" When I opened my eyes they were enjoying a dance." Page 15. AUTUMN LEAVES: BY CHRISTIE CRUST. " The maples redden in the sun, In autumn gold the beeches stand." WITH ILLUSTRATIONS, PORTLAND: PRESS OF B. THURSTON AND COMPANY. 1875- COPYRIGHT SECURED. IN ENTIRE FORGETFULNE3S OF THE FEW DAYS TO BE REGRETTED, AND PLEASANT REMEMBRANCE OF ALL OTHER SCHOOL- DAYS, THIS LITTLE BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED TO MY PUPILS, WHEREVER THEY MAY BE, BUT MOST ESPECIALLY TO THAT LITTLE BAND THAT FOLLOWED MY VARIED FORTUNES SO FAITHFULLY AFTER THAT TERRIBLE CALAMITY, THE CHICAGO FIRE. AUTHOR. PREFACE. For the few following pages, the history of an imaginary journey into Switzerland, the author begs a liberal share of forbearance from a criticising public. Her school was not a graded one, so are not the chapters ; some of them being adapted to the capacities of " Children of a larger growth," while others will only interest the very youngest. The stories related of animals are new and true ; the illustra- tions, for the most part original. In some cases, credit may not have been given to the proper au- thorities, and the reader is referred to Wood's Natural Histories, as well as to " Man and Beast " by the same author, the Encyclo- pedia Americana, etc. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. Walks and Talks among the Leaves, . . 7 CHAPTER II. The Baker's Dozen, .... 21 CHAPTER III. Helvetia 27 CHAPTER IV. Cimo and Chestnuts, . 33 CHAPTER V. Nonna's Fairy Story, 39 CHAPTER VI. Nonna's Fairy Story, continued, . . 49 CHAPTER VII. Nonna's Fairy Story, concluded, . . 52 CHAPTER VIII. Chip, 57 CHAPTER IX. Agno, 67 CHAPTER X. Eliza and her Cats, 80 CHAPTER XI. Luganno and John's Letter, ... 91 CHAPTER XII. Mountains 101 CHAPTER XIII. Charming the Bear 112 CHAPTER XIV. William Tell, 125 CHAPTER XV. Creep, 133 ILLUSTRATIONS. Dance of the Acorns, ...... Frontispiece. Baker's Dozen, 21 Swiss Kitchen, 33 Walter Flying Away in the Moonlight 39 The Rat Bringing the Ring, 49 Walter's Wedding Tour, 57 Eliza, 81 Her Cats, 9 1 Devil's Bridge, 101 Brownies Charming a Bear, "3 I CHAPTER I. AUTUMN LEAVES. WHAT a long walk ! I'm very tired, but I've got them, dear children these autumn leaves. See! Maple, beech, oak, chestnut, woodbine, sumach, dogwood, besides all these smaller ones. I have walked, oh, so far! It may be they might have been gathered nearer, picked up, per- haps, in the street, but they would have been torn and dusty. You will like them better fresh from the woods, I think. Look at the rich colors of this maple ! One half is bright yellow, shading into gold mingled with crimson ; the other, clear crimson. Here is another, green, yellow, and crimson ; and still another ; smaller, more delicately cut a bright scarlet. This beech, too, what a clear bright yellow * it is. * The author learned after the above was written that, as a rule, the beech is brown in autumn ; occasionally, but rarely, it is as golden as the birch. 8 WALKS AND TALKS Oh ! do not push that one away. It's all brown to be sure, but its a beautiful brown, a rich cuir (queer) color. Examine its fiber. How firm and glossy the oak strong as the tree it fell from. Yes, I walked all the way out and back. Mus- cles are a little tired, but they'll be fresher to-mor- row. All alone ? On my way back I overtook a washerwoman, sitting on a bank, waiting for the horse cars. She asked me " If I knew where was the horse cars, and bes you going to walk ? " And thought, perhaps, I had been out washing. When I told her that I had not been out wash- ing, didn't know where the horse cars were, and I was going to walk, she thought, " may be, she would have company, and she might as well walk too, and so save her fare." " Tin cints didn't grow on every bush, shure." Alone ! It is pleasant to be alone sometimes, one can think better. I didn't mind the woman though. She told me how many children she had, and how many she had buried. AMONG THE LEAVES. 9 Poor thing ! Four were living and seven dead ! Think of that, children ; you that have good homes ; seven dead ! Because, perhaps, the poor woman could not care for them as she ought. She said " It was hard to leave them in the morn- ing, when she did not know what might happen to them before night. The railroad might run over them, or matches set them on fire, or they might get in some mischief, or something." " Often she made four or five dollars a week." "She had a bilious hall to clean nixt." We didn't keep together long, but may be her walk seemed a little shorter ; I hope so. At any rate she kept her ticket. Yes, I have walked a long way to gather these leaves for you. Fifty years is a long time to look forward to, isn't it ? and it's a long walk to look back upon. They are autumn leaves, indeed, that I bring you, and I hope you will greet them as kindly as they were gathered. They may not all be perfect. Such are not often found. Some are brown with age ; do not reject them 10 WALKS AND TALKS for the brighter colors. History is healthy reading. I only wish the chapters you find may lead you to seek for more. The walk has been a long one ! Strangers have been met and overtaken, I hope with pleasant greet- ings and words of encouragement. Here are your leaves ! Some I took from the trees ; some fell to me ; and some I picked from the ground. Oh ! yes ; I enjoyed gathering them. It is very delightful to be among trees at any time, but now, when they are arrayed in such gorgeous robes, the eye is scarcely satisfied with gazing. Nowhere else is decay lovely, save when the smile of the Great Spirit beams from the face of the aged. I had scarcely written this last sentence when a maple leaf whispered " / know a nice story! " Is it true ? Where did you hear it ? Who told you ? I asked. " It is true. The tree told it to me. Do not be afraid when I repeat it." " Two of our ancestors, twin brothers, angels with beautiful green wings, were buried alive !" AMONG THE LEAVES. \\ What for ? I asked, almost suffocated at the idea. " For no reason, that they knew/' it replied. " They were buried in the damp, cold ground, among worms and creeping things, without light, and for all they knew, without food nothing but water!" How strange ! " Yes ; they lay quite still for a while. Any of us would, I think, we should have been so frighten- ed ; besides, it was no use to