Chapter 2

"Mamma, will you please listen a moment?"

"How can I, Quillie dear? just see how busy I am," answered mamma, turning over a letter she was writing, while a man was bringing in trunks from the store-room, and another man was waiting for orders, and through a vista of open doorways was seen a dress-maker at work upon gingham slips and linen blouses.

"If you please, ma'am, a bit of edging will look none the worse on these cambrics, and the flannels need a touch of scarlet; even the wild flowers have vanity enough for a little color of their own."

"True enough, Ellen. Well, get your samples ready. Now, Quillie, I am going to address this letter, and then I promise to listen to you."

Quillie sighed--she found it so difficult to wait when she had so much to say. But she only fidgeted a little as mamma scrawled off an address in letters which Quillie thought would cover half her copy-book, then the little taper was lighted, the wax was melted, the pretty crest was imprinted on the seal, and mamma turned with a relieved smile to the little girl.

"Well, Quillie, what is it?"

"It's only this, mamma," began Quillie, impetuously: "I want to take a friend to the country with us."

"Who is the friend? why can not she go with her own people?" said mamma.

"Now, mammy dear, please don't hurry me; you know madame, our French teacher at school, has a little girl about my age--eight and a half. Well, if it wasn't for her, madame says she could go with some pupils to their country-seat, and teach them all summer, but they will not have her child, which is very hateful and disobliging, I think; and it popped into my head that perhaps you would let us have Julie with us, for the madame says she can not leave her alone in the city, and she has no relatives--hardly any friends--and I think it would make madame so happy not to lose this chance of giving lessons, and yet to have Julie, and--and--"

Mamma stooped down and kissed her little girl. "There," she said, in her quick, decisive way, "that will do. It was a kind thought, and I will consider it. Now run off and dig in the garden; your seeds are coming up nicely."

"But, mamma," said Quillie, not quite satisfied, "are you sure you won't forget?"

"I promise not to," was the answer, and she arose to change the coquettish cap and morning-gown for her street costume. Then she took out her pencil, and jotted down two or three errands in her memorandum-book, and gathering up the samples to match for Ellen's work, out she went.

It was a warm day, a balmy air, but one which induces languor, and as Mrs. Coit stopped at a street corner and bought a bunch of roses, she thought she would get the children out of town as soon as possible. Her eye was next attracted by some exquisite laces. She wanted a few yards, and stopped to price them. They were thread, filmy as cobwebs; they were costly; and as she held them in her hand, debating the purchase, she thought of Quillie's request: the cost of the lace would more than meet the expense of sending little Julie away. She concluded not to buy the laces. And so she went on with her errands.

At last she had finished, and turned off into a side street, got into a car, and was whisked away to a quiet place in the old part of the city. She stopped before a house which had in its day been fine; now it looked like a person who is keeping up appearances--a little shabby and worn, and wanting freshness. She rang the bell, and asked if Madame Garnier lived there. She was directed by a slovenly maid to a room on an upper floor, and left there. The air was redolent of garlic. She knocked at the door, and a little pattering of feet was heard, the door was opened on a crack, and a small head was to be seen, covered with a tiny handkerchief tied under the chin; a large checked apron concealed the rest of the small person. When the small person saw that the visitor was a lady, she no longer kept the door more than half closed, but throwing it wide open, she made a profound courtesy, and said, "Pardon, madame; please to enter."

Mrs. Coit paused, smilingly taking in the background of this interior. A sunny window full of plants, a bed with ruffled pillow-cases, a gilt clock, a canary, a table set out for two, a writing-desk and books in a corner, and a cooking stove, with a bubbling saucepan sending the cover dancing up and down. It was very close and warm, and the little hostess was pale, despite the heat.

Mrs. Coit had no time to spare. She asked the child if she were Julie Garnier, and if she wanted to spend two or three months in the country.

The child opened her eyes in silent wonder. "Could madame be in earnest? Was it possible?"

Mrs. Coit explained, and in addition took out her pencil, and with rapidity wrote a note to madame.

The little Julie fairly wept with delight. To be in the country, with birds and bees and brooks--ah! it was too much felicity. Her mother would be wild with pleasure.

Then Mrs. Coit was going; but Julie could not let her depart without a taste of her _pot au feu_, which she was cooking for her dear _pauvre petite maman_--just one sip, if madame could take no more; and pushing a chair to the table, and hurriedly wiping off an old cracked faience bowl, pretty enough in its day, the little eager hands dipped out a ladleful of soup. Mrs. Coit found it delicious. Warm as was the room and the repast, it was yet refreshing; so thanking the child for her hospitality, she at last took her departure.

