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our little 6lrl$;s .loeir your Little Stories
ni JOAQUIN MILLEH.
chubby hands, over the. rosy mouth' with its row
of pearl just In time; and with jut littlo frown ;
. the story-teller went on. . ,
-Gues I've got you,' said the Dear1.
' 'Spec' you have said the lamb. 'Bui you better .
not eat me.1 . - "
. , -"'And why had I better not eat you? Humph!
i Come, get ready to be eaten. I'm hungry.
. '"Oh; please, Mr. Bear,' said the little lamb, 'if
. you won't eat me I will take you to where there la
big Popwopsuj. And If you have n't got enough
after you eat the big Popwopiui you can eat me.
"And.oh, Doti what is a, " Just in time Pudge
got her two hands over her mouth, so the story did,'.
not euitt have to be told over from the first. X
"Now this was a very ignorant .bear, and. did not
- Know wnai a ropowpsus was.
"iv o more
pimples i
"But li
know a great deal, and said it was, a bargain; and)
. pine-tree, the bear muttered to hfmieiyhajjie, eould;
'? eat them both and not half try(
.."There you are, air, said theflamb7pointlngTtQ?
i a great high heap of gum thatjhadioozed Jfromthej
'., tree. 'Help yourself.' ;' rr"- -
' "Now this bear thought this must be. delicious
food indeed; so, pretending to know all about -it
he gruffly bowed his thanks to the lamb; and reach-
, Ing up, he opened his great red mouth, threw his!
arms about the fat wax Popwopsus, and hugging it)
tight, greedily bit off its sticky headl
' "Well, you should have seen that bear's mouthL
And jaws! And feetl Gum! Gum! Nothing but
oo you, nor anyDoay.eise, : (cnucmea ,
iside to herself. .
ke veiw lffnorantoeoflei Jit'nretended .to
11 0 J 0i fl V '"V4s1llRlJl ' issM Ml
.5
Y up on the middle fork of the one
sr and beautiful river of. Oregon,
wedged down deep between two great
black mountains topped with trees and '
cloads and snow. little log house
nestled close bv the bank of the foamy
river, alive with shiny fishes, A narrow, shady road
ran close b the door. Back of the house on the
hillside wa a clearing, set thick with apple-trees,,
peach-trees and the like, end loaded down; while
the air was full of busy bees, and every one of the
great aark trees up and down the steep mountains
was niuslaal with the song of birds.
Dot and Puss and Dimples and Pudge these
were the names of the four little girl who lived in
the log house, but where they got their names no
one but their father could tell
It was ten miles through the thick woods to the
next house it was quite at far to their first neighbor
in the other direction i and as this was sort of
-- stopping-piece for the very few travelers who vent
ured on horseback over this portion of the Oregon
Sierras, I drew rein at the door and shouted: "Hello
the? bouse t"
In a moment four little girls blossomed in the
door rosy, round-faced, brown-faced, unny-halred
hearty, happy. Beautiful? They looked as if they
might have escaped from the upper world and slid
down the great saow-peake to that littlo home by
the beautiful river. I
"Might I stay?" There was a welcome to the
tired stranger in every "yes," as four pretty mouth
opened in chorus.
Dot, the eldest, a strong, self-reliant little girl
of ten years, led my horse to the stable across the
road; Dimples led me into the cabin; Puss, brought
water from the spring; little Pudge brought her
apron full, of chips from the wood-pile in the back
yard; and all four were soon bu. preparing supper.
The father came home, a weary man, tall end
strong, lonely-looking and very silent, and swung
his gun and game-pouch on the great elk-horn
over the fireplace.
We had supper by the firelight; Dot with her
little hands kept piling on the pine knots til) the
gloomy little cabin wa light as day. .
After a hearty meal on wild meat, Indian corn.
and fish, the little girls cleared off the table, end
then grouped about it with their books. But no,
they could not; read. They wanted to hear about
the great big world-4he world that was to them
like fairyland. I told tbetn many wondrou things,
the half-sad and very silent father fitting all the
time back in the dark and alone.
By and by X asked them" to tell m something of
. their books. And how learned they were. They
.knew much indeed of books. Buf their geography was
mixed. All history, the "Arabian Knight," novels
of all kind, all these were jumbled In their little
heads together. Yrtheir mother they aid in
whisper, as. they glanced back at 'their father, had
; taught them ever so much, They had never seen,
schoolHouse or a church. Once they had been fa
camp-meeting. .Yes, mother when she was young
woman had eome from a far-off country, from
Boston,hdl married, settled in the wood thert
away from all the world, and, only last year, bad
died.
Seeing hi children were now a sad as himself,
as they thought of their mother, the man re, came
forward, kicked the fire till it biased up more cheer
fully, and suggested to the children that they should
tell me some stories in return for mine.