cry, for nobody could hear them, and so they lay perfectly still, asking no questions, making no complaints ; kept from faint- ing by the water, which was allowed them in abundance ; fast hold of each others hands they lay in that dark tomb each knowing that the other was alive, and that was all !" " Wasn't it a fearful time ?" Yes, I answered, almost too much shocked to to speak. If they had committed any terrible crime, I could understand' why they should be so punished ; but, angels with real wings as they were, it seems unaccountable ! It was a little c/icofnl, 12 WALKS AND TALKS though, not to have been entirely alone. One might have lost heart altogether, not even have been able to drink ! " I think not," said the leaf. " I know several such cases ; the trees all tell pretty much the same story, which makes me think it must be true. There's the oak, a very trustworthy tree, says he had but one ancestor which was treated in the same way, only, if anything, he was kept longer in the prison. But you look horrified ! " I am, to think of the wickedness going on in the world ! But, I am impatient to hear the rest. Did they escape, or were they released ? "They escaped, in this way. After they had lain still awhile, they began to feel such a terrible energy stirring them, that they tore themselves apart, and they grew so hungry as to eat their own beautiful wings ! Then, some strange looking feet were given them, that seemed inclined to push far- ther and farther down into the earth in search of water, to satisfy an unnatural craving that had taken possession of them." "Nothing more occurred that was unpleasant. AMONG THE LEAVES. 13 As the saying is, ' They soon got their heads above water.' By their own energy, they pushed their way up into the light, and, lo ! two other lovely, soft green wings began to grow ! Year after year, since then, they have grown taller and stouter ; wings innumerable, lift themselves to the breezes from their strong arms, receiving the light and the dews from heaven, and shedding gladness and beauty all around." Bend your heads, dear children, and lift your hearts up to the Lord, for the lesson that the story told by the leaf teaches us. Never despair. Even in the darkest, most disagreeable prison- house of earth, God watches over his children to protect them, If they are wayward, he punishes, if he cannot allure them. In mercy he punishes, that they may not fail to enjoy the beautiful things he has in store for them. The leaves all raised their heads as soon as the maple had finished. All testified to the truth of what it had said, and when I asked them who told this strange story, each made the same reply, " The tree told me."' 14 WALKS AND TALKS Such a long line of traditionary evidence it would not be fair to doubt, I thought, but it will do no harm to enquire about it, so I asked the oak what he knew of himself. The leaves all grew very still at this, fearing lest they might lose a word of what this monarch of the forest might say. The tree I shall never forget how grand and solemn he looked and what a sigh came out of his great heart at the remembrance of this dark time in his history ; but he immediately recovered his cheerful look, shook his stout arms, and sent clown a whole shower of acorns upon my poor head ! How fat, and green, and saucy they all looked, nestled in those scaly cups ! All but one ! What is the matter with this one ? I asked, this one with the hollow cheek and flat nose ? The oak put on that solemn look again, and, in very low, hollow tones, said "Too many ques- tions!" At this, the other trees fairly clapped their hands, and rustled all their leaves. At the same time, a great wind blew all the fallen ones, with the AMONG THE LEAVES. 15 sick acorn, away up into the air, completely out of sight. I shut my eyes in thought. " Too many ques. tions ! " What did this mean ? Can children ask too many questions ? Is that what he meant ? Do not so any more, then, children. Do not worry your parents when you see they are "very busy, with any questions. I think now, of what a very well- bred little boy said on one occasion. It is a short story which will interest you I think. Natie had learned, somewhere, that when he wanted anything it was very right to pray to the good God to give it to him. So one day he wanted a horse, and he stopped right in the midst of his play, put his hands together, looked up, and said : " Please, dear God, make me a horse. I've got a tail." Just then there came a clap of thunder it was in the summer time and he quickly added : " Oh ! you're busy now and I will wait." Perhaps he forgot about his horse when the shower was over. The little fellow soon went where there were more beautiful things than he had ever thought of, that he did not even need to ask for. 16 WALKS AND TALKS There are many questions that children ask which they can answer themselves, if they will stop to think a minute. You have all heard of that great teacher who came to us from Switzerland, whom all the money of the French courts could not attract from us ; partly, perhaps, because he loved the freedom of this country, and partly be- cause he could be more useful here Agassiz : Let every little boy raise his hat in his presence, and every little girl look up, for he was as kind as he was learned. Well, when men and women went to him to be taught, he answered not their questions, but placed one of God's works before them, and told them to look study for themselves. All day, and two days, he would have them look at a fish, or a worm, or a leaf, or at whatever they had come to him to learn about. When they had studied long enough to ask the right questions, they could in most cases answer for themselves. This must be, I thought, what the oak meant partly. Be sure, children, and obey your parents ; tell the truth ; eat plenty of bread and butter ; use your eyes and ears more, and your tongues less ; AMONG THE LEAVES. 