Part 5

My skin is white and satin-soft, My mother calls me Pearl, And says there never, never was So sweet a little girl! And Dinah's baby stares at me, And I keep staring back; She wonders why I am so white, I wonder why she's black.

And Dinah gives her loving hugs And kisses that must be, I really think, as sweet, as those My mother gives to me. Oh, mothers' hearts are all alike, And that's the reason, maybe, Why every mother thinks she has The very nicest baby.

IN-DOOR AMUSEMENTS.

ÆSOP'S MISSION.

This being a game of mystery, it is, of course, necessary that it should be unknown to, at any rate, a few of the company--the more the better. One of the gentlemen well acquainted with the game undertakes to represent Æsop. In order to do so more effectually, he may put a cushion or pillow under his coat to imitate a hump, provide himself with a stick for a crutch, make a false nose, and put a patch over one eye.

The rest of the company must then each assume the name of some subject of the animal kingdom--a bird, beast, or fish--and having done this, must prepare themselves to listen to the words of their great master.

Limping into their midst, Æsop then tells them that the wrath of the great god Jupiter has been aroused, and as the cause of a calamity so terrible must be that one or more of them have been committing some crime or other, he is anxious to discover without further delay who are the guilty subjects. "I shall therefore," continues he, "question you closely all round, and I shall expect you every one to give me truthful answers." He then fixes his mind upon a certain letter--for instance, O--and begins, "Mr. Lion, as you are the king of beasts, I sincerely hope you have done nothing derogatory to your high position; still, as it is absolutely necessary that you should be examined with the rest of your friends, will you please tell me what food you have eaten lately?" Should the lion have eaten a lamb, a sheep, a tiger, a bear, or any other dainty that is spelled without the letter O, he is acquitted as innocent; but should he have eaten a leopard, a goose, a fox, or any other creature in the name of which the letter O occurs, he is pronounced by Æsop to be deserving of punishment, and is therefore sentenced to pay a forfeit.

The other animals, in turn, then undergo a similar examination, during which each one must remember that in naming his prey he must confine himself to such food as is suited to the species he has himself adopted. The game may be carried on for any length of time, or until all have discovered the secret in it.

There is no fear of the interest flagging so long as even only one of the company is still left unable to solve the mystery.

End of Project Gutenberg's Harper's Young People, April 25, 1882, by Various