Chapter 2

The news of the murder was sent on to China, and there the matter should have rested but that the two rival societies declared a boycott on each other.

The Consul got tired of this, and insisted that it be stopped. The See Yups obeyed, but grumbled, and gave the Consul a great deal of trouble.

The quarrelling still kept on, and finally the Consul sent the fatal letter, accusing the ten See Yups of treason.

The See Yups declare that they can prove that the Consul is in league with the Sam Yups, and that he has made this false accusation against them to oblige the Sam Yup society.

Their only hope is that the Minister, who returns to China very shortly, may straighten matters out for them. If he will not help them they will have to choose between going back to China and having their heads cut off, and allowing their innocent relatives to be punished for them.

* * * * *

It will interest you to know that this is Maple Sugar time, and that all through New England the manufacture of the delicious Maple Sugar is in full swing.

The way Maple Sugar is made is very interesting.

In the spring-time, before the trees begin to bud and blossom, the sap rises and works its way up into every bough and branch and twig of the tree. Sap is a liquid which flows through the tree much in the same way that blood flows through our veins, and the sap is the life-giving element of the tree, just as the blood is of the body.

In the maple tree this sap is sweet, and it is from the sap that the Maple Sugar is made.

To obtain it, the tree is tapped by being bored with an augur. The sap flows through the hole thus made and is caught in vessels placed for the purpose.

When the tree has yielded a certain amount of sap the holes are plugged, and then covered with wax, to stop the sap from flowing. If this were not done it would continue to flow until every drop was exhausted, and the tree would practically bleed to death.

Maple trees are only tapped once in two years, so that they may have time to recover from the loss of sap, and thrive and grow into fine healthy trees, for the tapping of the trees by no means kills them. There are some maples in New York State that have been producing sugar for nearly one hundred years, and show no sign of decay, though they are still tapped when their season comes round.

When the sap has been drawn from the tree it is generally boiled down until it crystallizes or sugars; it is then poured into moulds, and hardens; this is the favorite way among the farmers for keeping Maple Sugar.

In former times no woman took part in the maple-sugar manufacture. The men used first to tap the trees, and then boil the sap over wood fires that they would build in the neighborhood of the sugar bush, as the maple grove is called.

The men used iron kettles to boil the sugar, and did not take as much care as they might have done to see that the kettle was not rusty, or that no twigs or leaves fell in, and so a boiling of sugar sometimes would be spoiled.

Nowadays the women go along to the sugaring with the men. The boiling is done under cover, and it is the duty of the women to see that the kettles are properly cleaned and scoured. As the men do not have to divide their attention between boiling the sugar and gathering the sap, and both processes are in the charge of special people, the result is that the sugar is much better.

If you ever have a chance to go to a sugar camp, go. It is great fun. Shortly before the syrup sugars the boys and girls pour it on ice or snow, or into cold water; this hardens it so that it can be held in the fingers like candy. The process is called "waxing" sugar.

GENIE H. ROSENFELD.

INVENTION AND DISCOVERY.

A NEW INKSTAND has lately been patented.

The great trouble we all have with our ink is that it thickens so quickly if we are not very careful to cover the inkstand after using.

The new ink-well, to save this trouble, is self-closing.

One lid of the well is made in the shape of a half circle, and is fitted into a groove made to receive it.

When a person wishes to dip the pen in the ink, the touch of the pen slides the curved lid back; and then directly the pen is drawn out, the lid slides back into place again and the ink is protected.

NEW FLOWER-POT.--To people who really love flowers, the new flower-pot holder should prove a very great treasure.

It is to be made in china, and very prettily decorated, and its novelty consists in the plan of making it with an upper and lower chamber.

The upper part holds the flower-pot, and the lower collects the water that trickles through the pot, and keeps it away from the roots of the flower, thus preventing the plant from standing in water and rotting.

The upper and lower portions are connected by a perforated grating, through which the water is carried off.

G.H.R.

LETTERS FROM OUR YOUNG FRIENDS.