17 study the habits of the birds and the bees, the worms, the spiders, the ants, in short, make friends with every thing that lives ; love the Creator, and be as happy as those plump acorns, that, when I opened my eyes, had all taken to themselves legs, and were enjoying a dance the last of the season perhaps in Dame Nature's capacious well-venti- lated hall, which was lighted in its remotest cor- ners by that old-fashioned lamp, the Harvest moon. But, dear me ! I must have fallen asleep and dreamed that, about the acorn's dancing. I never heard of such a thing 1 am sure. I am wide awake enough now, and if any other leaf or tree has a story, I am ready to listen. Well, Mr. Birch, I used to know you very well, but, I de- clare, we do make mistakes when we haven't seen one for a long time, and are getting old too. Yes, I remember you now very well. You are uncom- monly good looking for the season. Yellow is a very becoming color. I think I like it even better than green. " I'm glad you like it ; it's rather warmer for the autumn, I think, and then it harmonizes better 18 WALKS AND TALKS with the colors the other leaves have put on ; you know one likes to be in the fashion somewhat. I feel a little timid about speaking, and I do not know as I shall express the minds of all my rela- tions the family is a large one but I do think we are treated more unkindly than either the oak or the maple put to more disagreeable uses I mean not at this season of the year, but when we are green and tender." Ah ! I was not aware. " Well, yes ; I never was,. but some of my friends liave been, boiled ; it is too disgusting to speak of, but they were absolutely boiled with pork and eaten for greens ! Then, too, you've heard of ' birch tea,' given to bad boys occasionally." I pitied the last speaker. I shouldn't like to be treated that way myself. Mr. Beech : " Mr. President, ladies and gentle- men." Mr. Beech was greeted with a round of applause. He evidently had something to say. When the tumult had subsided which his appear- ance had caused, he said, " I rise Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen." He was very particular to AMONG THE LEAVES. 19 repeat his first formula. His throat did not seem to be in quite a good speaking condition, and I was very much afraid he had forgotten what he meant to say, and I thought I might as well, while he was getting ready, correct an impression I had with re- gard to his dress, you remember. I quite mistook, that is, I got a little mixed up. I called Birch, Beech. I forgot, Mr. Beech wears a brown coat in the autumn, and keeps it on all winter, or rather he turns it quite a philospher is Mr. Beech. White is warmer in winter really, than brown, though it does not look so. Beg pardon, Mr. Beech, I did not mean exactly to call you a turn coat, but it is better to have a turned coat, than none at all, in the cold winter ; now, don't you think so ? Mr. Beech had cleared his throat, or gained confidence by this time real merit is always modest, I think and he proceeded to say, " I think you will all concur with me in saying, that the Beech family has a higher claim upon the sympathies of the public, than that of the last speaker. It is a well-known fact, that the Beech nut is not allowed even to be buried in peace. All 20 WALKS AND TALK'S. the squirrel tribe is opposed to it, and strange to say, man has allied himself with the bears and the squirrels on this platform ; and I really fear, unless something is done about it, that the day is not far distant when our places will be occupied by a less stalwart race. It is true, our family is not so large or distinguished as that of neighbor Birch, but I hope I do not overestimate when I say that we never fail at fires." Mr. Beech sat down, and I should have been glad to hear from the climbers, woodbine and dog- wood, but it grew very cold ; the leaves shivered and fell to the earth ; the trees drew in their breath, sent their sap down into the ground to their roots, put on their soberest, grayest expres- sion, and were ready for winter snows ! CHAPTER II. THE BAKER'S DOZEN AND HOW THEY WENT. THEY all went in a Dilligence. Thirteen of them ! Thirteen frolicsome, frisky, gay little kittens, ex- cept one mother puss sober and gray enough. " A baker's dozen." I never quite understood why a baker should have thirteen in his dozen, unless he thinks one, or all of his cakes, or pies, or pud- dings may be dry, and he throws one in to make up in quantity, what is lacking in quality. Let me see. Here are Lilie, Florence, Helen, Laura, Grace, Mabel, Charley, Harry, Willie, John, George, Hiram, and myself thrown in No ? Charley says, " Me, more like," and Lilie, and Grace, and Florence, all clamor, " to be thrown in." We will all be thrown into this Dilligence, if you please. Where should you like to ride ? In the coup6 where we can be very private, and still have a good 22 THE BAKER'S DOZEN. view of the country ; or, shall we take the interior and ba more social ; or, go farther back into the posterior, and ride with the poorer class of people ? Often the Dilligence is filled, and one in a hurry to get on, is furnished with a carriage called the subsidii ; and we can go there, if we wish. Yes, yes, I see ; the boys all want to go on top, and the girls look to the coupe". How much we shall enjoy the liberty of this im- aginary journey ! We can take coupe", interior, posterior, or subsidii, at will. That Titan conduc- teur, whose head and face except a little patch of ruddy cheek and a pair of round eyes is concealed by cap and hair ; with his broad shoulders and im- mense chest covered by the hood and cape of his long Taberoni, his long limbs and large feet pro- tected by giant boots, with gaiters buttoned over the knee, and his strong hands encased in green woolen gloves, will be very agreeable to us if we give him a little of what the Arabs call " buck- seesh." We shall journey without any of the usual troubles. No trunks, no satchels, no umbrellas, no lunch baskets, no discomforts. We will ride in the THE BAKER'S DOZEN. 