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ber of the best citizens of the colony.
Some time after, there was immense
excitement in New Haven, because the
inhabitants saw, with great distinctness,
what they supposed to be this vessel,
at only a little distance, apparently sail
ing against the wind. But it soon dis
appeared from view, part after part,
until the whole was gone. The ship
itself was never heard from; and it was
supposed at the time that this appear
ance was a manifestation of Providence
for the purpose of informing the colo
nists what had become of their friends.
But what was seen was undoubtedly
the reflected image of this or some
other ship. It is such appearances as
these that have given rise to the stories
which have been sometimes told of
phantom ships. Mirages are very com
mon in the extensive deserts in hot
climates, exhibiting to the eye of the
traveller various deceptive appearances,
as islands, lakes, etc. In Bonaparte’s
campaign in Egypt, such an appearance
caused whole battalions of thirsty sol
diers to rush forward, supposing at the
moment that a plentiful supply of water
was at hand.’
“ The most astonishing instance of
mirage of which I have ever heard is
thus narrated: ‘The cliffs on the
French coast are fifty miles distant
from Hastings,'on the coast of Sussex,
and they are actually hidden from the
eye by the convexity of the earth ; that
is to say, a straight line drawn from
Hastings to Calais or Boulogne would
pass through the sea. A year or two
ago, however, a Fellow of the Royal
Society, who was residing at Hastings,
was surprised to see a crowd of people
running to the sea-side. Upon inquiry
as to the cause of this, lie was informed
that the coast of France could be seen
by the naked eye. He immediately
went down to the shore to witness so
singular a sight, and there discovered
distinctly the French cliffs, extending
for some leagues along the horizon,
and so vividly that they appeared to be
only a few miles off. The sailors and
fishermen, with whom Mr. Latham
walked along the water’s edge, could
hardly at first be persuaded of the re
ality of the appearance ; but as the
cliffs gradually became more .elevated
they were so convinced that they
pointed out to Mr. Latham the differ
ent places they were accustomed to
visit —such as the bay and the wind
mill at Boulogne, St. Vallery, and
other places on the coast of Picardy,
even as far as Dieppe, all the French
shores appearing to the English sailors
as if they were sailing at a short dist
ance from them towards the harbors.
With the aid of a telescope, the French
fishing-boats were plainly seen at an
chor; and the different colors of the
land upon the heights, together with
the buildings were plainly discernible.
The day when this occurred is said to
have been extremely hot, without a
breath of wind stirring; and the phe-
BURKE’S WEEKLY FOR BOYS AND GIRLS.
nomenon continued visible in the high
est splendor until past eight o’clock in
the evening, having been seen for three
hours continuously.’
“And now,” said Mr. Cranford, “we
must close for this evening. Good
night.”
*,»»..
Written for Burke’s Weekly.
LITTLE TOTTT,
BY MRS. MARY E. M’KINNE.
CHAPTER 11.
yiajp, EXT morning, while Winny
was in the kitchen, waiting to
‘' take a plate of hot rolls to the
breakfast table, Cora entered, holding
something in her tightly-closed hand.
“You can’t guess what I’s got, Win
ny,” she said, “It’s round as a ball,
yaller as a punking, and got a man in
the middle. Now, guess, if you can.”
“Well, I know ’tain’t the moon,”
said Winny, putting down the plate,
and looking curious. “Is it hard or
soft?”
“Hard as a brickbat, and flat as a
pancake,” answered Cora, always ready
with her elegant similes.
“0, I know! it’s a ring? Nothing
’tall but a old brass ring ! ”
“There ain’t no hole in it,” said
Cora; “solid as a —jug.”
Winny’s patience was exhausted, and,
seizing Cora’s hand, she would have
forced it open; but just then the break
fast bell rang. So, catching up the
plate of cold rolls, she vanished.
After breakfast, as Mrs. Dayton sat
by the open window, mending a rent
in one of Totty’s aprons, her attention
was attracted by loud words, and a
scuffling in the hall. Laying her work
down, she got up, and went out to see
what it meant.
“Missis,” exclaimed Winny, “ Cora’s
being stealin’ money; and she ’sists on
it stren’ously as how Miss Totty—”
“You shan’t have my money!” in
terrupted Cora, almost out of breath
from the struggle. “ You want it your
self, you know you do.”
“ What is all this fuss about?” asked
the astonished Mrs. Dayton. “Hush
this noise instantly, and come in here,
both of you, and tell me what it all
means,” she continued authoritatively,
leading the way back into the dining
room.
“ Why, this is Totty’s five dollar gold
piece, her uncle Harry put in her stock
ing last Christmas!” she exclaimed,
when the relaxed fingers of Cora re
vealed what was in their grasp. “I
marked it myself, and locked it up in
my bureau drawer. How came you by
it, Cora?”
“ Miss Totty gived it to me for put
ting out my eye.” answered Cora.