"And oh, Jet's make 'em up ourselvesl" shouted
Puss, as she clapped her dimpled hands and hitched
up her chair, as did all the others, with their elbows
on the table and their bright faces all 8 once as
merry as the May
"Certainly," answered matron Dot, wwe will make
em up all by ourselves: end you shall tell the first;
only don't put in any bogy-map or ghost to scare
little Pudge." And with that Dot put an arm about
Pudge and drew her eloe to her side; while Puss
smoothed down her Jjttle gingham apron, hitched
her chaif againf and, clearing her throat,' gravely
began: . '' v .,
"One upon a time in -Aribiiv in Arabia where
where all the giants are born and brought up and
educated, there wa a great giant who had no castle.
So this great giant fie got up and took his club
" and set out to walk and walk tUi h could find a
great castle, where he eould put people in and lock
m up ind-hem adearJem;VVHr he walked -and
he walked ahem. And he was barefoqted and
he had no shoes at all. And he was bareheaded arid
his hair was long ahem, ahem. And he walked and
he walked till he came to a great high mountain,.
And he went up to the top of that high mountain,
for he thought it might have a castle on it But he
found there only a great big flat rock on the edge
of a great steep precipice, with ahem with a rail-,
road running along in the valley below. - Yes, the
the-ahem the Erie Railroad I Well, he lay down
on; the flat rock and went to sleep, and In the night
he waked up and went down in the valley to get
something to eat Forfor like all great end good
giants he wat ahem always c hungry, - : Well, he '
found "V milkhoqse, and he drank up all the pan
of milk, end he ate up all the fresh" butter, ahem, ;
and he couldn't find any bread, and he hurried back
to his big flat rock on the mountain above the preci
pice, for he was getting very tired. And he lay
down on his back on the big flat rock, with his
hands a-holdin tight on his head.Jor he felt ahem
very queer. Well, by and by he heard "a rumbling -'
oh. such a rurnblin'! And he was, oh, so certain ,
'bis bead was foingio break open! And ahem
he held tight on to his head with both his big hands.
Then he did n't hear any rumblin'. any more, and all
was still; and he went to sleep. Ahem! .But by
and by such another rumblin' oh, such a rumblin
that it made the mountain shake! And he held so
tight on tQ hi head that he almost screamed out
for pain. And then he listened. And then he began
to lugh. And he let go of his head and he laughed
and n laughed and he laughed. For what do you
think it was that rumbled so? Why, it. was n't hf
head at all. It was only the Erie Railroad. Yes
ahem yes, and he laughed and he rolled and he
rolled and he laughed till he rolled right over tht
precipice, and he fell ahem and fell a hundred
thousand feet, and he landed with his neck in tfie
fork of a tree, and and ahem diedl Yes. And
if you can go to foreign countries and find the Erie
Railroad, and find that precipice, and stop the train,
and get off and measure how high that tree is, you
can tell just how tall that giant was, for, for ahem
for if his foot could have touched the ground Me
could have stood up. and it would n't have killed
him, you ee"
"Oh I oh, Puss!" "Oh, Pussy 1" cried Dot and
Dimple.
"I s glad he's dead, anyhow, for I don't liffe
giants," said littler Pudge, as she nestled closer to
Dot; and, the father again came forward out of the
dark and poked up the fire.
"And now, Dot, it's your turn," said Dimples, as
she reached over and buried a hand in the cloud of
yellow hair that nestled on Puss's shoulder. -
"Yes; and I'll make it short, for Pudge has
yawned twice. And remember, now. this is a story
that has to be all told over again from the first if
any one asks a single question. So don't one of
you spj;ak or I'll never get through to-night.
"Once upon a time in a far-off country there was
a flock of sheep feeding on a sloping hillside above
the sea. On the great black mountain back of them
there wa a forest of pines, and in thi forest there
were a hundred thousand bears.",
"Oh, my! So many?"
"Once upon a time in a far-off country there -was
a flock of heep feeding "
"Please, please, sisser Dot, I won't speak any
more pleaded Pudge.
"Well, then, don't. Pudge, because, you see, every
time anybody speaks I have to go Tight back to the
beginning and tell it all over from the first. This is
on of that kind of storie, you know. But I can go
ahead this once. Well, the flock of sheep went
liding their noses along on the ground very fast,
and a little Umb got very tired and lay down by the
aid of a rock a gray rock, I think. Yes, it went
to sleep there, while its mother went on wjth the
flock, with her nose on the ground, nibbling grss.
After a while the lamb felt a cold nose moving up
and down on the back of its neck, and thinking ft
was 'its kind, good mother who had come back with
the flock on the way home, it lazily opened It eye
and looked up. And what do you think it aw? A
great black bear!" v . . .