23 coup with Prince Doria, Prof. Emerson, and Madam Torani (Torane), and they shall not even frown at our presence. The Baron shall have room for his gouty toe, the Professor for his specimens, and the chicken and goodies in Madam's basket be quite safe from our fingers. They will not mind us in the interior. The monks may tell their beads and their stories, just as well, for the extra dozen ; the banker can count his gains and calculate for future riches, and not be disturbed by our merry faces, and careless hearts ; we will not awaken that little cherub, that lies so quietly in its mother's lap ; or tell that party of Americans, we have seen them before ; we will even dare to enter the subsidii, seat ourselves on the very knees of that irate Englishman, who is so disconcerted because there was not room for him in the coup6, and he will be none the wiser. Nor will we be so cowardly as to shun the pos- terior. The chimney sweep will lose none of his soot or his rags ; poor Marie need not fear for her basket of eggs they shall not be broken ; and if we have any influence, we will help all the inmates 24 THE BAKER'S DOZEX. to carry their load of poverty and wretchedness, by whispering words of encouragement. We will make little excursions off the highways , visit the people in their homas ; spsnd a night with one, dine with another ; learn how they eat, and sleep, and live generally ; will walk in the woods, and see how nature grows wild, in the fields, and observe how cultivated is art. We will climb moun- tains, wander through valleys, explore caves, exam- ine bridges, ford streams, attend fairs, without a disadventure, and back to the Dilligence before that Roman coachman, with his high Tyrolean hat, and his six frisky little horses, is ready to crack his whip and give that strange b-r-r-r-r, preparatory to the grand sweep into town ! " Thirteen ! Who of us may die before the year is out," says thoughtful Mabel. " Don't you know, dear teacher, that thirteen is a fatal number ? That people try not to seat thirteen at a dinner party, because of the superstition that one may soon die?" Oh, child, that is an old woman's whim. Thir- teen have dined together many a time, and the next year found them all alive, and ready to do their THE BAKER'S DOZEN. 25 part toward making way with another turkey. I said, an old woman's whim, I had better say a young woman's, and if the young woman has any such fears, we will throw her out ; then, we shall have just a dozen, and nobody will fear such a sad termination to our journey " Oh ! but I don't want to be thrown out," she says. Well, then, / will stay behind, and take the part of train dispatcher, while you make the journey. " Don't let the trains run into each other, or off the track," says Lilie, "because our imaginary heads may be knocked off." " Or the Baker's Dozen be tumbled into some river, and no coroner be found wise enough to hold an inquest," suggested Charley. " Nor robins to cover us with leaves," said George. " Well," says John, " I do not propose to go frisk- ing round the world in any such style, so you may just put me out, and teacher and Mabel may go along. I should just as soon think of riding through the air on a broom-stick. I've altogether too much 3 20 THE BAKER'S DOZEN. business to attend to, to spend my time in that way. Besides, / never travel without an overcoat and umbrella." Helen calls after him to know " If he would not like her parasol and fan ; " Florence thinks " Her shawl won't be in his way ; " Grace wants him to take her satchel ; the others add their waterproofs, and, to crown the whole, Mabel begs him " To take her kitten and dolly, and to be sure and not lose dolly's hat, that is not more than half on ; and tell her mother to have a whole box full of cookies made ready for her eating, when she gets back." John walks off feeling very much like a martyr. One more shout to him from Harry. " Halloo ! old fellow ! write us a line from home occasionally," and they are off this Baker's Dozen with one killed off at the start. However, we shall hear from John ; he'll be sure to write. HELVETIA. 27 CHAPTER III. HELVETIA. IF you look on the map of Europe, you will see a very small country, almost in its very heart, somewhat in this shape. Along its northern and part of its eastern border, is the famous Rhine, separating it from Germany 28 HELVETIA. and Austria ; the Alps border it on the south ; its western neighbors, the French, approach it only over the Jura mountains, or at the southwest by means of Lake Geneva, which smiles upon both countries alike, and offers to both the mediation of its waters, for peaceful or warlike purposes. " Switzerland ? " Yes ; this little country, not quite a third as large as your own state*, is not to be overlooked by any such state as Rhode Island, being fourteen times larger than that. In its earli- est days, it was little known, except by name. The Greeks and Romans both speak of it as Helvetia ; and, from implements of industry and inscriptions found there at the time of its conquest by Julius Caesar, it is supposed to have been founded by the Greeks. Later, the three cantons of Schwitz, Uri, and Underwald, in the neighborhood of Lake Lucern, united for self-defense, and ever since have main- tained their independence. Their freedom was menaced in the time of Albert, Duke of Austria, but, through the sagacity of three of their citizens, *Illinois. HELVETIA. 29 Walter Furst, of Uri, Werner Stauffac, of Schwitz, and Arnold Melctal, of Underwald, the danger was foreseen and averted. This Duke, the son of Ro- dolph, a German prince, who had rendered great service to the Helvetians, instead of pursuing the wise policy of his father, attempted to make them subservient ; and appointed odious baillies or gov- ernors over them to oppress them in all sorts of ways. These baillies, residing in the neighborhood, protected themselves by armed men in fortresses, and committed a great many acts of violence upon the people and their property. Mothers and sisters were enticed, or carried to these fortresses, and concealed from husbands and fathers. The cattle, which was a great source of prosperity to them, were taken from the plow or the stall, and the men bidden to take their places, as fit only for beasts of burden. Old men were insulted, and their homes destroyed. One old man, Henri Melctal, respected more for his integrity, than for his age or fortune, was laboring one day in his field, when the satellites of one of the governors appeared to claim his yoke 30 HELVETIA. of oxen. As he complained of this violence, the varlet said, " The peasants can train themselves to the plow, if they wish to have bread." This excited the indignation of his son Arnold, and he threw himself upon the satellite and injured him. Ar- nold, then, mindful only of his own fate, without thinking of the danger to which he exposed his fa- ther, secreted himself. Scarcely had he done this, when the guards presented themselves at the fa- ther's house, and demanded the son, whose retreat the father did not know. Without listening to his reasons, the governor commanded his eyes to be put out, and the sen- tence was immediately executed. Terror was wide spread, when these three men conferred as to the steps necessary to secure their freedom, and agreed to meet again on the plain of Gruntli, near the limits of Underwald. The day agreed upon came, and with it the three men, each accompanied by ten others, on whose de- votion they could trust. These thirty-three citizens, with hearts full of devotion to their country, swore they would defend the cause of the people and sac- HELVETIA. 