A week from this time behold an eager group of little ones on the deck of a Hudson River night boat kissing their hands to Mr. and Mrs. Coit on the wharf. Nurse is on guard, and counts the heads to see if all are with her. Quillie's yellow locks are beside Julie's dark tresses; Fred and Willie come next; and little Artie, who scorns being the baby, waves in great dignity, as color-bearer, a small American flag. Long before the stars are out they beg to go to their state-rooms. They creep into the little beds, and imagine themselves on the tossing ocean. Nurse hears them discussing who shall be in the upper and who in the lower berths, and whether they shall be able to remain in them at all, for the vessel may pitch them all out; then Julie silences all with a vivid account of her travels. She gesticulates as she talks, occasionally rolls those dark eyes of hers, speaks of the great steam-ships, the mighty waves, the roar of the wind, the scream of the fog-whistle, and the terrible _mal de mer_. Instinctively they yield to her vast experience, and offer no more remarks, but silently prepare for their slumbers.

Quite with the early dawn they awake again, refreshed, eager, and taking in long draughts of the pure air into which they have come. Where are the docks and wharves and shipping? where the scenes of the night before? In the rosy flush of the morning lie the green hills and meadows. The birds are straining their throats with melody, the cocks are crowing, the geese cackling, and they hear the lowing of cows and the bleating of sheep.

"Is it paradise?" asks Julie.

"No, it is only Catskill," responds Quillie, tossing back her yellow locks.

"Hallo! there is Mr. Brown's wagon," screams Fred; and Will shouts till the farmer responds with a smiling nod.

Soon they are all safely stowed in the wagon, and jolting over the well-remembered roads, an hour or more bringing them to the comfortable farm. Then what savages more wild than they in their gambols! They roam from one haunt to the other, visit the cattle and the poultry, and expect a welcome from all. Breakfast waits, but no one comes. Nurse has to go after them. There they are on an old hay wagon, which Fred has made into a steamboat by dragging out of the lumber-room of the barn a piece of stove-pipe, and Artie's flag at the stern. Julie has her doll, and Will has the puppy he claims already, but Quillie emerges from some other corner with two darling kittens. What can nurse do to get them in to Mrs. Brown's table, with its wild strawberries, its crisp radishes, its cream, and golden butter, and piles of brown-bread? She hits upon a happy plan.

"Children, if you will all come in this moment, I will tell you something splendid."

Their ears were pricked at once. "What is it, nurse? what is it?"

"Not a word more till you obey me."

They scrambled down at that, and hastened into the house.

[TO BE CONTINUED.]

LEADVILLE, COLORADO.

We live 'way up in Leadville, in the Rocky Mountains, ten thousand feet above the level of the sea. Although it is very cold here, some people live in tents all the year round. We live where we can see the snow on the range of the Rocky Mountains all summer. We have a little shepherd dog that eats candy. We like YOUNG PEOPLE very much, and watch eagerly for its coming. I am eleven years old, and Susie is ten.

CLARA AND SUSIE J.

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OMAHA, NEBRASKA.

We have a great many pets. We have a nice gray mare and a pony, both named Nell, and a little colt a week old that we call Cyclone. He is a cunning little fellow, and pretends to eat hay like his mother. We have lots of chickens of all kinds. I have some little white bantams, and my brother has some game bantams. My oldest brother keeps fancy chickens.

S. V. B.

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PETALUMA, CALIFORNIA.

I read the letter of Arthur N. T. about gophers. They are very numerous where I live. I kill them sometimes, but they are very shy. I have a large gray cat that catches a great many of them. The wild flowers bloom here about the first of March. I take YOUNG PEOPLE, and like it very much. I learn lots of things from it, too. I live so far away that I do not get it till almost two weeks after it is published.

O. A. H.

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WINDSOR, CONNECTICUT.

I found a great number of flowers in May, but I do not think you will print my list of names, for mamma says it is too long, and would take up too much space in YOUNG PEOPLE. One day when I was hunting for flowers in the woods, I found a turtle marked "L. E. 1816."

HARRY H. M.

We are pleased to see that you take such an interest in botany, for it is a beautiful study, but as your list contains the names of thirty-seven different flowers, it is a little too long to print, especially as many of them are given in the paper on "Easy Botany," in No. 29.

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LAREDO, TEXAS.

I live 'way out on the Rio Grande. I like to read the letters in YOUNG PEOPLE. I have two pet pigeons, one blue and one white. I would like to know how to catch and tame birds. My kite, which you told me how to make, was a success.

WILLIAM C.

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TROY, OHIO.