We have to acknowledge a great number of letters this week; so many, indeed, that want of space prevents publishing them all.

From the Dartmouth Street School, Worcester, we have three letters.

Etta H., Annie H., and Roy R. have sent us delightful little notes, telling us how much they enjoy THE GREAT ROUND WORLD.

We must congratulate all three of our young friends on their excellent writing. They are among the best written letters we have received so far. Etta's is particularly clear and good.

Frederic D. writes a second letter, asking about Crusoe's Island.

We have heard nothing new about Juan Fernandez.

We have, however, written to the Consul at Valparaiso and asked him if he can give us any information.

We cannot get an answer for several weeks, but when we do all our doubts about Crusoe's Island will be set at rest.

We thank Swift T., of Yonkers, for his very kind and friendly letter. It pleases us very much to know that our young friends like the paper and are anxious to receive it every week.

DEAR EDITOR:

I want to say how glad I was when I heard from THE GREAT ROUND WORLD that General Gomez had won a victory. I wish that that brutal General Weyler had been killed instead of General Maceo. Wasn't it extraordinary that all the trees in India were covered with that queer stuff? I wonder how it got there? Have any of the Hindustanees risen yet?

I am also very interested in the war Greece is having with Turkey. I wish the powers would not interfere with Greece and Turkey, but let them fight it out.

Your picture of a statue of King Arthur has a shield. We have a photograph of a statue in a tomb at Innsbruck, but it has no shield. Did Fischer make two statues?

I wish THE GREAT ROUND WORLD were published twice a week.

Yours very truly, WILLIAM THORN K. 15 West Sixteenth Street, New York. March 14, 1897.

DEAR YOUNG FRIEND:

The original statue of King Arthur had no shield, though it was evidently intended that it should have one. Some years ago an appropriate shield was made for it. The photographs are sometimes with it and sometimes without it, though as the statue stands now in the church it is with the shield as illustrated in THE GREAT ROUND WORLD.

We have heard of no fresh rising in India; the plague and the famine are weakening the people so much that they have little spirit of revolt left.

EDITOR.

We are gratified to print the following letter:

DEAR EDITOR:

We, the citizens of the Junior Republic, wish to thank you for those magazines, THE GREAT ROUND WORLD, that you were so kind to send to us.

We have entered them in our library and they are being read thoroughly by the citizens. The article on our Republic in the March 4th number of THE GREAT ROUND WORLD is exactly as that which has taken place; and, considering that this article was so truthful, we will use the Cuban and other news in your magazine as our authority when we converse on those subjects of which your magazine treats.

Yours sincerely,

WILLIAM DAPPING, Judge Criminal Court. C.G. SMITH, District Attorney. JACOB G. SMITH, President of G.J.R. C.W. BREWSTER, Secretary of State. A. ANDERSON, President of Provident Fund. LE ROY W. OLIVER, Congressman. S.E. BROWN, Senate. LOUIS FURHMAN, Keeper. JAMES WESTERVELT. T. HERNAN, Speaker of House. L.M. YOUNG, Speaker of Senate. EDWARD KING, Proprietor of Restaurant. MAJOR HERVEY E. MILLER, Secretary of Treasury.

TO THE EDITOR:

We wish to extend to you and your friends a cordial invitation to visit our Republic.

Yours, THE CITIZENS, per WILLIAM DAPPING.

GEORGE JUNIOR REPUBLIC, FREEVILLE, N.Y., March 17th, 1897.

DEAR EDITOR:

I enjoy your fascinating little magazine so much that I thought I would write and tell you so. It has pleased me very much to find that you encourage kindness to animals, for it is pathetic to think how they patiently work for us with only bad treatment as a reward. Do please write more about them, and their undeserved sufferings. I think that your older subscribers would like to read "Fabiola," by Cardinal Wiseman. It is a story of ancient Rome, and the Christians of the catacombs; it is quite an old book, but is as interesting as any that I have read.

