear ye one
another’s burden.” Was it so? Was
there no service of love for the lame
boy ? no work for him in the vineyard ?
The question was answered one day.
“ Walter,” said a gentleman who had
often met him, “how is it, when you
cannot walk, that your shoes get so
worn ?”
A blush came over the boy’s pale
face, but after hesitating for a moment,
he said:
“My mother has younger children,
sir, and while she is out washing, I
amuse them by creeping about on the
floor, and playing with them.”
“Poor boy!” said a lady standing
near, not loud enough, as she thought,
to be overheard ; “ what a life to lead !
What has he in all the future to look
forward to ?”
The tear that started in his eye, and
the bright smile that chased it away,
showed that he did hear. As she pass
ed by him to step on shore, he said, in
a low voice, but with a smile that went
to her heart:
“ I am looking forward to having
wings, some day, lady !”
Happy Walter! Poor, crippled, and
dependent on charity, yet doing, in his
measure, the Master’s will, and patient
ly waiting for the future, he shall, by
and-by, “mount up with wings as eagles :
shall run, and not be weary ; shall walk,
and not faint.”
Soar Grapes.
A colored man, to whom meat was a
rare blessing, one day found in his trap
a fine rabbit. He took him out alive,
held him under his arm, patted him,
and began to speculate on his quali
ties.
“0 ! how berry fat! De fittest 1
ebber did see ! Let us see how me cook
him ! Me roast him No ;he so berry
fat, me lose all de fat. Me fry him.
Ah! he so berry fat, he fry himself!
Golly, how fat he be ! Den me stew
him.”
The thought of the savory stew made
the negro forget himself, and in spread
ing out the feast to the imagination, his
hold relaxed, when off hopped the rab
bit, and squatting at a goodly distance,
eyed his late owner with great com
posure.
The negro knew there was an end of
the matter, so summoning all his philo
sophy, he thus addressed the rabbit :
“ You long-eared, white-whiskered,
red-eyed rat, you not so berry fat, arter
all!”
Do Dogs Listen ?
A dog, which had been in the posses
sion of Mr. B. C. Frobisher, of Bridge
water, for sixteen years, and which had
become encompassed with the infirmities
of age, overhearing a conversation be
tween his owner and a neighbor last .Sun
day about killing him, and the arrange
ment made for doing it the next day,
disappeared that night from the premi
ses, and has not since been seen, ex-
cept for a shorFtime near a house a mile
or two away. What renders the inci
dent more singular is the fact that
the dog had never before been known to
leave his home under any circumstances.
WHAT. SHALL THE CHILDREN DO NEXT ?
? fpm, FAVORITE amusement with
my children is to cry, “Guess
what I see in this room?” be
ginning with giving~the initial letter of
something in the room. Each child is
allowed to guess in rotation till one is
successful, when that child has the privi
lege of giving out the next thing to be
guessed.
This game will commend itself to
mothers who are very busy, as it does
not in the least interfere with their
work, even if they participate, as I of
ten do, in the game.
My children have been interested in
it for hours together, often puzzling
their elders, and contributing greatly to
the amusement of us all.
I remember an instance in which our
little seven years old daughter gave out
G. S.
Her comrades tried it many times in
despair, and came to mamma ; even she
could find nothing in the room answer
ing to the initials; grandma and great
grandma tried in vain.
Our little puzzler was in ecstacies,
and all the others much chagrined, and
obliged to confess themselves unable to
solve the question.
Grease spot it proved to be ; our lit
tle girl had discovered a small one on
the carpet.
When they tire of this I say, “ My
ship is coming in loaded with ,”
naming some article beginning with A.
They go on, each naming in turn
something beginning with that letter,
till they can think of no more. Then
they take B, and so on through the al
phabet.
Mamma’s d’gnity will not be at all
compromised by taking part in these
simple amusements, and the little ones
will enjoy them much better than if
playing by themselves.
They have also several sets of the al
phabet, cut singly. One child selects
the letters necessary to spell any word
which she chooses, without naming it,
and after mixing them together, requires
another to place them in proper order
to spell the word.
These games are, of course, adapted
only to (those who know something of
spelling, but will tend to improve them
in that art, and they porsess the desira
ble qualifications of amusing without
noise or trouble, and make no litter.
**«>.•*
Look Ahead.
In the voyage of life we should imitate
the ancient mariners, who, without lo
sing sight of the earth, trusted to the
heavenly signs for their guidance.
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