I had a water turtle that I wanted to pet. I kept it in a bucket of water, and it would swim round and round, and try to get out. When I would take it out, it would creep toward the river. I felt sorry for it, and my brother put it back in the river again. I tried Puss Hunter's recipe, and think it real nice. I am going to send a recipe for her club some time.

BERTHA D. A.

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PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

Papa takes YOUNG PEOPLE for me, and I like it so much! I have a little sister who is very much interested in fancy-work, and she wishes to know if you will not give some instructions for making some fancy and at the same time useful articles for an old lady. I had some rabbits, and one bit me. I have tried Fanny S.'s recipe for caramels, and I like it very much. I have a little dog, but he eats very little. Can any one tell me what is the matter with him?

TOM G.

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LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY.

I take great pleasure in letting you know that I am one of the many readers of YOUNG PEOPLE. I am a little Scotch girl, but can remember nothing of my country. I have become crippled since coming to America, and I enjoy reading very much indeed. I wish YOUNG PEOPLE much success.

MAGGIE C.

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HELENA, ARKANSAS.

I wish to tell you of an entertainment which was given by our Sunday-school. We called it a Bazar, because we had ever so many pretty things, made by the Sunday-school children, to sell. There was a nice stage in the hall where we had the Bazar, and we had a pretty little exhibition. Some of us represented an art gallery. We had pictures and statues. I represented a statue. We made over one hundred dollars, and we are going to buy a new library for the Sunday-school with the money.

JULIA S.

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NEW LONDON, NEW YORK.

I like the letters in Our Post-office Box best of all, and read every one of them myself, but as I am only six years old, I can not write very well, so I have asked mamma to write for me. My father has taken HARPER'S big paper many years, and when the first YOUNG PEOPLE came, I coaxed him to subscribe for it for me.

We live on a nice, pleasant farm in Oneida County, and have all kinds of domestic animals. My pets are a pair of pure white twin calves, just alike. My brother climbed a tall tree in the woods yesterday, and brought down four young crows, which he killed, and hung in the corn field to scare away the big crows.

WALTER C. R.

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The following letter will be welcome to the many inquirers for this little flower girl of the Pacific coast:

When my letter was published in YOUNG PEOPLE, I was away from home, and I have only just now seen it in print. I am sorry the prettiest flowers of the valley are gone, but I have a few pressed that I will send to each address, and I will ask some of my friends to send me some of the mountain flowers.

GENEVIEVE HARVEY, Galt, Sacramento County, California.

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My father has a nice cabinet of minerals, corals, shells, Indian relics, and other things. I would like to exchange spar of different colors, iron ore, and other minerals, with some little girls, for pressed flowers and shells. I have a great many flowers, and this fall, when the seed gets ripe, I would like to exchange flower seeds.

There is an abundance of lovely ferns here. Will you please tell me the best way to press ferns and flowers?

EDITH LOWRY, Elizabethtown, Hardin County, Illinois.

Ferns and flowers should be laid carefully between two sheets of clean paper, the leaves artistically arranged in graceful shape, and placed under heavy pressure until they are dry. If the ferns are to be used for decoration, a warm iron, not too hot, must be passed over them, always putting clean paper between them and the iron, otherwise the heat of the room will curl them as soon as they are placed upon the wall. It is better not to iron them until they are dry, as the suddenly applied heat is liable to change the color of fresh ferns, causing them to look dull and faded. The sugar-maple leaf you send is well pressed, and beautifully varnished. What kind of varnish did you use? No doubt some little girls who are preserving leaves would like to know.

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I would like to exchange postage stamps of foreign countries with some other boys who are readers of HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE.

SIDNEY ST. W., 326 East Fifty-seventh Street, New York city.

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MAY 31, 1880.

I am making a collection of birds' eggs, and as soon as I collect a few more, I would like to exchange some with Samuel P. Higgins, if he will send me his full address. I have seen morning-glories in blossom this year, and would like to know if any other correspondents have seen them so early.

THOMAS HORTON, Care of Benjamin J. Horton, Lawrence, Kansas.

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If Mary Wright will send me some leaves, I will be very happy to send her some. And I would like to exchange flowers with Mabel Sharp, if she will send me some as soon as possible. I will send her some in return as soon as I receive hers. I would like to exchange leaves or flowers with any others who would like to do so. Those sending any will please mark each specimen distinctly, so that I may know the name. I am fourteen years old, and my pets are birds and flowers, which I will write about another time.

IDA P. SMITH, P. O. Box 380, Holyoke, Massachusetts.