As you are so kind about answering questions, perhaps you could tell me of some magazine or shop (in New York) where I could find authentic portraits of historic people, like Catherine de Medici, Louis XI., Louis XII., etc. I do not want them to be too expensive, and I do not want them to be fancy pictures. From a

FRIEND AND ADMIRER.

P.S.--Would you kindly tell me soon where I could get the pictures here, as we leave New York May 1st, and I then will not have a chance to profit by your advice?

NEW YORK, March 18th, 1897.

The authentic portraits of historic people are all paintings. Dutton & Co., on Twenty-third Street, have a very fine collection of photographs of the famous pictures in foreign galleries, and you would most likely find what you wanted there.

M. Knoedler & Co., 355 Fifth Avenue, near Thirty-fourth Street, have photogravures of many of the famous pictures. If you could not suit yourself at Dutton's you would be almost sure to at Knoedler's.

DEAR MR. EDITOR:

Have the astronomers succeeded in finding out whether people live on the planet Mars or not? I am very much interested in it. I saw a picture of President McKinley and his Cabinet the other day. Senator John Sherman is Secretary of State. I hope President McKinley will take more interest in Cuba than President Cleveland has. I remain,

Your fond reader, HARVEY V. SCOTLAND NECK, N.C., March 8th, 1897.

DEAR HARVEY:

It has been discovered that the air and conditions of the atmosphere on Mars are the same as those of our own planet, the Earth, and so astronomers have decided that Mars may be inhabited. EDITOR.

DEAR MR. EDITOr:

I am nine years old, and like to read about Spain and Cuba in your paper, THE GREAT ROUND WORLD, because it makes it plainer to me than the daily papers do. A long time ago I wanted to go there, but I have changed my mind. One reason why I wanted to go was, Cuba has been fighting bravely, and the murderous Spaniards have no mercy for men, women, or children, if they sympathize with the Cubans.

Wishing your paper years of success, I remain,

Your fond reader, CHARLIE N.S. SCOTTSVILLE, KANS., March 13th, 1897.

DEAR EDITOR:

I like THE GREAT ROUND WORLD much better than the history I studied before it. The reason I like it is because it tells the news of the world. I enjoy reading it so much, I am glad to see another come. I hear so much about Cuba and Spain, and other matters. Do you think there is any prospect of the Cubans gaining independence?

I must stop now, but I still remain,

Your affectionate reader, FOREST V. SCOTLAND NECK, N.C., March 8th, 1897.

DEAR FOREST:

We think it very likely that Cuba will gain her freedom before long. EDITOR.

DEAR MR. EDITOr:

I want to tell you of two books I have been reading. One is called "Scottish Chiefs," and the other is called "The Days of Bruce." I like them both very much. The "Scottish Chiefs" is a story of the days of Sir William Wallace, and describes very vividly the battles that took place.

"The Days of Bruce" is written on the same order as "Scottish Chiefs." It tells of all the Scottish lords, and how the Bruce finally became King of Scotland.

Yours truly, HARVEY V. SCOTLAND NECK, N.C., March 1st, 1897.

We have received a new book for the little ones from Thompson, Brown & Co., Boston--"Æsop and Mother Goose." It is arranged as a First Reader, and a First Reader nowadays means something very bright and attractive. This book seems to be no exception to this rule. Price is 30 cents, but the publishers will mail your teacher a sample if eight (two-cent) stamps are sent them, for they wish teachers to see the book.

SUPPLEMENT TO

THE GREAT ROUND WORLD

AND WHAT IS GOING ON IN IT.

There are certain things in history which every one _must_ know.

You can get along very well without being able to tell when the battle of Crecy was fought. You will not be at all disgraced by not knowing how many were killed at Bosworth Field, nor how many ships were engaged at the battle of Trafalgar.

But you _must_ know how England became England, how France came to be France, and Germany Germany. And yet you cannot know one of these things unless you know about the Roman Empire too, which like an old dead root underlies the greater part of Europe.

Now I am going to tell you about the Ottoman Empire, or Turkey. And yet I find I must begin by talking about other things, and chiefly about that old dead Roman Empire, with which everything else is tangled up.

