Part 3

Laughingly they obeyed his command, Gussie and Vinnie taking the head of the column, their eyes dancing with merriment, and their actions betraying that they knew more than they were going to tell. Tad turned the mask around to the back of his head, took a whistle out of his pocket, and began playing "The Rogue's March," which started the "congregation" of twenty off at a lively pace.

Imagine their surprise when they entered Mrs. Turner's grounds and saw the arrangements made for out-of-door sports.

Mrs. Turner was in an easy-chair on the porch, and gave them a smiling greeting, which Tad in a moment returned by getting his troops into line, and giving her a military salute. And then the fun began. Everybody was anxious to learn lawn tennis, and for an hour or so little was heard but the batting of balls and the cries that are a part of the game. Some enjoyed the swing, and others sat on the grass under the trees, or walked about with arms interlaced.

Gussie was everywhere, and at a signal from her, six of the larger girls took their places on the lawn, facing the house, and ready to have a "fan drill." This was a surprise to Vinnie Dean and her mother, who sat beside Mrs. Turner on the porch, and for the time being the lawn tennis court was abandoned.

The six girls were in white; three of them had red fans, three blue. Gussie acted as Captain, and her fan was of both colors, her dress being also red and blue. The orders were given so nicely and obeyed with such precision that even Tad was surprised. He had no idea that girls could be so smart, or had so much knowledge of military affairs.

As they stood in line each girl held her fan closed at her side.

"Carry fans!" said Captain Gus. The fans were brought to the shoulder.

"Present fans!" They were struck on the left hand with a unanimous sound.

"Open fans!" They were spread with a rush.

"Rest fans!" They were closed with a snap, and returned to the right side. Then there were the "bashful flutter," "angry flutter," "scornful flutter," and a variety of other movements not set down in any military tactics.

The audience were delighted, and for some time after the drill the snapping and fluttering of fans continued.

When Tad blew the whistle there was a general start, for it was an afternoon of surprises.

In single file the company marched back to "The Deanery," where they were received by Vinnie's mother, and regaled with cakes, bonbons, and ice-cream. At the close of the repast each girl and boy was presented with a German bonbon containing a paper cap or mantle, some of which were very becoming to their wearers.

As it began to grow dark preparations were made for a general breaking up, which Tad prevented by calling his recruits together, and marching them back to his own house, where they found the lawn illuminated with colored lamps, and looking "just like fairy-land." Then they danced and sang and played games until they were tired, and by nine o'clock the party was over.

Vinnie thanked Tad and Gussie, who thanked her in return, all three declaring they had had a "perfectly lovely," "splendid," and "magnificent" time; and it was such a co-operative affair that to this day Vinnie is in doubt whether it was her birthday party or Gussie's. It was such a funny thing to borrow a lawn! But Tad and Gussie thought it an excellent arrangement, and told Vinnie that whenever she gave a birthday party they should expect to do their part of the entertaining, and Vinnie begins to think that, after all, she must have been born under a lucky star even if it was in the dog-days; for it is the luckiest thing in the world to have friends who are willing and ready to put themselves out in order to do us a favor.

HALICORA, THE MERMAID.

BY E. MULLER.