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I take YOUNG PEOPLE, and like it very much. I have two pigeons that laid eggs and hatched two little ones. I am making a collection of birds' eggs, and would like to exchange eggs with any of the correspondents of YOUNG PEOPLE. My address is No. 308 Carlton Avenue, Brooklyn, New York; but after the 25th of June I will be at Glen Cove, where I get almost all of my eggs. My name is T. Augustus Simpson, and my address this summer will be care of S. M. COX, Glen Cove, Long Island.

T. A. S.

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ROCHESTER, NEW YORK.

I send a recipe for Puss Hunter's Cooking Club. It is for Florentines. Make a rich pie crust, using butter instead of lard; mix with cold sweet milk, roll it thin, spread it with butter, fold it, then roll it again into a sheet one-eighth of an inch thick; now spread it with jam, and place it in the oven. When it is baked, frost it; strew it plentifully with minced almonds or nuts of any kind; sift sugar over it, and place it in the oven a few moments to brown.

WINIFRED B.

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PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

I tried Nellie H.'s recipe for candy, only I used maple sugar instead of molasses, and I liked it very much. Here is another recipe for candy Puss Hunter may like to try: Six dolls' cups of sugar; one of vinegar; one of water; one tea-spoonful of butter, put in last, with a little pinch of saleratus dissolved in hot water. Boil, without stirring, half an hour, or until it crisps in cold water; flavor to taste, and pull it white with the tips of your fingers.

SADIE MCB.

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AYLETT'S POST-OFFICE, VIRGINIA.

I have never written to the Post-office Box before, and I thought now I would send Puss Hunter some recipes for her cooking club. I have tried hers, and I liked it very much. One of mine is for nice molasses candy: One quarter of a pound of sugar and one pint of molasses. Boil quickly, and drop a little in water occasionally until it crisps. A small piece of butter is an improvement. When done, cool it in buttered tins. Here is a recipe for Everton taffy: One pound of brown sugar; three ounces of butter; a little lemon flavoring. Boil about twenty minutes, until it crisps, stirring constantly.

LOUISA W.

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CLOYD D. B.--Write again, and tell us how you amuse yourself while you are sick, and we will try to print it. Your last letter was so much a business communication that we could not put it in the Post-office Box.

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JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA.

I saw a letter from Indian River, so I thought I would write too. I have a little sister, five years old, who goes to a Kindergarten school. I have a little turtle, and I would like to know how to feed it. I am almost nine years old.

RALPH D. P.

Turtles like a diet of flies, and small insects, and fruit. You will find directions for the care of different kinds of turtles in the Post-office Box of YOUNG PEOPLE No. 5 and No. 18. The "Letter from a Land Turtle," in YOUNG PEOPLE No. 27, will also give you information.

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I thank Zenobia in regard to the whip-poor-wills, but she does not say when was the earliest she heard them this year. The first one I heard was on the morning of March 30, which is the earliest I ever heard one in this locality. Zenobia lives farther north than I do, and probably whip-poor-wills are not so early in her vicinity. I want to learn all I can of this mysterious bird, and would be thankful for any information concerning its habits. If Zenobia will send me her address, I would like to exchange pressed Missouri flowers for Illinois flowers with her. I have pressed flowers from California and Tennessee, and I have been studying botany this spring.

WROTON M. KENNY, Pineville P. O., McDonald County, Missouri.

The whip-poor-will is a native of North America, and is found from the Pacific to the Atlantic. In winter it travels southward, and spends the cold season in the forests of Central America. It is a brownish-gray bird, and has a large mouth, armed with bristles at the base of the bill, with which it retains the moths and other soft-bodied insects upon which it feeds. It is a very shy bird, and hides itself all day, coming out at evening and early morning to skim along with noiseless flight near the ground, seeking its food. It is sometimes called the night-swallow. It makes no nest, but deposits two greenish eggs, spotted with blue and brown, in some snug corner, among fallen leaves, on the ground.

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ELK CITY, KANSAS.

My paper comes on Saturday, and I read all the letters in the Post-office Box first. I have a pet. It is a very funny one. It is a horny toad. I found it near Pocket Creek. I would like to know what to feed it with. Papa found a little bug this morning on the sweet-potato vines. It changes its color very often. Sometimes it is gold, sometimes green, sometimes red. Can any one tell me the name of it?

MARY W. (11 years old).

Your bug is probably one of the small iridescent beetles, of which there are many varieties. As they move about in the light, the color appears to change, like the color of the head and throat of a South American humming-bird. If the appetite of your horny toad is like that of a common toad, it will prefer an insect diet. But it will live weeks without eating anything, and unless you allow it to hunt for itself, it will probably die of starvation some day.

