The Nursery, January 1877, Vol. XXI

By and by there was another ring at the door; and in a moment the servant-girl came in, saying, "The snow-shovellers are here again, sir, and they want to see you."

Mr. Prim stepped out into the entry, where he found two rough-looking boys, both of whom greeted him at once with, "Wish you a happy new year! Please, sir, it's done snowing now."

"That means," said Mr. Prim, "that you both want the job of clearing off the sidewalk; but which am I to give it to?"

"Oh, sir!" said the bigger boy, "we are partners. I shovel, and Mike sweeps."

"And what are your names?"

"Mine is Tom Murphy, and his is Mike Flynn."

"Then," said Mr. Prim, "the firm is 'Murphy & Flynn.'"

"That's it," said both boys with a grin.

"Well, Murphy & Flynn, I will employ you to do my shovelling to-day, and I will give you fifty cents for the job; but I am very particular. You must not leave a bit of snow anywhere about the steps or sidewalk."

"All right, sir," said the boys; and they went to work, while Mr. Prim went back to his newspaper. He had not been reading many minutes, when a loud shout in front of the house led him to look out of the window. The picture shows what he saw.

There were the two boys, each mounted on one of the stone lions at the head of the steps, and shouting at the top of his lungs in the excitement of an imaginary race.

Mr. Prim was first astonished, then angry, then amused, at this performance. He opened the window, and called out sharply, "Look here, boys! do you call that work, or play?"

The boys jumped down, and began to ply their broom and shovel with great vigor. But Murphy looked up roguishly, and said, "We were just polishing off the lions, sir."

"Yes," said Mr. Prim, "and a paroxysm of fun got the better of you. Well, it's excusable on New Year's Day. But, if the firm of Murphy & Flynn expect to succeed in business, they must not mix so much play with their work." And Mr. Prim shut the window.

"I say, Mike," said Tom, "what was it the old man said had got the better of us?"

"That's more than I can tell," said Mike. "I can't remember such hard words. But I know what he meant, and I guess he was about right."

When I was a little boy, six or seven years old, my father had two white horses, named Billy and Tom. Billy had one black foot, and a little dark spot on his face; but Tom did not have a black hair on his whole body.

Billy was the old family horse, kind, gentle, and loving. Anybody could catch him, or lead him, or drive him. He liked to be petted, and in return seemed to take pride in being kind to all in the family.

Tom was a good horse too; but we had not owned him so long, and he did not care much to have any one pet him.

Billy was a little lame; and though he worked everywhere on the farm, and in drawing loads on the road, yet he was generally excused from going with the carriage, except when it was necessary for some of us children to drive.

One day my father went to the village with Tom, leaving Billy at home alone, in a field near the house. He missed his old friend Tom. They had worked together so much, that they had become great friends; and either one was very lonesome without the other.

Billy ran about here and there, neighing loudly whenever another horse appeared in sight upon the road, hoping that it might be his friend Tom coming back.

At last I went out to comfort him. I patted his head and his neck, and leading him by the mane to the fence, climbed first upon the fence, and then upon his back.

He seemed pleased, and started in a gentle walk along the farm-road leading down into the field, away from the house. When he had gone as far as I wished to ride, I called out, "Whoa!"

But he was a wise old horse. Instead of stopping in the middle of the road, where he then was, he turned out at one side, and stopped close by the fence, for me to get off upon that; as much as to say, "A boy that is not large enough to get upon my back without climbing a fence, is not large enough to climb from my back to the ground."

A poor little hare was one day closely pursued by a brace of greyhounds. They were quite near her, when, seeing a gate, she ran for it. She got through it easily; but the bars were too close together for the hounds to get through, so they had to leap over the gate.

As they did so, the hare, seeing that they would be upon her the next instant, turned around and ran again under the gate where she had just before passed. The hounds, in their speed, could not turn at once. Their headway took them on some distance; and then they had to wheel about, and leap once more over the upper bar of the gate.

Again the hare doubled, and returned by the way she had come; and thus she went backward and forward, the dogs following till they were fairly tired out, while the little hare, watching her chance, happily made her escape.

Thus you see that wit and self-possession are sometimes more than a match for superior strength and speed. If the little hare could not run so fast as the greyhounds, she could outwit them, and they saw no way to prevent it.

There is a little girl in our village whom we call "Gentle Jessie;" for she is so kind and gentle, that even the dumb animals and the insects seem to find it out, and to trust her.

On a dry pleasant day, last autumn, I saw her seated on the grass. I went up to tell her not to sit there; for it is not safe to sit on the ground, even in dry weather.