31 rifice every particular interest, to put it in posses- sion of its privileges ; that their first care should be, to avoid shedding the blood of the governors, their families, and their officers ; their only desire being, to assure themselves of transmitting to their posterity, the liberty which they had received from their fathers. Among these conspirators was the brave William Tell. These three cantons, Schwitz, Uri, and Under- wald, after securing their independence (this was about the year 1315), maintained it ever after, and the neighboring districts being admitted to the confederacy, it has increased in territory, until Switzerland now contains twenty-two cantons. I hope this little history, which is mostly a transla- tion from the French, will lend additional interest to our journeyings. Older people have a great many wise sayings, which are called proverbs. One I remember, " The child is father to the man." Now, if you were to apply this proverb to this little republic, what sort of people should you expect to find in it ? Lilie says immediately, " Good people." Why, Miss 32 HELVETIA. Lilie ? " Because the three men you told us of were so good." Yes ; but goodness alone would not have freed it from the power of the tyrants placed over it. And Charley says, " Brave people." Well, you are both right. We may look for good- ness and courage too. We shall find a bold, hardy, industrious, simple people. A Swiss kitchen on Christmas eve. CIMO AND CHESTNUTS. CHAPTER IV. CIMO AND CHESTNUTS. IN passing from Luino on to Luganno, we shall not fail to notice, nestled amid a grove of beech and chestnuts, on a slope of one of the beautiful hills of this bonny Switzerland, the pleasant little village of Cimo (Cheemo). How quiet and peace- ful it looks, with its white cottages glistening in the sunlight ! We almost fancy it without life, until a passing cloud betrays the smoke, lazily curling from some chimney-top, into the clear ether. " Distance lends always enchantment." Could we stop at Cimo, we should find life there, as else- where, one of labor. The soil is rugged, and yields its treasures sparingly to the Swiss woman whose business and pleasure it is, to till the land, milk the cows, and prepare the winter's wood. Her husband and brothers are away, earning the 34 CIMO AND CHESTNUTS. means to supply other wants. Beyond the moun- tains, in Italy, France, or Germany, their persever- ing industry finds ready reward ; so in the spring when the vine was pruned and made ready, they left, and will return only with the Christmas. Nothing but sickness, or death will prevent them from being at their own homes at that time. On foot, over the mountains, amid storms of snow, on the ice for days and nights in succession, with their knapsacks and their staves, they plod along ; but they will be there. Otherwise, the Magi will fail to bring the promised treasures of this merry time. With them at home, what a gay laughing season it is ! Into how many out of the way corners are the wives and children sent to hunt for gifts. "The Magi and camels are tall and cannot stoop," say they, " it hurts them to kneel ; you must look high children." And so, these little folks reach into the highest, darkest, cobwebbiest corners, for dolls, and ribbons, tops, sleds, guns, and bon bons, shawls, dresses, etc., etc. Wo ! to the luckless urchin, whose record has not been fair within the last two weeks ! He CIMO AND CHESTNUTS. 35 will look in vain for any favors. The Magi are displeased, and -the camels have nothing in their loads of treasures, for him. He must wait until twelfth night, when the kings come again. If he lias improved, he will be remembered then ; but the gift has few attractions, that is not forthcoming at Christmas. The forests of this village furnish its inhabitants with a large part of their food. The chestnut in Switzerland is not the dwarfish, dull colored nut, seen in America, but large enough to fill the most capacious mouth of you all, and a clearer brown, than your brownest eyes or sunniest curls. The nut gathering season is one full of interest. It is a later harvest, and young and old set out with their sacks and baskets, for days of entertainment in the " Merrie greenwood." Families lay in, at this time, for the winter's eating, from twenty to fifty bushels. After the gathering comes the drying. This is carried on in houses built especially for the purpose, and occupies a period of from four to six weeks. The nuts are spread out on shelves and dried by 36 CLMO AND CHESTNUTS. smoke, admitted through holes in the floor. The smoke does not, as one would suppose, flavor them at all, but only dries them, dries them until they rattle like bones in their shells, from which they are afterwards separated by pounding. When needed for the table, they are boiled three or four hours, and are to be eaten with cream, or made into a kind of pudding. They are also used as a stuf- fing for fowls. A Swiss kitchen, of a winter's evening, is a mer- ry place, particularly at Christmas time. Come into one with me. I will promise you a hearty wel- come from Nonno (Grandpapa) Bianchi (Smith), reclining upon his long bench in the chimney cor- ner. Since the unsocial black stove has thrust itself into favor, and rendered drafts a necessity, this old-fashioned settle has passed into disuse among us, and if you would see one, you must search the garret of some old, old farm-house in the country. For the sake of the curious, who may search gar- rets unsuccessfully, we will describe it as a long bench, with a very high straight back, made of CIMO AND CHESTNUTS. 