"Oh I And did it?" Btit Pudge clapped both
And you should have seen that little lamb laugh!
He just (tuck hi little fists in his little sides and
very'j'foreign (country! p and here little Dimples
topped,rolled up; her? dimpled hands in her coarse
'apron as.if.they had been cocoons in silk, and began
itall.'overagain. She did this two or three times
Jn her" great embarrassment, and at last, after assur
ipgU over, and over, again that it was in a very;
very' foreign country,' and was very nearly crying
with fright, she meekly held her head to one side
and managed to go on. "Once upon a time, in a
very foreign country, there lived in a great coal-
til' tP
"and you should have seen that little lamb laugh?"
danced up and down for delight.
"And the bear pawing at hi? own teeth! And
gnawing at his paws! Oh, my I And he rolled over,
and the leaves stuck fast, and he began to look as
big as an elephant. And so the Umb pitied him and
said:
"Come, I '11 take you back to where I found
you.' And o he went back down the hill, and the
poor bear hobbled and rolled on after.
"But pretty soon they met the sheep. Then a
big ram with great bent horns bowed to the bear,
An4 the bear thought it was all right. But, I tell
you, whenever a ram bows to you, look out! Well,
the ram all bowed to that bear, and then they
began to come. Tump! Bump! Thumpl And over
that bear went, heels over head, till he rolled into
the sea and was turned into a great big island that
wa all surrounded by water."
" Oh, my! Who ever heard a lamb talk! Now
don't b'lieve that t'other story, tool" said Pudge, .
"Pudgey, Pudgey! But now Dimples; and then
little Pudge." -
"One? upon a time in a foreign country a very,
mine a man with a leather nose. Now this man was
a Norwegian, and he had a. name that was so long
that it took a man a day and a half to pronounce it,
and "
"Now, Dimples!' Oh, Dimples!"
"Well, Dot, I Ml pronounce it if you like. It may
not take a day and a half, but it will take some
time."
"Skip the name, then, and hurry up, for Pudge is
very sleepy."
"Well, then, they called him Old Leather Nose.
And whenever anybody called him Old Leather
Nose there was a fight; for he'was very, very sensi
tive on that point. Now this was in California.
"After a while he got sick; and the doctor, who.
wa afraid of him and wanted to get him out of the
way, told him he had a certain kind of disease. And
it was a Latin disease that was even harder to pro
nounce and longer than his name; eo we will skip
the Latin disease, although I know it and can pro
nounce' it very well, sister Dot.
m "Now the doctor told Old Leather Nose that the
only way to cure him was to plant him in ' the;
ground in a deep hole up to the chin, under a great
pine-tree up on a great high mountain, and keep?
him there, with only one pipe to smoke, till the Su
rose in the morning. i '
"And so the doctor took ten mrn. and thur ran.;
ricd Old Leather Nose from the Norwegian coal
mine up on a high mountain somewhere in Florida
where there are a great many ferocious walruses
and they planted him up to the beard, and gaveJ
him a pipe to smoke. Yes, and when they began!
to plant him he took off his leather nose and laidj
it carefully down on a chio bv the side of '!
1 "And did it cure him all well, Dimples? Did If,
Dimples?" V . ,
"Pudgey, dear, the walruses came down in the
night and ate his head off smooth with the ground,;
And that's all." .
"Oh, how dreadful! My sakes alive f But hejj
tum'd to life again! he tum'd to life again! did n'k i
he?" ' .
"Yes, littlo Pudge, but that is another story. And j
don't go to sleep just yet. It's your turn now. Only!
a little one, dear, and then papa will put Pudge irt1
her little trundle-bed." . : 1 ;
"Once upon a time in a in a " And the little :
fists dug and doubled about the great, dreamy eyes,s
and tried to push away the mass of curls that' cur-1'
tained them, and with much effort the sleepy little ,
girl got through with this little fragment of a storyl,:
"Once upon a time dey was mice an' mice an' mlcOj
Oh, my, such a mice in a fur furin tuntry, ; An,' s
man he goed a fousand hundred miles to brin' a, 1
fousand hundred tats for tQ tatch 'em. Anhe do, .
an' he dit a wadon an' dey brln' him tats, An dey j
brin him a fousand hundred tats. An' he put 'em i
in a wadon, and' he start for to dp for to tatch ern j
mice. An' he tame by a bouse, an' de dog bark, a a j
de tats back up on de wadon look like a load oTiay. f
An' an' oh, my, I is so s'eepy! An an he tameT; j
by a tamp-meetin'. An' de tamp-meetin' ? sin' ec
hymn; an' den er tats sin' a song, -too. " An den ct ;
tamp-meetin' have to stop an' den an den er "
And the little round face bowed down and bur,
ied itself in the folded arms on the tabe. The silent j
father came forward from his now very dark cornexy
and taking the little sleeper from her sister, placed j
her in the trundle-bed. In a few minutes one more i
was beside her, and two in the little bunk over the;
trundle-bed. The father and I were oon in bed.
in the adjoining room, with the door open between, j
And when he thought I slept, he rose np softly,5
wept into the other room, drew "out the; trundle-bed
noiselessly, and kissed his four little motherles i
girls, with only God to see him. Then' he stepped '
to the door, drew a great bolt across it, and, taking
his rifle from the rack, set it in reach at bis bedsl
ready to defend hs babes. And then we slept
THE PORT OF BOTTLES.