“ Why, your eye does not seem at all
injured,” said her mistress, looking at
her attentively. “A likely tale, indeed!
I don’t believe one word of it. Leave
the room, instantly. And now, Winny,
what is your version of the affair? ”
“ She stoled it, sure, missis. The
way that gal does steal is a caution !
’Tother day, sister Nancy found ever
so many of her doll rags and bed-quilt
scraps in her p’session. That nigger
will be hung one of these days, sure as
eggs makes chickens.”
“ She will have to be But,
Winny, go call Totty, and let me ask
her about it. The baby is still asleep,
is she?”
Winny could not resist the tempta
tion to go through the kitchen, to see
what Cora was doing. There she sat,
her head bundled up in a great ban
dana, wailing “My eye’s put out! My
poor eye! And they’ve took my gold
dollar! ”
“ Oh! you wretch?” exclaimed Win
ny, shaking her fist at her. “If you’d
give it to me, all this might have been
prewented. But I’m glad of it, I is! ”
Totty came bounding in, full of glee;
but her mother’s grave face sobered her
in an instant. By the window stood
her brother, also looking very grave
and solemn.
“ Totty,” said Mrs. Dayton, severely,
“ what is this I hear about your having
given Cora this gold piece your uncle
Harry gave you? Not that I believe it,
dear,” she added, more gently, seeing
the agitation of her daughter; “for to
do so, you must have taken my keys,
and gone to my bureau drawer secretly;
and I don’t think you would have done
that, darling. Cora must have stolen
the money.”
Poor little Totty! She was natur
ally a truthful child ; but this way of
putting the question made it so easy
for her to deny the charge altogether.
The temptation came to her in such
loving guise! Besides, she did not go
in.the drawer and take the money, and
she had only to say so, and all would
be well. But then, Cora would be pun
ished for stealing! She would not so
much have minded owning the truth to
her mother, who was always so lenient
to her faults; but for her brother to
know how very naughty she had been,
was quite a different thing—for he of
all the world was the one whose disap
proval she most dreaded. She looked
towards him, but his face was turned
from her. For one brief moment the
conflict between good and evil raged
fiercely in that little breast. Her color
came and went, and the tiny foot beat
nervously on the carpet. Then she
looked up; the blood rushed to her
face, crimsoning the pale cheek and
brow, and a light, almost divine, shone
out of the clear blue eyes. Never, in
all her life, had little Totty come so
near being beautiful. It was the tri
umph of Truth!
“ Yes, mamma, I did give it to her,”
she said. “I got road, and throwed
some sand in Cora’s face, and ’most put
out her eyes; and ’cause —’cause —”
breaking down, “I didn’t want you
and buddy to know it, I told her she
might have my gold dollar. And she
shall! ” with a touch of the old impe
riousness.
“ No, dear ; I couldn’t think of giving
Cora five dollars for such a trifle,” said
her mother. “Not but that you did
very wrong to get into a passion, and
throw sand in her eyes; although I
can’t see that they are at all hurt.”
“But I said I would give her my
gold dollar, mamma; and poor Cora
has set her heart on it, and I wants her
to have it,” said Totty, half crying.
“Well, well, we’ll give her a pretty
doll, or something else nice. Come,
kiss me now, and go to play, and don’t
think anything more about it. But you
really must not be so naughty again,
darling. I am very glad you told me
the truth, before I had Cora pun
ished.”
Totty left the room with lingering
steps. Again she looked towards her
brother. But he still stood silently
gazing out of the window, and she felt
grieved, for she thought he was angry
with her. His sister had no sooner
closed the door, however, than he came
and sat down on a low stool at his
mother’s feet, and, laying both hands
across her lap, looked up in her face
beseechingly.
“Mother,” he said, “will you for
give any seeming disrespect, if I differ
from you in the course you are pur
suing with Totty? Don’t you think it
would be right, since she promised the
money to Cora, to let her give it to
her ? ’ ’
“But, Ernest, you say yourself that
Totty is being dreadfully spoiled; and
don’t you see, it would only be making
her worse to indulge her in this whim?
Encourage her in going secretly to my
drawer, and taking out money ! Really,
I am astonished that you should advise
this! ”
“But she has promised , you know,
motherland I don’t see how she can
break her word without doing serious
injury to her character. I think, when
she is made to understand how very
wrong it was to go into your drawer
without permission, she will never do
that again.”
“ She only promised Cora a dollar,”
said Mrs. Dayton. “I can give her
that, and then Totty will not have vio
lated her word.”
“ Pardon me, dear mother. She pro
mised her this particular piece of money,
without knowing its value ; and I think
she ought to be taught to respect her
word when pledged even to a negro.
To substitute anything of less value,
would be teaching her a lesson of equi
vocation and falsehood. I hope the
mortification she has gone through will
keep her in furure from promising
anything it would be wrong to give
away. ’ ’
Mrs. Dayton, after reflecting a mo-