As I drew near to Jessie from behind, I heard her talking. To whom could she be talking? There was no one by her side; that is to say, no human being. But soon I found she was talking to a wasp that was coming as if to sting her.

"Wasp, wasp, go away, and come again another day," said she. But the wasp did not heed her. It flew quite near to her face. Instead of striking at the bold insect, she merely drew back a little out of its way; for she thought, "Surely the wasp will not harm me, if I do not harm it."

And she was right. It alighted near her for a moment, but did not sting her; and gentle Jessie did not try to harm it. Then the wasp flew to the flowers on her hat; but, not finding the food it wanted, at last it flew away.

"Well done, Jessie," said I, lifting her from the ground, and giving her a kiss.

Once a poor crippled sparrow fell to the ground, and fluttered about in a vain attempt to regain a place of safety. Some of its mates gathered around it, and seemed eager to help it; but they did not know what to do. Their chirping drew together a good many of the sparrow tribe.

One thought this thing ought to be done, and another thought that. Some tried to lift the helpless bird by catching its wings in their beaks; but this failed, and such a chattering and scolding as took place!

"I told you that wasn't the way to do it."—"How stupid!"—"You should have taken my advice." Perhaps such were the speeches which were uttered in bird-language; for all the little creature seemed much excited.

Presently two of the birds flew away, but soon came back with a twig six or seven inches long and an eighth of an inch thick. This was dropped before the poor little cripple, and at each end was picked up by a sparrow, and held so that the lame bird was able to catch the middle of the twig in its beak.

Then the crippled bird, with the aid of the other two, flew off, till they came to the wall covered with ivy, where it had its home. There it chirped to show how glad it was. All the other sparrows followed, as if to share in the pleasure of the rescue. This is a true story.

There was once a bear that had been tamed and made to dance by a man who beat him when he did not mind. This bear was called Dandy, and he had been taught many queer tricks. He could shoulder a pole as if it were a gun, and could balance it on his nose, or stand on his hind-legs and hold it by his fore-paws behind his back.

He did all these things at his master's bidding because he stood in great fear of his master's whip. His master made a show of him; and, though Dandy did not like it, he was forced to submit.

But one day, when he had been left alone, the chain, that held him by a ring in his nose, got loose from the ring; and Dandy was soon a free bear. Taking his pole, he made his way, as fast as he could, to a mountain where the woods were high and thick.

Here he found a number of fellow-bears. Instead of treating them as equals, he put on fine airs, told them what a rare life he had led among men, how many nice tricks he had learned, and how much wiser he was than all the bears that had ever lived.

For a time the other bears were simple enough to take him at his word. They thought, because he said so, that he must be a very great bear indeed. He never was at a loss when they asked him a question, never would confess his ignorance, and so had to say much that was not true.

Dandy boasted so of the respect which men had paid him, that he made the other bears think he was doing them a great honor by living with them. He made them all wait on him. But at last a young bear, that had escaped from a trap which some men had set for him, said to Dandy, "Is that ring in your nose for ornament or for use?"

"For ornament, of course," said Dandy. "This ring was a gift from a man who was once my partner. He was so fond of me, and so pleased with my dancing, that he never tired of serving me. He brought me all my food. In fact I had him at my beck and call."

"My friends," said the young bear, "he tells a fib. That ring was put in his nose to be fastened to a chain. He was held a slave by the man who, he says, treated him so finely. He was made to dance through fear of being touched up with a red-hot iron. In short, he is what men call a 'humbug.'"

"Yes, he is a humbug," cried the others, though they did not know what the word meant. "We will have no more of his fine airs."—"I never liked him."—"Drive him off."—"Send him back to his dancing-master!"—"Kick him!"—"Stone him!"—"Beat him!"—"We'll have no humbug here."

And so poor Dandy was driven out from the woods, and forced to get his living by himself; while the knowing young bear that had exposed him, looked on and laughed at his misfortune. If Dandy had not been so boastful; if he had spoken the truth, and been modest,—he might have been respected by his fellow-bears to the end of his days.

DRAWING-LESSON BY HARRISON WEIR.
VOL. XXI.—NO. 1.

"Why do you take such pains in cutting out these little figures?" asked Winifred of her brother Ernest.

"I will tell you why, sister," replied Ernest. "I take pains because my teacher tells me, that, if a thing is worth doing at all, it is worth doing well."

"Did he mean that we should try to do well even in trifles?" asked Winifred.

"Yes," answered Ernest, "because, as a great man once said, 'Perfection is no trifle.'"

Winifred sat looking at her brother, as, handling a pair of scissors, he carefully cut out figures of horses, dogs, pigs, and various other animals.