B T
Dr. EUGENE MURRAY-AARON.
It is a common thing for officers or sailors on
sea-going vessels, and especially for passengers,
whose time often hangs heavily on their hands, to
write some message on a paper, inclose it in a bot
tle, cork it tight, and throw it overboard. Usually
the paper contains a mere memorandum of the
name of the ship, its latitude and longitude at the
time, the date, the name of the captain end of the
writer, with perhaps a humorous metsag to the
finder the Whim 'of an idle hour. But possibly the
writing may convey a more serious message, stating
that the ship has sprung a leak and is about to
founder, compelling its passeiigers and crew to take,
to the small boat. Very rarely has such bottle
been picked up by a passing vessel in time to rescue
the survivors. ,
If the bottle has been securely corked it may float
long time on quiet teas, and may be carried many
hundred of miles on an oceaji current. Such a
waifdrop" pedinta Ihe Gulf Stream off the. coast of
the United States, has" been picked up many month? "
afterward on the1 shore of Ireland Scotland, or
Norway, When ocean storm come the angry. waves
dash the frail bottles on floating spars or projecting '
rocks, and the greater number are doubtless broken
in this way. There are a few "dead spots" in the
ocean, however, 4,to which these tiny glass vessel ',
may bewcarried, and where they may float in security 's
for an indefinite time. " . , i
An officer on a Brazilian ship describes. uch a
spot in the Caribbean Sea, which he says ought to
be called the Port of Bottles. It lies nearly midway
between the clUe of Cartagena, Colombia," and
Kingston, Jama jc,' and bou due east of Cape
One of these had been droped In the ea three years
before from a yacht in the Grand "Cayman. He
adds:
"I noticed a lot of other driftwood in the same
pot, and I am confident that no end of bottles
could be culled from the place. Hundreds are
dropped overboard every year, but very few escape
being knocked to pieces unless they happen tp find
their way Jo soma such a still place as I ) have
described."
There are a few other-similar dead spots in the
(.ocean, and It if possible that bottles might be picked
up in them which had been floating securely for
many long years,
What . messages of merriment, what tale of dis
tress and doom these frail glass voyagerf might
contain, who may guess?
- BT "
CHARLES BA.TTELL, &OOKI8.
A teacher whose spelling" unique
. Thu wrote down the "Days of the Wique'':
The firt he pelt "Sonday,"
- -Xh, second day-, "MundarW
And now a new teacher they jque.
A WTTLE GENTLEMAN.
I know a well-bred little .hoy who never lays "I
can't";
He never sya "Don'f want to," or "You've got to,"
or "You iha'n't";
He never says "I'll tell mama!" or calls his play
mate "mean." . .
A lad more careful of his speech I'm sure was never
seen!
Gririai a JDios.
"Jt is out of the steamer tracks." he says, "snd He' neyr ungrammatica! he . never
the action of the great currents going. one way and '"ain't'; ' .
another has left a space of stagnant water without '
any real movement at all. s Anything that gets into 1
the dead spots is apt to,stay there, unless driven
out by sorne big etorm, and will simply drift round
and round,1 gathering sea-grasj end barnacles.", He
picked tip there three bottles floating together amid 1
the drift, one empty, the others with papers inside, .
mentions
A. single word of slang from him would make fit
mother faint! ' 1 . :-
'And now I'll tell you why it is (lest this should
; seem absurd): , 1
He's now exactly sijdmonths old, and cannot speak
. a word!; t
Hannah G. Fernald.
S- Adhere' s. vin that tub Ust Wtheu barns drooping revet,"
AlMh dainty brown pipe hidden under U Jew
jortnny Sfll4 84dly, It jnay fee- Ajoke,
il mu4 1 do feer m ; the vine-feirieimoJtel
small elf with a 'confident winWV k
wrerijl ta-himpaAe c evil may think I
trutVhave pijftP, butInhere ' do dVt!re,
jereest And . finest, -we iia or balloons?'.
o travel threugh aky unto jusj.wjy noons ;
cflnd all the ve bubbles the UirylJk I!"
flre only' what mortals c&ll ctwdrcft.y: cno4
9 &henlo
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