37 some common wood and painted red. The fire- place is very much like that of New England fifty years ago, except, that the hearth is hollowed and raised about a foot from the floor. The kitchen, decorated with laurel, black as it is with the soot of so many years, is still bright with the ruddy blaze of the fire, reflected by the sundry polished cooking utensils on the wall, and the hap- py faces of the children and friends that have come in to greet the Padr, after his long absence. Yes ; Nonno will welcome you and give you some chestnuts, too, that he is roasting in that dark pan you see suspended from one of the three chains over the fire. The pitcher contains wine from his own vineyard. But the nuts and the wine must not make us forget Nonna (Grandma) in the other corner, nor Madre spinning with her distaff, nor Padrd and his friends, discussing the affairs of the nation. Come in, come in, children, the kitchen is large and will accommodate you all, though Carletto, and Napoleone, and Cesare (Chaysary), and Guillaume (Gui-yo-me), and Augusto (Augoosto), and Marie 38 CIMO AND CHESTNUTS. (Maree), and Margarita (Margareeta), who usually go with the chickens to bed, are all allowed to stay a little while to-night ; because, Padr has come home, and Nonna has promised Carletto one of her nice fairy stories, and you shall listen, too. ing away in the moonlight. JVOAWA'S FAIRY STORY. 39 CHAPTER V. NONNA'S FAIRY STORY. A LONG, long time ago, there lived in this coun-- try, two orphans, boys, Walter and Leopold, who were left while very young in charge of their rela- tives, until they could earn their own living. The .world, as they viewed it from this little window of Cimo, overlooking the lovely valley, that like a thread of silver wound its way through rich meadows, by fields of mulberry and vineyards, olive groves, farm-yards, and pleasant villas, los- ing itself at last in the lake beyond, seemed very enchanting. Before them, rose the lofty San Salvatore, with its little chapel, its gay processions and clambering goats ; and away on, stretched the highway, over which they were soon to pass ; to seek their for- tunes, in new places, and among strange people. 40 NO NASA'S EAIRY STORY. 'Tvvas one morning in midsummer, that they set out on their journey, with bright faces, cheery hearts, strong limbs and homespun suits, their only fortunes. No kind mother warned them of the dangers and deceits of the world ; no father encouraged and bade them, " God speed ; " yet, they started out, these sturdy woodcutters, without any fears for the future, or regrets for the past. Far behind, they would leave the lonely wood whose wilds had so often resounded with the sound of their axes. The new, fresh morning sparkled everywhere. The birds sang their liveliest songs, the flowers shed their sweetest odors. The feelings of the boys sprang up in unison with the time, and they chatted merrily with each other of what they should do, in the busy world they were about to enter. Thus the morning and the noon passed. As evening drew near, their hearts grew more sober and their talk more serious. Walter said, " Let what would happen, they could safely trust to this maxim, ' Do good even to your enemies.' " Leo- NONNA'S FAIRY STORY. 41 pold said, " That it was better to, and he should take care of himself ; if any one treated him badly, he should retaliate, and he meant to be a rich man ; he would own houses and lands, wear rich clothing, and have servants to wait upon him." Walter tried to reason with his friend, and show him the deceitfulness of riches ; how fires and floods might waste and destroy his houses and lands ; servants and friends become faithless and ungrateful ; how the true riches of the heart, love to God, and good will to men, were the everlasting, and the only, never-failing sources of enjoyment ; but Leopold was not convinced, and he still con- tended loudly for his opinions. Indeed, he was so excited, that he was ready to enforce his arguments by blows. Walter saw the danger of contending longer, and having very little knowledge of human nature, he proposed to leave the matter to be decided by the first three travelers whom they should meet on the highway. Soon in the dim twilight they saw approaching them a brave cavalier, mounted on a fine horse, gay 4 42 NONNA' S FAIRY STORY. with bright trappings, and the boys both ran to meet him, each sure that he would decide in his own favor. Alas ! for poor human nature ! The traveler took the wrong side, and Walter was dis- couraged enough! However, there were two others to give their opinion, he might yet be the winner, " for I am sorry to say," says Nonna, " that the boys had suffered themselves to bet, and the los- ing party was to give his clothes to the other." The next one that came was a peasant from the next village. He also decided in favor of Leopold, and, now, nothing was left for poor Walter to do but to redeem his pledge. Oh ! dear ! how much trouble had come upon him in this short time ! He had not only lost his clothes, but his friend had deserted him. Leopold, attracted by the apparent prosperity of the gay horseman, thought to enter his service, and turned to follow him. Poor Walter was in a sorry, plight, and he knew not what to do. The children all laugh, as the good Nonna de- scribes him, " flying rather than walking, praying for the darkness to cover him and conceal the pov- NONNA'S FAIRY STORY. 43 erty of his dress ;" but the rising moon answered his prayer by shining with still clearer rays of light which revealed a little colony of ants, struggling to reach a bank, from which they had fallen into the water. Forgetful of self, he stopped to rescue them, and fled on. The king of the ants called out to him, " You have done us a favor, we will not forget it." On, on he went, and at last, breathless, and ready to faint, he arrived at the house of a miller, who saw his necessities, and supplied them immediately. Sooner than he knew, almost, he surveyed him- self, a dusty miller. He had put on a pair of very coarse shoes, long blue stockings, a very long waistcoat and a swallow-tailed coat. The miller could not keep him all night, so he went out to make a bed in the wood near by, as confident as ever, of the truth of his maxim, and quite as ready to defend it. Just then the frantic squealing of a rat, that the miller's trap had made prisoner, attracted his atten- tion. He liberated it, and walked on. The rat called after him, " You have done me a favor, I will not forget it." 44 NONNA'S