Three years afterward she remembered this conversation; for it happened at that time, that, her father having died, her widowed mother was left almost destitute with a family of seven children to support.

What should the poor woman do? At first she thought she would take in washing, then that she would try to keep a little shop. While she was hesitating, Mr. Mason, a brisk old gentleman, came to the door, and asked, "Where is the boy who cuts these figures and faces in profile?"

One of his grandchildren had brought him home from school some specimens of Ernest's skill; and Mr. Mason saw at once that they were the work of a gifted and painstaking artist.

"You must mean my little Ernest," said the mother. "Poor little fellow! He little dreams what is coming. I shall soon have to take him away from school."

"Why so?" cried Mr. Mason. "Take him away from school? You shall do no such a thing. I'll not allow it."

"We are destitute, sir, and I have no means of support," said the mother with a sigh.

"No means of support! Nonsense! With a boy in the house who can cut figures like that, do you say you have no means of support?" exclaimed Mr. Mason. "Good woman, I will insure your boy good wages every week for the next year, if you will let him come between school-hours, and cut pictures under my direction."

The rest of my little story may soon be told. Ernest became the staff and stay of his family. The little talent he had cultivated so carefully and diligently was the means of giving him not only an honest employment, but a liberal support. He rose to distinction; and his productions were much sought after by all good judges of art.

St. Catherine's Rock, South Wales.

The following is an exact copy of a letter found in little Minnie's stocking last Christmas:—

The hedgehog is a queer little animal with short limbs. It feeds mostly on insects. It has its body covered with sharp spines instead of hairs, and can roll itself up in a ball, and thus show an array of prickles pointing in every direction.

Slow of foot, this little creature cannot flee from danger; but in the sharp, hard, and tough prickles of its coat, it has a safeguard better than the teeth and claws of the wildcat, or the fleetness of the hare.

The hedgehog has powerful muscles beneath the skin of the back; and by the aid of these, on the slightest alarm, it rolls itself up so as to have its head and legs hidden in the middle of the ball it thus makes of itself.

Our dog Snip saw a hedgehog, the other day, for the first time. As soon as it saw him, the little creature seemed to change from a live thing into a ball. Snip did not know what to make of it. His curiosity was much excited. He went up, and looked at it.

If the two could have spoken, I think this would have been their talk:—

Snip.—"Of all the queer things I ever saw, you are the queerest. What are you anyhow?"

Hedgehog.—"Suppose you put out your paw, and try."

Snip.—"I don't like the look of those prickles."

Hedgehog.—"Don't be a coward, Snip! Put your nose down, and feel of my nice soft back."

Whether the cunning hedgehog really cheated him by any such remarks as these, I cannot say. But Snip at last mustered courage enough to put his nose down to the ball. Rash Snip! Up rose the bristles, and pricked him so that he ran back to the house, howling and yelping as if he had been shot.

Having put Snip to flight, the hedgehog quietly unrolled itself, thrust out its queer little head with the long snout, and crept along on its way rejoicing. As for Snip, I am quite sure he will never put his nose to the back of a hedgehog again, as long as he lives.

Willie is a three-year-old darling. This summer he visited his aunt in the city, and was very much interested in the curious sights and sounds which abound there.

A few days after his return home, when his mamma sat on the piazza with some friends, Willie marched up the gravel path with his little wheelbarrow on his back.

He stopped at the foot of the steps, set his burden down, resting it upon the handles, so that it stood upright. Then holding it with one hand, and rolling the wheel with the other, he kept his foot rising and falling, just as if he were at work with a genuine treadle. He looked very sober, and said, "Please, madam, have you any scissors to sharpen?"

The ladies handed him several pairs, which he ground in the best style, trying the edge with his finger, and at last passing them to the owner with the request for ten cents.

Mamma gave him a bit of paper, which he put into his pocket, returning the change in the form of two leaves.

When he had finished his task, he shouldered the wheelbarrow, and was saying "Good-afternoon," when one of the party ran after him, calling to him to kiss her.

"Scissors-grinders don't kiss," he said; but the fun sparkled in his bright black eye, and he burst into a hearty laugh, which must have been a relief to the merry boy after being sober so long.

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This game is so simple that any child who can read may learn to play it. It is not simply a game of chance, but in every move there is an opportunity for the exercise of the judgment. The accompanying cut represents the game board. Two, three, or four can play, and each player is represented by one counter, or man, which is entered at infancy, and by various means regulated by the throw of a tetotum, or die, passes through school, college, industry, success, perseverance, etc., to wealth or happy old age; or through idleness, intemperance, gambling, crime, etc., to disgrace, poverty, ruin, suicide, or prison. Price

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