It was during the reign of Augustus Caesar, the first Roman Emperor, that Christ was born. So the Roman Empire was always just the age of the Christian era.

For the first three centuries, and while it was fiercely fighting the new Christianity, its power seemed invincible. It spread upon every side, toward the East as far as Asia, and in the West as far as the Atlantic. Gaul (or France and Spain) and Britain were gathered in by this insatiable power.

But the Romans could not conquer Germany. Instead of that, the Germans or Goths were always pressing down into Italy, and even thundered at the gates of Rome.

So harassed were the Romans by these terrible barbarians that at last they could no longer spare their legions in distant provinces. So Britain was dropped. And then, as she grew more decrepit and feeble, France got away from her too, and the Germans (who were already in Spain) took that fair land (France) into their own strong, rough keeping.

In the year 323, the Roman Emperor Constantine became a Christian. The Empire threw off its old Greek paganism and adopted Christianity.

Constantine determined to remove his capital far into the East, away from the terrible Goths. There was on the shores of the Bosphorus an old Greek city named Byzantion. This he chose for his capital, and called it Constantinople. So the Empire was divided into an "Eastern" and a "Western" Empire, with two Emperors, one at Rome and the other at Constantinople, or, as it was sometimes called, Byzantium.

Although the Empire was now richer in emperors, and had two Cæsars instead of one, it rapidly became a mere shadow of what it once was; and all because of those terrible, ignorant, but iron-willed Goths, who not only would not be conquered, but were not satisfied until they had hammered to pieces the greatest Empire the world had ever seen.

The Eastern Empire with its beautiful Constantinople was in the country of the Ancient Greeks. The Greek language was the one spoken there; and while it had not the glory of the old imperial city of Rome, it had another sort of splendor.

It became the centre of the most brilliant intelligence of the world at that time. There were men great in learning, in art, in literature, and a polished civilization which was chiefly Greek and became less and less Roman.

All this was very dazzling in a way. But the days of the great ascendency of the Roman Empire were gone. A new star had arisen in the West.

Charlemagne, a German, was in the year 800 crowned Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire at Rome, and had displaced the Cæsars as the head of Christendom.

Besides that, the "Bishop of Rome," as he was once called, had now become the Pope, the Vicar of Christ on Earth; and as the power of the rival emperors declined, the power of the Pope increased; so that Rome, as the spiritual head of Christendom, was now superior to Constantinople.

While the Goths were breaking in pieces the Roman Empire, and while Constantinople was growing in splendor, important events were happening in far-off Asia.

* * * * *

In the year 569, there was born in Arabia a child who altered the whole course of history. His name was Mahomet.

As the Mahometan religion has always been a scourge and a curse, you would naturally suppose its founder was a bad man. But on the contrary he was a very good man, and had a great desire to make his people better.

The Arabians had a corrupt form of idolatry which came from the Persians, and worshipped not one, but a great many gods.

Mahomet sincerely believed that he was inspired by the one true and great God to overthrow this old religion and to establish a pure and true one.

Under this inspiration he wrote the Koran, which is the Mahometan Bible. This book told them of the sins they must not commit, and of the joys which hereafter awaited those who should be faithful to the teachings of the one God and his prophet Mahomet.

The fatal element in this religion was its cruelty. The Prophet had declared that it should be enforced with the sword, that it should be: the Koran--or death!

It spread with the fury of a conflagration. The Arabs, or Saracens, as they were called, conquered Persia and Syria and Egypt. After that they began to look enviously at Constantinople and to dream of universal empire like the Romans. They were not a horde of ignorant barbarians like the Goths. They came from an ancient seat of learning, and their leaders were men of knowledge and attainments far beyond anything existing in Europe at that time.

In the year 710, like a flock of vultures a great Mahometan host swooped down upon Christian Europe.