FAIRY STORY. Next he released a bee that had become entan- gled in the web of a spider. The bee said, ' You have done me a favor, I shall not forget it." Near by the wood, where he proposed to spend the night, was an open field, long known as fairy land. He passed over this and entered the forest, where he made his bed, concealing himself among the leaves. By and by, the fairies came out for their midnight revels, all unconscious that, "mortal eyes and ears," were witness to their sports and conversations. After dancing for a while, they separated into groups for conversation. They told each other where they had been, whom they had seen, and what they had done. One set approached so near the place where Walter lay hidden that he could not help hearing their conversation, from which he learned that he was not far from the palace of the king, and that the princess was very ill, indeed ; that the court physicians did not know what ailed her, and had said that they could not cure her. Hardly had one related this, when another confessed to having sucked her blood, declaring that she had concealed NONNA'S FAIRY STORY. 45 it beneath the chimney in her room. She said too, unless it could be restored to her she would cer- tainly die. Soon, they all went away, and Walter fell asleep. In the morning, he remembered what the fairies had said, and started to seek the palace, which he readily found. The fairies had told the truth, for everybody about the palace was talking about it. Walter never thought he should have any difficulty in gaining admittance to the palace. Little knowledge had he of the customs of courts. As soon as the guards saw him, they jeered him about his uniform, and called him a country boor. His very ignorance served him better than cunning, for he did not hesitate to tell his tormentors that he was possessed of knowledge by which he could cure the princess. " You must carry it in your hat then," said one, " your brain would never hold it," and with a rude blow he knocked it off. Another made a jest about his coat, which excited the mirth of all about, notwithstanding the condition of the princess. 46 NONNA'S FAIRY STORY. The noise came at last to the ears of the king, who, on being told its cause, said, " Let the man come in." To make sure that the story he had heard from the fairies was true, he asked him to be allowed to visit his daughter alone. To this, the king consent- ed, as there seemed to be no other hope of saving her life. Everything was as the fairy had said, and in a few days after the medicine was administered, Walter had the satisfaction of seeing the princess entirely conscious. Leaving her to the care of her servants, he sought the presence of the king to an nounce her recovery, and claim his reward ; for she had been promised as a bride to whomever should cure her. You will be sorry to know that the king, like many other people in high stations, was not ready to keep his word ; but tried, by imposing impossi- ble tasks upon Walter, to find an excuse for break- ing it. So he put him off till the next day, and told him to follow a servant to the room made ready for him to sleep in, a most miserable place, fit only for the rats that infested it. There lay upon its floor NONNA'S FAIRY STORY. 47 a large heap of very small seeds all mixed together ; hemp, canary, and mustard ; and near by, were three empty sacks. The servant presented a paper to him on which was written, " Separate the seeds one from the other, and place each in its own sack, or leave the palace in the morning." The task was indeed a hopeless one, but the reward was great. He already loved the princess, so he worked stead- ily on until, overcome by the great labors and the excitements of the past few days, he fell asleep. Oh ! that faithful moon, that shone on, even when he begged for darkness ! whose bright rays revealed that little struggling colony of ants ! " Let him sleep on," says one, their king, who, in one corner, had been watching. " Quick ! call all the workmen, we must finish his work." Silently they came, and unceasingly they labored, until the last seed was put in its own place. Then every one went to his home in the great ant-hill near by, except the king, who said, " Now, I must wake the sleeper, for the morn approaches." So he crawled up onto his clumsy shoes, over his long stockings and dusty waistcoat, and ragged handkerchief, over 48 NONNA'S FAIRY STORY. his mouth and nose, and onto his eyelids. Here he ran to and fro, avoiding, by skillful turns, the blows from the hand of the wearied sleeper. Once, Walter turned over and came near killing his faith- ful friend. He escaped, however, and ran round to make an attack in the rear, where he was more successful ; for, just as the sun rose, Walter threw himself back, again endangering the life of the ant, opened his eyes, and saw to his surprise his work all finished ! The ant scrabbled down to the floor, and going round before him, said, " You did us a favor, we have not forgotten it," and disappeared. You did me a favor, I have not forgotten it." NONNA'S FAIRY STORY. 49 CHAPTER VI. FAIRY STORY CONTINUED. THE prince, when he saw the work accomplished that he thought impossible, was more surprised than Walter, and began to consider another task, for he was not yet willing to give to his daughter such an uncourtly husband. The king was not yet willing to give up his daughter, so he called Walter and told him that he should, the next morning, bring him a nuptial ring that lay upon the table near his daughter's bed, without unlocking any of the doors leading to the room, or forfeit all claim to her hand. I cannot picture to you the sorrow that he felt at this most cruel trial. How could he succeed ? Her room, situated in the most remote corner of the palace, was reached only by passing through every 50 NONNA'S FAIRY STORY. other apartment, which were locked, and the king, himself, in possession of the keys ! The windows in it were so small as to render it impossible for one like him to pass through, even if he could have scaled the walls, which were high, and as smooth as glass. What should he do ? It is quite impossible to do a slight favor to the most insignificant person or thing, without feeling in our hearts such a beautiful love as more than doubly rewards us ; and had not he watched over her life for two or three days and nights ? What should he do ! What should he do ! His piteous cries caused even the rats in his mis- erable room to cease their depredations. At last, one came out of his hole and begged him to go to sleep. His despair, however, would not allow him to sleep soundly. In his dreams, he thought his friend Leopold, had come to the palace, and the king, delighting more in fine clothes than a true heart, had given the beautiful princess to him. Meanwhile, the rat, our hero of the trap, was not idle. He called together his friends, told them how NONNA'S FAIRY STORY. 51 Walter had served him in his time of need, and begged them as they valued the future comfort of all classes of animals, to assist him in procuring the ring. No time was to be lost. The inmates of the palace were now fast asleep. After due deliberation, they hit upon the plan of forming a pyramid or rather a half pyramid of rats, high enough to reach the windows of the chamber. If it should chance to be open, it would be very easy to reach the table by means of the drapery, which covered the walls ; otherwise, the topmost rat should gnaw through the casing. The topmost rat acquitted himself admirably. Without causing even a breath to disturb the sleep- ing princess, he removed the ring from the table, and conveyed it down the living pyramid to Walter, who had started up out of his dream and rushed out into the air, saying, as he presented it, " You did me a favor, I have not forgotten it." 52 NOA'NA'S FA IKY STORY. CHAPTER VII. FAIRY STORY CONCLUDED. IN the morning, Walter presented himself again to the king, who refused even to talk with him, or- dering him to prison as a wizard ; but, suddenly seeming to remember that he owed the life of his daughter to his skill, he decided to give him one more trial. Now, there were in the palace, as the chosen companions to the princess, twelve young girls, re- sembling her so nearly as to deceive the king him- self, who ordered that on the following evening, preparations should be made for a fSte in the gar- den adjoining the palace. For this, these thirteen beautiful girls, were to be dressed exactly alike, and Walter was to select the princess from among her friends, and dance with her a minuet, that was to be composed ex- A'OMNA'S FAIRY STORY. 53 pressly for the occasion ; and, that he should receive no help from any quarter, he was detained in the apartments of the king, who had told his servants to provide him with suitable apparel. This time, he did lose his courage. He had been carried bravely through two trials, and he hoped not to be deserted in the third. The king seemed to look upon him with more favor, after he was more suitably clad. Evening came, and the number and brilliancy of the lights in that glittering palace, the rockets and wheels, and candles sent up from garden and coun- try around, made him feel as though he was on en- chanted ground. Shine on silver moon ! Add to this thy own beautiful soft light, and witness the triumph of this undaunted friend of good and true principles. As the time drew nearer he grew a little anxious and fearful. The princess he had only seen in a darkened room. How could he hope to select her from others so much like her as to deceive her own father ? The day had passed and there was no intimation 54 NONNA'S FAIRY STORY. of any help. Now the most enrapturing music, and the sound of joyful voices, fell upon his ear. The time for dancing arrived, and Walter was led hopeless and despairing into the presence of the princess and her companions. He had had scarcely time to notice them, before a swarm of bees, attracted from a neighboring thicket by their exceeding loveliness, approached and settled upon them like a great cloud. Their rose-colored dresses, the waving of their feathery fans, and their graceful motions, made them resemble an enchanted group of azaleas, and keener instincts than the bees might well have been mistaken. Taking advantage of the tumult caused by their descent, one flew to Walter and whispered, " Take courage, the bees are under my control, and will leave as suddenly as they came. I will alight on the nose of the princess and return to you. The third time I do this, she will brush me away with her fan. By this you will know her, lead her to the dance and I will conduct you through." Walter followed the instructions of the bee, who NONNA' S FAIRY STORY. 55 said at the close, " You did me a favor, I have not forgotten it."' Prince and courtiers, now congratulated him, and were not unwilling to claim him as a brave gentle- man, and true knight, and at once proclaimed him as the worthy husband of a most fortunate princess. " Lived in peace and died in a pot of grease," muttered Charley, " that's the way all such stories as that end." Nonna did not hear him, and went on to tell of the bridal tour, how they started off from the pal- ace in an elegant chariot, drawn by six white horses, followed by a large party of lords and ladies on horseback, with bands of music and a great com- pany of servants ; then she spoke very sorrowfully about Leopold, who, she said, went on bravely for a little time with his new friends, but he was so entirely wrapped up in himself, that nobody liked him long, and he finally resorted to begging for his livelihood. " So it will always be," says Nonna, " If we re- turn good for evil we shall be rewarded." It may not be with princesses, or fine clothes, or palaces, 56 FAIRY STORY. or fine horses and chariots, but with better things than all these our heavenly Father will reward them who obey his teachings. The children all take a long breath, and Carletto says, " Tell it again, dear Nonna ; " but, the " Sand-man " has come, and she thinks " it is time all little folks were in bed." CHIP. 57 CHAPTER VIII. CHIP. BLESS me ! is that Charley over there in the wood ? What has he found ? Squirrels ? " He went off before Nonna had quite finished her story/' said Grace. He has caught one as sure as I live ! A little English squirrel. Poor thing ! how frightened it is ! But, Charley, you must not go off in the woods ; you might be snapped up by a bear or wildcat ; some lynx might take you for a rabbit and swallow you whole. Your ears ? Oh! no; they would not trouble him. He could swallow you without " buttoning them back at all." But, this little squirrel, how did you catch him ? " