Chapter 2

Jack was not a handsome dog. His best friends could not call him a beauty; but as he was a very wise, good dog, we were all very fond of him.

One afternoon, some of the younger members of the family were sitting on the piazza, waiting for papa, who was expected home on the five-o'clock train. Jack was lying beside them.

At last, the whistle sounded in the distance; and the little four-year-old "flower of the family" said, "Run, Jack, to meet papa at the station." Jack looked up, listened intently for a moment, and then lay down again with a sigh of disappointment.

"Oh, what a lazy fellow!" said six-year-old Annie. "If mamma would only trust us to go to the station, we would not wait, or play sleepy." But the train passed on, and papa had not come.

In a little while, another whistle sounded; and this time, without a word of command, Jack sprung off the steps, dashed down the street, and returned in a few moments, escorting his master.

How did Jack know that the time-table had been changed that day, and a freight-train had taken the place of his master's train?

Another time, an uncle, who was visiting the family, had occasion to stay in town until the last train. Jack refused to be shut up, and, at eleven o'clock at night, went in the dark to the station, and escorted our guest up to the house.

How did he know what train to meet? and what instinct impelled him to do his part towards keeping up the courtesy of the family?

A LETTER FROM CALIFORNIA.

Here we are in Santa Cruz, in a hotel right on the beach. We had such a lovely stage-ride over the mountains, and enjoyed the mountain air so much, that I was almost sorry when we arrived. I wish you could see the great madroña-trees on the mountains with their dark-red wood and beautiful green leaves. I do not believe you have any Eastern trees so beautiful.

On the top of the Santa Cruz mountains, where we stopped to water the horses, there is a little house, and while we waited there, out from the house came a man whose face was all scarred and seamed. After we drove away, the stage-driver told us that the man was a hunter, known as "Mountain Charley," and that his scars were made by a grisly-bear.

Well, we have now been at Santa Cruz a week, and I have had a good time. Every morning we go in bathing. It is a funny sight to see everybody racing down into the waves, and catching hold of a big rope that is stretched from the shore a good distance into the water. The undertow here is so strong, that it is not safe to venture away from the rope.

Yesterday we all went to Moore's Beach to have a "clam-bake." We rode in a big wagon; and the first thing we did, when we got to the beach, was to pull off our shoes and stockings, and wade in the water. Papa and Uncle John dug the clams; while the rest of us ran about hunting for sea-urchins and shells.

As soon as the clams were boiled, we sat down on the beach, and unpacked the lunch-baskets. Oh, how hungry we were! and how good every thing tasted.

There was one lady in the party, who sat up high on the rocks, with her kid gloves on, and her sunshade over her, while the rest of us were running about with bare feet, and skirts tucked up. But at lunch-time she came down from her high place, and I saw her eating clams with as good a relish as any of us.

Next week we are going to Pescadero, and, perhaps, I will write to you again from there.

DAISY.

THE PARROT WHO PLAYED THE MASTER.

A STORY WITH A MORAL.

The master of the house had gone out on business. As he shut the door, the parrot, whose place was on a perch in the room, thought to himself, "Hi! Now I am master in this house, and I'll let people know it."

He thereupon threw his head proudly on one side, and spread himself in a very pompous manner; then, as he had seen his master do, broke the finest rose from the bush, and put the stem in his bill; then looked at his gay-colored coat in the glass, and felt as grand as a born nobleman.

Near by, on the rug, two dogs, Ami and Finette, lay asleep. They were well-trained, obedient dogs, clean-limbed and civil, expert in many clever tricks, but not quite a match for the parrot in cleverness and cunning.

As soon as the latter spied them, he cried out, imitating his master's tones, "Finette, attention! Ami, make ready!" Whereupon Ami stood up on his hind-legs, straight as a sentinel; while Finette hurried up, expecting to have something thrown for him to bring back.

There stood and stood the poor simpletons, steadfastly looking up, while Master Poll cried sternly all the while, "Ami, make ready! Finette, attention!" Finette became almost wild with eagerness; and poor Ami could hardly stand on his hind-legs any longer.

At last the master came home, and put an end to the torture of the poor dogs.

The moral of my story is this: whenever a simpleton puts on airs and plays the master, there are always other simpletons ready to obey his commands.

VICTOR BLUTHGEN.

CATSKILL-MOUNTAIN HOUSE.

My little friend Mabel is passing the summer amid the Catskill Mountains. These mountains are in the State of New York, on the west side of the Hudson River.

Round Top and High Peak, two of the highest summits, are about thirty-eight hundred feet above the level of the sea. They are well covered with forests, and in autumn, when the leaves begin to change, they make a very brilliant show.

The Catskill-Mountain House is finely situated on a rocky terrace, twenty-two hundred feet above the river. It is twelve miles from the village of Catskill, and is much resorted to in the summer season.

The prospect from this house is quite extensive. Mabel writes me that the view of the sunrise is grand; the air is cool and bracing; and the sight of the tops of trees rolling below, like a sea, for miles and miles, is a thing to remember.

ANNA LIVINGSTON.

SLEEPING IN THE SUNSHINE.

Words by MATTHIAS BARR. Music by ROBERT MILLS.

1.

Sleeping in the sunshine, Fie, fie, fie! While the birds are soar-ing, High, high, high! While the birds are op'-ning sweet And the blossoms at your feet, Look a smil-ing face to greet. Fie, fie, fie!

2.

Sleeping in the sunshine, Fie, fie, fie! While the bee goes humming, By, by, by! Is there no small task for you,-- Nought for lit-tle hands to do; Shame to sleep the morning through! Fie, fie, fie!

* * * * *

VIOLET TOILET WATER.

CASHMERE BOUQUET EXTRACT.

CASHMERE BOUQUET Toilet Soap.

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SEEDS AND BULBS.

ILLUSTRATED SPRING CATALOGUE FOR 1875.

NOW READY.

Sent, with a specimen copy of THE AMERICAN GARDEN, a new Illustrated Journal of Garden Art, edited by James Hogg, on receipt of ten cents.

BEACH, SON & CO., Seedsmen, 76 Fulton St., Brooklyn, N. Y.

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This Walking-Table is the best article of the kind ever offered to the mothers of America. The time saved to be given to other duties, aside from personal relief to the mother or nurse, will more than pay the price of the table. Any child that can stand a moment by a chair without falling, can, by one day's practice, and sometimes at once, walk where it pleases about the room. It is so constructed that it is impossible for the child to fall or get injured in any way.

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The Nursery.

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