Spain was the extreme western limit of the Roman Empire. It was the plan of these terrible Saracens, after conquering Spain, to sweep over the Pyrenees into France. Then another Saracen army, after conquering Constantinople, was to flow westward, and the two streams would meet at Rome.

It was a very nice plan--for the Saracens! But they did _not_ get over the Pyrenees. Nor did they take Constantinople until six hundred years later. So they were content to establish themselves firmly in Spain and upon the African coast opposite, and bided their time.

After the occupation of Northern Africa and Spain, they were no longer call Saracens, but Moors. They lingered in Spain until the discovery of America; and the final expulsion of the Moors from the Spanish peninsula, which was effected with great cruelty, took place during the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella. They made Spain beautiful, and they made it great.

When the Goths flowed in a rough torrent over Southern Europe they effaced civilization. But this Saracen wave of conquest bore on its crest--but only on its crest--art, refinements, and culture of a type unknown to Europe. The twilight of the Middle Ages was illumined by a revival of Greek culture at Constantinople, and by Saracenic art and erudition in Spain.

For seven hundred years they remained in Spain, which still bears traces of their beautiful architecture; and the Middle Ages would have been darker still but for the enriching stores of knowledge brought into Europe by the Asiatic people.

So in the 8th century there were two great empires in Europe: the Roman and the Mahometan.

The one had passed its meridian and was swiftly declining. The other, with irresistible energy, and with the vigor of a terrible youth, made men tremble for the fate of Christendom.

This Saracen Empire now stretched from the heart of Asia to the outer confines of Europe. So, like the Roman, it was divided into its Eastern and Western parts with two Caliphs (or Emperors): one at Bagdad, in Asia and the other at Cordova in Spain.

A part of their possessions in the East was the spot the most sacred in the world to Christians. Palestine, the land hallowed by the birth, life, and death of Christ, was held by these infidels, whose religion required them to insult and degrade the very name of Christ, and offered rich rewards for exterminating His followers.

This led to the most heroic event in all history. The annals of the world record nothing more astonishing than the Crusades.

When one man offers up fortune and life for a sentiment, he is regarded as one different from his fellows. If an entire nation does it, it is still more amazing. But that all the nations of a Continent, forgetting their own private ambitions and interests, laying aside enmities and jealousies among themselves, should unite, and for two centuries pour out life and treasure, and expend all their energies upon an object which could bring nothing but sacrifice--no material reward,--this is a spectacle the world has seen but once, will never see again, and will never cease to wonder at!

When Peter the Hermit came from Jerusalem at the close of the eleventh century, and with burning eloquence told of the desecration of the Holy Places in Palestine, and of the sufferings of the small band of Christians in the Holy City, Europe rose as one man.

From sovereign to serf there was not one dissenting voice. If it took uncounted lives, and all the treasure of Europe, the Cross, and not the Crescent, should wave over the Holy Land.

The kingdoms united in one great "European Concert." And for what purpose? _To drive the Mahometans out of that very land where another "European Concert" is ingeniously striving to keep them undisturbed to-day,_ and to rescue a little handful of Christians counted by units, where now they call to us by thousands!

And is this what 700 years of civilization has done for us?

It may have been a madness, a wild and fruitless expenditure of life, treasure, and happiness. But I think it must have been a sight which gladdened the angels in heaven, to see such a mighty outpouring of generous sacrifice, without one selfish end in view.

People of all ranks, rich and poor alike, gave out of their abundance or their poverty; abandoned homes, happiness, everything, and flocked to the standards of the Cross.

The sufferings of this impetuous host may be imagined, but never described. No railroads, no telegraphs, no skilled commissariat with careful provision for sustenance.

Thousands perished by the way. Thousands more by the sword. And although for a brief time the Cross floated over Jerusalem, it was only a fleeting vision.

The Saracens recovered what they had lost, and the Crescent waved triumphant above the Holy Land,--_and does so still._

At this time there was a wandering, warlike people living far beyond in Asia called Turks. They had not settled homes, and had for centuries been straying into the lands by the Mediterranean, which were held by an Asiatic race remotely connected with them.