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GEORGE H. M.--A neat black walnut box, about five inches deep, will make a good case for butterflies. Glue pieces of cork in the bottom, on which to mount your specimens, and have a tightly fitting glass cover. You must scatter bits of camphor in your case, to keep away moths, as they destroy dried insects, and when your case is full, paste thin paper over the cracks to make it as air-tight as possible.

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L. B. POST.--See Post-office Box No. 18.

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"ADMIRER."--The _Passion Play_, which is celebrated once in ten years in the peasant village of Oberammergau, in the Bavarian Tyrol, is a relic of the ancient Miracle Plays and Mysteries which were so popular among the common people throughout Europe during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The _Passion Play_ represents the closing scenes in the life of Christ, and sometimes includes, as it does this year, _tableaux vivants_ of incidents in the Old Testament. Usually about five hundred performers appear on the stage, although the speaking roles number only a little over two hundred. All the characters are represented by the peasants of the village, the principal ones being selected fully two years previous to the performance, that they may become perfectly drilled in the parts allotted to them, and allow their hair or beards to grow to imitate as nearly as possible the best existing pictures of the various characters they are to represent. The theatre is an immense wooden structure erected for the purpose, capable of containing nine or ten thousand spectators; for, so widespread is the fame of this peasant festival that crowds flock to see it from every part of Germany, and travellers from England and the United States make efforts to be present at this strange performance. You will find a full account of the _Passion Play_ in HARPER'S MAGAZINE for January, 1871.

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PUZZLES FROM YOUNG CONTRIBUTORS.

No. 1.

DIAMOND.

In errand. A poisonous reptile. A flower. A vegetable. In errand.

A. H. E.

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No. 2.

ENIGMA.

My first is in May, but not in June. My second is in lead, but not in copper. My third is in day, but not in gloom. My fourth is in ink, but not in water. My fifth is in season, but not in year. My sixth is in house, but not in tent. My seventh is in hound, but not in deer. My whole was an honored President.

M. B. AND M. H.

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No. 3.

WORD SQUARE.

First, a minute quantity. Second, a kind of tune. Third, wrath. Fourth, thoughts. Fifth, an ancient language.

WILLIE.

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No. 4.

ANAGRAMS.

[From each sentence make one word.]

1. Ben has a foil. 2. I harm no cat. 3. I lent a dime. 4. The nice rain. 5. Harry, go past. 6. Shun fat flies.

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No. 5.

DOUBLE ACROSTIC.

A boy's name. A city in Japan. A vegetable. To ascend. One of the United States. A household article. A river west of the Rocky Mountains. Answer--Two Territories of the United States.

M. E. N.

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No. 6.

ENIGMA.

My first is in brown, but not in green. My second in candy is always seen. My third is in lamb, but not in kid. My fourth is in kettle, but not in lid. My fifth is in lean, but not in fat. My sixth is in rabbit, but not in cat. My seventh is in modest, but not in meek. My eighth is in cone, but not in peak. My ninth is in cold, but not in freeze. My tenth is in turnips, but not in peas. My eleventh is in watch, but not in look. My whole is the author of many a book.

CHESLY B. H.

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Favors are acknowledged from Philip D. Rice, May S., Matie Greene, J. S., Howard Starrett, Carrie Smith, Walter H., Jennie Hall, Alice G. M., Fannie W. O., Irene V. Over, Willie C. Pattison, Dorsey E. Coate, Charlie Iankes, Willie H. Joyce.

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Correct answers to puzzles are received from Rebecca Hedges, Percy T. Jameson, M. S. Brigham, Harry Starr K., Willie Gray Lee, Julia Smith, Anne M. Franklin, Josie and Austin, Louie P. Lord, J. R. Blake, W. H. W., L. B. and R. H. Post, S. V. B., Marion E. Norcross, George S. Schilling, Cora Frost, Anna L. Kuhn, Leon M. Fobes, Mamie E. F., Eddie S. Hequembourg, Eddie A. Leet, "Blue Light."

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ANSWERS TO PUZZLES IN NO. 31.

No. 1.

Bolivar.

No. 2.

C O R D O V A P A R I S R E D S I D A G H E N T G R A N A D A

No. 3.

M N E D M E R R Y D R Y Y

No. 4.

B I D E I D E A D E A R E A R L

No. 5.

Raleigh.

No. 6.

D um B E lih U F athe R O ttoma N E uripide S

Defoe, Burns.

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Charade on page 440--Courtship.

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The Child's Book of Nature.

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The Child's Book of Nature, for the Use of Families and Schools: intended to aid Mothers and Teachers in Training Children in the Observation of Nature. In Three Parts. Part I. Plants. Part II. Animals.