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Read Ebook: The Nursery July 1877 XXII. No. 1 A Monthly Magazine for Youngest Readers by Various
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Ebook has 163 lines and 11959 words, and 4 pages
"Let says she hates the Fourth of July, and the old flag," cried Mat; "and we think she ought to be put in prison as a rebel. We are trying to arrest her."
"Go to bed, every one of you, you rogues!" said papa, "or I will put you all in prison for breaking the peace,--Where's my big whip, mother?"
"I'll tell you where it is, papa," cried little Win.
"Where, then, is it, you little darl--I mean you little rogue?" said papa.
"It is where Cinderella's glass slippers are," screamed Win. "Ask the fairies where that is."
What a scampering and laughing there was then!
Papa made a pounding with his feet on the stairs, as if he were coming up in a great rage; but he and mamma were laughing all the time, and so were Mat and Let,--all but Win, and she kept a grave face.
It was now almost five o'clock, and the three sisters made up their minds that they would dress themselves, and go out on the green to see the fun.
EMILY CARTER.
THE LITTLE DESERTER.
FREDERICK.
SEE him on the apple-tree, Looking down so bold and free! Now that he his wings can show us, He pretends he does not know us.
Ah, you rogue! are you aware How deserters often fare? Come, be good, and I'll not chide: See, the door is open wide.
BIRDIE.
Peep, peep, peep!
CLARA.
Were you not well treated by us? Why, then, do you thus defy us? Salad every morning early, Crumbs of bread, and grains of barley, Sugar, now and then a berry, And in June a nice ripe cherry,-- These were yours; don't be ungrateful; To desert us is too hateful.
BIRDIE.
Peep, peep, peep!
FREDERICK.
Now 'tis pleasant all, and sunny, Bees are busy making honey, You can flit from bough to bough, You can sing and twitter now: Wait till winter comes, you rover, Then your frolic will be over. Cats are on the roof already: Birdie, dear, come back to Freddy.
BIRDIE.
Peep, peep, peep!
CLARA.
Peep and peep! What then, deserter? Was there creature ever perter? Mine you are; to me belong; Me you owe each day a song. Darling, here's your cage all clean; Come, I say, and don't be mean; Come, and be once more our pet, And your fault we will forget.
BIRDIE.
Peep, peep, peep! T'wee, t'wee, t'wee!
PAPA.
IDA FAY.
A FISH STORY.
COUSIN WILLIE lives on a pleasant island in Chesapeake Bay. He has a boat called the "Nautilus." One morning he was taking a sail in his boat, when he saw a large fish-hawk soaring and wheeling through the air, as though in search of a breakfast for its young nestlings. At length it made a dive down to the water, and brought up a large fish.
Just then an eagle that had been watching the fish-hawk from the top of a tree, came swooping down toward the hawk, as if determined to have the fish for his own breakfast.
The eagle attacked the hawk; and the two birds fought for the fish until the hawk was forced to let it drop, when the eagle made a rapid swoop, and caught the fish in his talons.
Cousin Willie, from his boat, watched the fight of the birds, and thought he would like to make the bold robber give up his prey. So he shot at him with a pistol, and gave him such a fright that he dropped the fish in his turn.
Willie picked up the fish, took it home, and laid it upon a table in the kitchen to be cooked for dinner. But a sly old cat saw it on the table, and, as no one was near to prevent, she grabbed it quickly, and stole away with it to give herself and her kittens a breakfast.
Thus the cunning puss and her kitties, you see, Got the better of those brave fishers three.
COUSIN LUCY.
BUTTERCUP'S CIRCUS.
FRED and Bertie, two little black-eyed boys, were visiting their Aunt Susan in a beautiful country village. The large, old-fashioned house, under a giant elm-tree, was full of wonders to them; but their greatest delights were in driving the old gray horse, or feeding and petting an Alderney calf which their Uncle Harry was raising.
This "baby-cow," as little Bertie called her, was kept away from its mother, old Clover, most of the day, and tied to a cherry-tree in the side yard. The boys named her Buttercup. They were allowed to feed her with meal and water; and she soon grew so tame, that they could pat and caress her as much as they pleased.
One day Fred found an old saddle in the stable; and he proposed to Bertie to help him put it on the calf, and have a ride the length of her rope. They succeeded in fastening it upon Buttercup's smooth back; and Freddie exclaimed with delight, "Now we will have a first-class circus!"
A slight noise followed their fall. Their uncle and aunt appeared. The saddle was sent back to the stable, and the boys did not engage Buttercup for any more circus performances that summer.
MAMMA MAGGIE.
AT SEA.
BARK "MURRAY," PACIFIC OCEAN, December, 1876.
Every day at noon, if the sun shines, the captain comes up on deck with a queer thing in his hand, which he calls a sextant. With this he looks at the sun, and finds out just where on this great ocean we are, and just how far we have gone in the last twenty-four hours. To-day he says we are three hundred miles from Honolulu.
There are twenty sails on this ship. I love to lie down on deck, and look at them; and I think it is a beautiful sight to see them all spread and filled with wind. It almost seems as if their tops touched the sky. All the masts and sails and ropes have names. I am sure it would take me a good while to learn them; but all the sailors know them.
When the captain wants a sail changed, he gives the order in a very loud tone; then the first mate, who is never very far from the captain, repeats the order; and then the sailors run quickly to the ropes and pull away, and sing while they pull; and the sail goes up or down, just as the captain wants it.
Every hour a sailor takes his turn at steering the ship: so there is always one man at the wheel. There is a large bell swung just in front of him, which he strikes every half-hour to mark the time. When it is twelve o'clock, he strikes the bell eight times; and it is eight bells again at four o'clock and at eight o'clock. The first hour after eight bells is two bells; the second, four bells; the third, six bells; and the half-hours strike the odd numbers,--three, five, and seven bells. It is a very funny way to tell time, I think.
One day the captain slung a hammock on deck, and we had a nice time swinging in it. Another day, when the sea was very calm, he hung a rope from the rigging, and made a real swing for us. We have long fish-lines which we throw over the ship's side. Once a gentleman on board caught a beautiful dolphin, all green and blue and gold. The steward made a nice chowder out of the dolphin for our lunch, and we had baked dolphin for dinner that day.
Thanksgiving Eve a little lamb was born on board. The sailors named it "Thanksgiving," for the day. It is a dear little lamb now,--so white and gentle! We have tied a blue ribbon around its neck, and it will run all over the deck after us, and go to sleep in our laps. There is a cunning little pig, too, which I call "Dennis," after the pig that I read about in "The Nursery." I wish it were really the same wonderful little pig; but mamma says she does not think it can be.
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