Little Halicora Cetacea lived in the Mediterranean Sea, near the south coast of Italy. She went to Miss Delphina's school, with other nice little mermaids, and learned how to knit sea-weed lace, and how to do up her hair becomingly, and many other useful things. Miss Delphina had a good deal of trouble with her pupils, for sometimes they were very full of mischief. They used to bring oysters to school in their pockets, and eat them slyly, and some of the pupils had a perfect passion for pink and purple jelly-fish, though Miss Delphina always forbade them to eat sweetmeats; and others used to bring their pet sea-horses with them, and play with them in class, which kept Miss Delphina always scolding. The merboys, too, gave her trouble, for they hid among the rocks, and threw sting-rays and sea-eggs at the mermaids, making them jump and shriek and drop stitches. Then Miss Delphina would unchain Cephalopterus, and set him at the boys. Cephalopterus was a large devil-fish, which Miss Delphina kept as a watch-dog, and when he laid hold of a merboy, that boy was sorry. But merboys were not the only troubles that Miss Delphina had; there were great rude dolphins and porpoises and sharks and sword-fish, and other sea creatures, and, worse yet, there were land creatures too, which came to annoy her. One day, while the knitting class was at work, there suddenly descended an awful monster right before them. It was a diver in a diving suit, with a long air-pipe leading from the top of his head to the surface of the water, and any creature quite so ugly not even the oldest mermaid, not even Miss Delphina, had ever seen. Every mermaid shrieked, dropped her knitting, and hid behind the rocks. The diver was looking for a place to lay a submarine cable; he walked about, getting his feet entangled in the knitting-work, mixing up every one's ball, and pulling out rows and rows of stitches. This was too much. Miss Delphina called to the oldest and bravest mermaids to come to the rescue, and told Halicora to unchain Cephalopterus. Then they all rushed at the diver, Halicora with the devil-fish first. The diver only gave one look; that was enough; he gave such a pull at his air cord that his friends up in the boat thought he was dying, and hauled him up in a twinkling, and the mermaids never saw him again. Halicora was the brightest and prettiest of all Miss Delphina's mermaids, and after she showed herself to be so quick and brave in setting Cephalopterus at the diver, Miss Delphina said she might go up on land to bring down the offerings from the fishermen. These offerings were fruit and flowers left on the shore for the mermaids, because the fishermen believed they would send them good luck in fishing, and a safe return from their voyages, if presents were given them; so every week a large basketful was left on the shore, and some of the older mermaids usually went up just at dawn and brought it down.

On the shore lived a very good fisherman named Pietro Monaldi, whose little boy, Leonardo, used to gather the fruit and flowers, and leave them for the mermaids. Leonardo had always longed to see a mermaid, though his father said they were invisible, and he had often watched on the shore at dawn, but had never been able to catch a glimpse of one until Halicora came up. Perhaps Halicora had forgotten that she was to seize the basket and instantly plunge into the water, or perhaps she felt too curious to be quite obedient. At any rate, when she saw a nice black-eyed boy peeping from behind a rock, she did not hurry away, but said: "Good-morning. Is this the offering I am to take?"

Leonardo came from behind the rock, and bowing politely, said, "Yes; and I am 'Nardo Monaldi, at your service."

"And is it you who brings us these nice things?" asked Halicora.

"It is," answered 'Nardo. "And I beg you will take care of my dear father, who is now out fishing."

Halicora thought she had never seen such a handsome, well-behaved boy. She was sure he would never hide and throw things at his cousins the way her cousins, Manatus and Rytinus Cetacea, threw sting-rays at the mermaids.

"Tell me your father's name, and he shall be taken care of," she said.

By the time 'Nardo had told her his father's name, and the names of several other good fishermen who lived near, Halicora saw the sun rising; so she said good-by, promising to come again. When she went home she wrote notes to all her relations, the Cetaceans and the Sirenidians, telling them to be particularly careful of Pietro Monaldi, as he was a good man and a friend of hers; and as Halicora was dearly loved by every one, all her relations promised to look out for Pietro Monaldi, and send him plenty of fish. After that, Halicora and 'Nardo became very well acquainted, and told each other a great deal about the land and sea, and Halicora became quite certain that no merboy ever could be so pleasant and good as 'Nardo. One beautiful morning she told him there was going to be a fearful storm, and that his father ought not to go out in his boat.

"I will tell him you have told me," said 'Nardo.

"No, no; if you even tell him you have seen me, I can never come again," said Halicora, for she had warned him when they first met not to speak of her.

So 'Nardo only told his father that there would be a terrible storm--that the wind and waves had whispered it to him. But his father laughed at him for a silly dreaming boy, and went out in his boat with the other fishermen. The storm came, a terrible storm, just as Halicora had said, and the fishing-boat was wrecked, and all the men in it were drowned, except 'Nardo's father. Halicora had helped him to swim, had lifted him out of the waves, and brought him a piece of the wrecked boat to hold upon. Pietro thought the piece of board came by a lucky accident; but Halicora was holding it, and she brought him safely to land just at dawn. 'Nardo was on the shore, waiting in great anxiety for the boat to come back. When he saw Halicora helping his father, he forgot her warning, and exclaimed: "Thanks, dear Halicora! See, father, the good mermaid has helped you."

But his father saw nothing--only those who are young and truly good can see the mermaids; so Pietro only saw the waves and the piece of wood which he had floated upon. But he was very glad and thankful that he was saved, and so was 'Nardo.

The next day 'Nardo carried a large basketful of the finest fruit he could find, and waited on the shore for Halicora. As soon as she came he exclaimed, "Dear Halicora, how good you are!"

"You are good too, 'Nardo,"; said Halicora; "and I am sorry I must leave you."

"Oh, Halicora, why must you leave me?" asked 'Nardo.

"Because you spoke my name aloud," said Halicora. "My father heard you, and he says there can be no friendship between land and sea people; and so I must go up to the Arctic Sea, among the ice and polar bears, to stay with my aunt Rytina Borealis until I forget you."

Then she said good-by, and went down into the water, and 'Nardo never saw her again. He often goes to the shore, hoping she may have come back; but though the other mermaids come and take the offering, Halicora has never returned, and so 'Nardo knows that she has not forgotten him.

Now that vacation is over, we shall expect to hear from our girls and boys about their school affairs. Let us know which of you have been promoted, and tell us how you like the new teachers, the new scholars, and the new studies. We are sure you mean to take hold of school work heartily after having had the splendid summer holidays. What do you do mornings and evenings to help mother? What do you mean to be when you shall be grown up? Some of you are sorry that your letters are not published in Our Post-office Box. It is impossible to publish all, because we have such a crowd of correspondents; but we try to select the letters which will be most entertaining to everybody, and if you will remember this, and when you are writing tell us something interesting that has happened in your home, or something droll that your pets have done, or some bright thing that the little ones have said, you will very likely see your letter in print.

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HAVANA, CUBA.

I am studying English, with an American lady, and as she does not wish me to read Spanish, I read only English books and papers. I like your paper better than any book. I have in New York three friends, who are the nieces of my teacher. Here too I have many friends, and some of them, like myself, are studying English.

We have a pair of very pretty rabbits. They are white and brown. They are called Bunny and Funny, and are very tame.

I wish very much indeed to visit New York, and I mean to beg papa to let me go next year with my teacher.

The story that I like best of all that I have read in YOUNG PEOPLE was "Aunt Ruth's Temptation."

This is the rainy season, and we have rain every day. We are very desirous to see the dry weather come back.

We have a large farm in the country, and there we have a fine croquet ground, where we play very often. We speak only English in the school-room and with our teacher.

SIRENA C.

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PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

We have a very droll pet, but if you were to guess all day long, you would never find out what it is. It is nothing less than a tame woodchuck. He is quite pretty, and will follow those he fancies all over the house, running up to any one who taps upon the floor, that being our way of calling him. I am sorry to add that he is often very mischievous, and sometimes gets into trouble in his anxiety to see what is going on. One day we found him floundering in a kettle of grease, in which he had fallen while trying to keep his balance on its edge and discover its contents at the same time. I derive much pleasure from Our Post-office Box, and thought I would like to become one of its correspondents.

WALDO L.

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OMEGA, LOUISIANA.

I live very far down South, on a beautiful river-bank in the country. Perhaps some of you will pity me, but I would not like to exchange my quiet country home for one in the busy city. I have a black pony as gentle as he can be, and every day at four o'clock I saddle him, and off go Billie and I to the Post-office, a distance of two and a half miles.

My mamma is an invalid, and I help her all I can to clear up the dishes, sweep, and attend to the little chickens. Our nearest neighbor is only at the distance of a few minutes' walk, so I often run up there to play with the children.

M. L. U.

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DANVILLE, ILLINOIS.

I was quite interested in Mary W. H.'s letter about her dog Prince. I have a dog of the same name. He is only a year and a half old, but he knows a great many tricks. He can walk on his hind-legs, sit on his haunches, speak, give his right or left paw, shake hands, crawl like a baby, and turn a somersault. He is very cute. A man shot him in the hind-leg one night, but it is not broken, and will soon be well.

We girls have organized a society lately, which we have called "The Dainty Finger Cooking Club." I am secretary, and every member has chosen a nom de plume for herself.

BERTHA L.

We hope the Dainty Fingers will become very skillful.

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NEW YORK CITY.

We have come all the way from Queensland, Australia, and are travelling around the world. Our home is in Rockhampton, which we left about four years ago. Since then we have lived in Brisbane, Sydney, and Auckland; then we crossed the Pacific to California, visiting Honolulu on our way. We spent some time in San Francisco, and then crossed the great American continent, and arrived in New York a few months ago. On our way over we stopped at Salt Lake City, Chicago, Detroit, Niagara, and other places. We saw Indians, Mormons, bears, buffaloes, California lions, coyotes, antelopes, etc. We crossed the Sierra Nevada and Rocky Mountains. On the Sierra Nevada we saw snow for the first time in our lives, and we did not know what to make of it at first. My little sister said it was soap-suds, and my little brother thought it was cream pie.

After a while we are going to Boston, and will then cross the Atlantic to Ireland, go from there to England, thence to Paris and Berlin, and finally we will return to our old home in Australia by way of the Suez Canal. By that time we shall have been pretty well around the world--don't you think so? We have a jolly family: papa, mamma, auntie, four sisters, and three brothers. One brother, three years old, is named Sydney Francis, but we call him Captain Cook, and another, Arthur Cecil, we call Nipper. We lost one dear little girl soon after we came here; poor little Mabel took diphtheria and died. We have a little American baby to take home with us. Her name is Marion Ruby, and she is three months old. If you would like me to write to you from Ireland or England, please let me know. We are always going to take HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE, even after we are again at home in Australia.

OLYMPIA R. B. C.

Yes, we will be glad to hear again from you. Such a journey as you are taking must be very delightful, and very instructive too. It is the pleasantest way of studying geography and political economy we ever heard of.

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PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

I am not sure, but I think I shall like Mr. Otis's new story even better than I did "Toby Tyler." I do hope he will not kill Tip, as he did Mr. Stubbs. I have no pets. Was that robin which Mr. Otis once wrote about a real bird?

WALTER M. G.

Yes, the robin was a real bird.

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LONDON, ENGLAND.

I am a little American boy living in England, and am nine years old. A lady sends YOUNG PEOPLE to a friend of mine, and he gives it to me. I enjoy reading it very much, and after I have finished a number I give it to some of my English friends to read. I have been very ill, and my mamma took me to a farm half a mile from the sea. The Coast-guards live on the beach to prevent smugglers from landing there.

LOUIS THOMAS M.

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ALLEGHANY CITY, PENNSYLVANIA.

Don't you want to hear about our little kitten? She can spring from the third-story window to the roof when she wants to chase the birds, and she stands on a chair by the window and plays with the flies.

AGNES U. J.

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MARENGO, IOWA.

Our four cats are named Spot, Nig, Toby, and Tyler. Our dog's name is Vet. A long while ago I had two cats which were called Moody and Sankey. They are dead. I would like to exchange pieces of silk for sea-moss.

LINNIE ALVERSON.

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NEWBURGH, NEW YORK.

