Part 4

Now that the evenings are growing long, some of you may like to hear of a pleasant way of passing them. In capping verses, every one at the table around which the players sit is supplied with a sheet of paper and a pencil, and at the top of the paper is written by each player a line of poetry, either original or from memory. The paper must then be folded down so as to conceal what has been written, and passed on to the right; at the same time the neighbor to whom it is passed must be told what is the last word written in the concealed line. Every one must then write under the folded paper a line to rhyme with the line above, being ignorant, of course, of what it is. Thus the game is carried on until the papers have gone once or twice around the circle, when they may be opened and read aloud.

DUMB CRAMBO

is another amusing game. After dividing the company into two equal parts, one half leave the room. In their absence the remainder fix upon a verb to be guessed by those who have gone out when they return. As soon as the word is chosen, those outside are told with what word it rhymes. They then consult together, and silently act the word they think may be the right one. Supposing the verb thought of should have rhymed with "sell," the others might come in and begin cutting down imaginary trees with imaginary hatchets, but not uttering a single syllable. If "fell" were the right word, the spectators would clap their hands, on seeing what the actors were doing, as a sign that they were right in their guess. But if "tell," or any other word, were chosen, they would either hiss or solemnly shake their heads. While this play is going on every one must be silent. Whoever speaks must pay a forfeit.

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TERRE HAUTE, INDIANA.

Brother Charley takes YOUNG PEOPLE, and we like it very much. Even mamma and papa like to read it. I like the letters. I have no pets, as we live near the school-house, and the bad boys either steal or kill them. I have eight dolls. The largest one is thirty-six inches long. Brother and I go to the Baptist Sunday-school, and last Easter the scholars all took playthings to the school as an Easter offering to the little poor children. The Ladies' Aid Society gave them out.

NELLIE R.

What a pity the boys who attend that school should be so cruel! I just wish I could talk to them about their behavior. They need a missionary.

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BRISTOL, TENNESSEE.

I am a little boy just ten years old, and have been reading your excellent paper for some time. I can hardly wait for it to come. I'm so anxious to read the continued stories. I liked "Mr. Stubbs's Brother" ever so much, and think "The Cruise of the Canoe Club" splendid. I want to tell your readers about what fun we have had lately. My brother and I thought that we would have a circus. We put up an acting pole and trapeze, caught a mud-turtle and a pigeon, and had a spotted cat, which we exhibited for a leopard. This is my first letter, and I hope you will print it.

WILLIE S.

I would like to have visited your circus, Willie, and especially to have seen the spotted cat. If I had been there I should have helped you all I could.

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Some little folks may be glad of a few hints at this season on the subject of cultivating house plants:

Though most persons like to see flowers in a room, comparatively few know exactly how to manage them so as to keep them healthy and fresh. Nothing is so delightful as to see plants in a window, and yet how common it is to discover them in a drooping and sickly condition, and all for the want of a little knowledge and care!

Where the plants grow from a single stem--as in fuchsias, geraniums, etc.--it is a good plan to cover the mould with fresh green moss, which will hold a good quantity of moisture without injuring the plants. Never water the plants except when they really require it. This you may soon ascertain by simply putting your finger into the soil; when, if it feels moist, no water will be needed; but if the soil be dry, which will not happen more than every other day in autumn, or once a week in winter, then water the plants thoroughly, so that the moisture sinks right through the mould.

Never allow plants to stand in the water; that is, if your pots stand in saucers, take care to remove all the surplus water which runs through the soil. Never use pump water if you can obtain river or rain water; but if you can get only pump water, let it stand for two or three days in the open air previous to applying it to your flowers.

The temperature of the room in which you place your plants should be as regular as possible, all extremes of heat and cold being destructive to good flowers. Let the plants stand near the window on mild sunny days, but in cold cloudy weather remove them to the middle of the room. When the day is warm, open the window, so as to give the plants the benefit of the fresh air, or remove them into the garden. Many of the hardier kinds of flowers will bloom well on the outer sill of the window from May to November. In sultry weather you must shade your choicest flowers from the direct rays of the sun, or they will get parched, and their blossoms will fall off. This is especially the case with the more delicate sorts of fuchsias and fancy geraniums; though the hardy plants of this kind stand a wonderful amount of ill usage before they cease to throw up flowers. You must constantly examine your flowers to see that their pots do not get too full of roots. You may easily discover whether this is the case by turning the pot upside down, when a slight tap will loosen the mould, and leave the plant and its soil in your hand in one compact mass. If you find that the roots run in irregular circles over the surface of the mould, it is a sign that the pot is too small, and your flower must be shifted to a larger one.

It will be well occasionally to sprinkle a little water over the foliage of your plants, which should always be kept fresh and clean. Some of the larger leaves of geraniums and other plants will want now and then to be cleansed of the dust, which will accumulate about them, with a sponge or soft flannel; or you may give them a good wetting by means of a syringe with a fine rose top, taking care to avoid the flowers that are in full bloom. Flower buds, however, thrive well by being constantly refreshed. Twenty drops of liquid manure added to a quart of water will be found useful in hastening the blooming of flowers. This mixture must, however, be applied to the soil, and not to the plant. A good and safe stimulant may be made of four ounces of ammonia, two ounces of nitre, and one ounce of brown sugar, dissolved in a pint of boiling water. This solution, when cold, is to be put in a stoppered bottle, and added to the water you use for your plants in the proportion of a tea-spoonful to a gallon. Generally, however, ordinary rain-water, not too cold, will suffice to keep in-door plants in good condition. If you notice that blossoms fall off before they are fully developed, it is a sure mark that the plant is sickly, and needs removal to a larger pot, or into the open air; but if you attend to the above directions, your favorite flowers can scarcely fail to prosper.

For the outside of windows nothing is prettier than ornamental boxes of mignonette, with a climbing rose or a canary creeper, or even a few pots of convolvulus or creeping-jenny.

The best plants for in-door culture are fuchsias, geraniums, calceolarias, begonias, balsams, cinerarias, dwarf roses, heliotropes, campanulas, hydrangeas, stocks, and mignonette; while, if you are fond of bulbs, a choice variety of tulips, crocuses, lilies, jonquils, hyacinths, scillas, etc., may be reared in separate pots, and then transplanted carefully and tastefully into that pretty receptacle for Nature's loveliest children, the ornamental flower-basket.

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FREMONT, NEBRASKA.

We had a picnic in papa's grove some time ago, and had a nice time. It is seven and a half miles from here. I have just begun taking music lessons, and I think music is very hard. My auntie takes YOUNG PEOPLE for me, and I think it is just splendid. I have no pets but a little sister named Pansy.

MIRA K. A.

Poor darling! so you find music hard. Never mind, it will be easier after a while, and you will have a great deal of pleasure in playing for papa when he comes home tired at night. Your exchange will appear with the others on the cover.

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Complaints reach us from time to time that some of our exchangers act very unfairly toward each other. In some instances large and valuable articles have been sent, for which the owners have received nothing in return. We wish to call attention to our standing notice at the head of the exchange columns. In every case, boys and girls, write to the person with whom you wish to exchange, and send nothing until you have received his reply. Arrange all details fully by correspondence.

Please be very sure that you have sufficiently stamped the articles you send through the mail. For want of postage your much-prized treasures may be sent to the Dead-letter Office, and you may be blaming a person wrongfully for not making the right return.

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CONSTANT READER.--A wooden wedding celebrates the fifth anniversary of marriage. After ten years comes the tin wedding. The silver wedding is kept at the end of twenty-five years, and the fortunate people who are spared together for fifty years are entitled to a golden wedding. For the anniversaries which fall between these dates any pretty and tasteful article you choose will be appropriate.

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C. Y. P. R. U.

THE PRIZE BOY AND GIRL.

BY AMY TALBOT DUNN.

The officers of the Indiana State Fair last year offered a prize of a ten-dollar suit of clothes to the boy under fourteen years of age who should saw the largest pile of wood in a given time.

You may be sure that many boys who hated the sight of a wood-pile now began to exercise their muscles, and vigorously set to work to earn the prize. One of the ladies on the committee told me that her own son worked night and morning for a week before the fair, trying to persuade the family that he would stand a chance for the prize. And when the day came round he left his breakfast untasted, so anxious was he to get to the grounds and begin the race.

At least a dozen boys entered the lists with their saws, but one by one they dropped off, thoroughly exhausted. There were but two others left when the little fellow of whom I told you gave up the race.

"He went off and lay down," said his mother, "the sorriest spectacle you ever saw."

The two remaining boys now bent all their energies to conquer each other. The wood fairly flew from under their hands, and their saws kept up a humming noise, and seemed to drive their sharp teeth into the hard wood with a never-say-die spirit.

Minute after minute went by, and not a word was spoken. Sparks of fire sometimes flew from the heated metal. The boys glanced at each other like lightning flashes.

Oh, how hard they worked! They forgot the prize; I think they forgot everything except that so many people were looking at them, and it would never do to fail.

At last the stroke of one saw began to waver. It grew more and more feeble, and looking at the little arm that guided it, they saw that he was yielding. He flung down the saw at last, and closing his lips desperately over his disappointment, walked hurriedly away. The other boy worked the allotted time, and received the prize.

He was barely twelve years old, but it was no new thing for him to saw wood. His father had been dead for many years, and he had often sawed wood to earn money to help support his mother and his little sister.

And what do you think happened to this little sister that day? She got a prize too. Yes, she had been taught to do something useful for her mother and brother.

There was a prize offered for the best _patchwork_ by children under twelve, and this little girl had mended her own poor clothes ever so many times, and put patches upon her brother's, in the long evenings. So when she heard of the offer of the prize, she said to herself, "Brother will saw wood; why may not I take some patchwork?" And with her mother's consent she took a pair of her brother's pants which she had neatly patched and mended, and her work took the premium.

"A five-dollar hat!" She could hardly believe her senses at first when they told her, but there were few happier children in the world than this little brother and sister, who started down town to "pick out" a hat and a suit of clothes. Mr. Woodsaw walked as proudly as a peacock when he had trimmed himself up in his new suit, and Miss Patchwork, in her beautiful hat, with flower and feather, looked as sweet as a rose. Their feet seemed to have wings, and they flew along the street.

"Oh, look, mother, look!" they cried, as soon as they were in sight of the door; but the curious people could not see their mother's joy, for she closed the door instantly upon the outside world, and held _her_ prize boy and girl to her happy heart.

I am sure that everybody will read this true story with a feeling of satisfaction that the prizes were won by a brother and sister who so thoroughly deserved them. But I want you to notice two or three things. The little fellows who tried wood-sawing, simply to get the prize, for two or three weeks, were distanced by a lad who had made wood-sawing his business. He had helped his widowed mother by working in a manly way, and so he had a great deal more strength than if he had taken up the work for mere amusement. The little sister, too, had done the hardest of all patchwork when she mended her brother's old jackets and pants. I felt so pleased that she gained the prize, and I am sure the other girls who tried were glad to see her sweet face under her pretty hat at Sunday-school next Sunday. The boy who started off without his breakfast made a mistake. When you have hard work to do, or a journey to go upon, or a tough problem to solve, always take a good breakfast if you can. Excitement will not take the place of food. Finally, dears, I think the boys who honestly tried, and failed, were worthy of a great deal of credit. It is no disgrace to be beaten after you have done the very best you can.

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We would call the attention of the C. Y. P. R. U. to Mrs. John Lillie's interesting article entitled "Papa Haydn," and "What the Showman Did not Tell," by Mr. William H. Rideing. The latter article contains a great deal of information which our boys and girls will probably remember better by hearing it from the "Showman" than if they had learned it in volumes on Natural History.

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PUZZLES FROM YOUNG CONTRIBUTORS.

No. 1.

FOUR WORD SQUARES.

1.--1. Danger. 2. A species of hard wood. 3. A pirate. 4. To inoculate, as a tree or bud. 5. Certain stringed instruments.

2.--1. A satellite. 2. To join. 3. A salt. 4. Endless. 5. Long-winged aquatic fowls.

JUNE BUG.

3.--1. A very small particle. 2. A river in England. 3. The beginning of many old stories. 4. Gentle.

4.--1. A garden. 2. A bird. 3. Duration. 4. A Roman Emperor.

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No. 2.

TWO CHARADES.

1.

My first a lofty station holds, My second holds a lowly; But each has care enough to share, And earns his living wholly. My whole's a bird with pinions free, You'll see him often near the sea.

MOTHER BUNCH.

2.

My first is what you're doing now, My second's made of stone; Within my whole you often gaze, And longest when you are alone.

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No. 3.

TWO DIAMONDS.

1.--1. A letter. 2. Fleshy. 3. Covered in front. 4. Terse. 5. Stretched. 6. To expire. 7. A letter.

2.--1. A letter. 2. A covering. 3. A city in Egypt. 4. A despicable knave. 5. A mark made by impression. 6. Frequently. 7. A letter.

JUNE BUG.

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No. 4.

THREE HALF-SQUARES.

1.--1. To dazzle. 2. To throw away. 3. To question. 4. A prefix. 5. A letter.

2.--1. An incident. 2. A climbing plant. 3. To finish. 4. Not. 5. A letter.

3.--1. A prickly shrub. 2. To run swiftly. 3. Something often done to cake. 4. Two vowels. 5. A letter.

J. M. ILES and C. M. EYRES.

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ANSWERS TO PUZZLES IN No. 148.

No. 1.

M O O N S W A N O H I O W A N E O I L S A N N A N O S E N E A R

P A P E R A L I V E P I N E S E V E N T R E S T S

No. 2.

Pantry.

No. 3.

Golden-rod. Crocus. Hickory. Aster.

No. 4.

Bunker Hill Monument.

Kite. Number. Home. Mullen. Lent.

No. 5.

Esther. Ida. Hilda. Edith. Mabel. Eliza.

Ella. Ellen.

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Correct answers to puzzles have been received from D. T. O., William A. Lewis, Eddie S. Hequembourg, Frederica Wortmann, Mabel Keith, Samuel H. Molleson, Ada McCoy, Anna Griffith, Fuller Whiting, Jack Tice, Harry Johnston, David Sanderson, "Princess Feather," "Eureka," Ernest Frantz, "Puss Lester," Helen M., Archie Dixon, Phebe D., "Faithful Readers," "June Bug," Malcolm P. Black, Arthur Bates, Mollie Preston, and W. Soldan.

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[_For Exchanges, see 2d and 3d pages of cover._]