I suppose everybody has heard of Stony Point, which General Anthony Wayne took by storm at midnight on the 15th of July, 1779. Two years ago they had a centennial celebration on the spot. I have been visiting during a part of my vacation at my uncle's farm at Stony Point. In ploughing he has found cannon-balls, stone axes, and soldiers' buttons. I myself found a cannon-ball, and prize it highly. I helped with the farm-work, hoeing corn and cabbages, and taking hold heartily of whatever was going on. I went in bathing, and learned to swim a little, though I am not yet an expert swimmer. My father, who is, has saved several lives. My Sunday-school teacher lately took her class to West Point. We saw Custer's monument, went through the library, staid until evening, and saw the dress parade. I think it is splendid to see the officers go forward to salute the commanding officer.

Thinking I would like to earn some money, I have undertaken a paper route, and have lately been delivering two hundred papers a day. School begins the first Monday in September.

ALBERT J. B.

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ISLE ST. GEORGE, OHIO.

I live on a little island in Lake Erie. It is real pleasant here. I have the very nicest kitten you ever saw. He is nestling on my lap and purring contentedly while I write. His name is Jetty. We have a dear little white pony named Billy. I had a pet chicken, but it died. I wish Jimmy Brown would relate more of his ups and downs.

EMMA G.

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NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

I think Toby Tyler was a very original little boy, and it was too bad to end his experiences so soon. I would like to hear of his life at Uncle Dan'l's. You have no idea how glad I would be to see his little, innocent, wistful face in the paper again. I wish to tell you that I have received a letter from one of your correspondents in Europe. It was not written with a view to exchanges, but was such a letter as one school-girl would write to another. The correspondence is certainly interesting, as neither of us has friends in the other's country.

I wrote to you last winter for certain information, which you very kindly gave me. Allow me to thank you for it. It was quite satisfactory. I often wonder who it is that answers all the questions of the YOUNG PEOPLE's friends. What piles of letters they must read! And, dear me! don't their heads ever ache? If you don't think my curiosity impertinent, perhaps you wouldn't mind telling me about them.

LILIAN P.

The Editor's head never aches after reading such letters as yours, Miss Lilian, nor after answering the questions which inquisitive young people send to Our Post-office Box. But as for telling you any more, that would be out of the question.

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WOODSIDE, NEAR LINCOLNTON, NORTH CAROLINA.

DEAR FRIENDS,--Again I write, almost fearing you will grow tired of my many letters and the space I occupy in your Post-office Box, but I wish very much to thank you for many more little packages that you have sent since I last wrote. They have come from: Mrs. E. Janes, Oshkosh, Wis.; Miss Isabel Chambers, Fifty-second Street, Lancaster Avenue, West Philadelphia, Penn.; Miss Edna Van Note, Lebanon, Ohio; Mrs. Rebekah Snyder, Parton, Ill.; Maggie and Eliza Bell, Sabbath Rest, Penn.; Russia Lubeck, Auburn, Cal.; Maude Buckner, Covington, Ky.; Charles Thompson; Misses Anna and Louisa Favre, Ontario, Iowa; Miss Miriam Oliver, Milwaukee, Wis.; Miss Isabel Oakley, Terre Haute, Ind.; Miss Beckington, Des Moines, Iowa; George F. Curwen, Villa Neva, Penn.; Miss S. Wilson, Honeoye, N. Y.; Mrs. R. E. Ormsley, Emmetsburg, Iowa; Miss Lena Turch, Alma, Mich.

Our school has grown since I wrote first, and now numbers thirty-seven. There are several more that want to come. Our dining-room is full; they use all the chairs, with all from the lower floor of the house that can easily be carried out. We will have a bench made for their use, and until it gets cold can put some on that on the long gallery between the house and dining-room. They sing "By cool Siloam's shady rill" very nicely indeed, and are learning "Onward, Christian Soldiers." We need an instrument very much, and when we get one we will teach them twice a month, if not oftener, on Saturday afternoons.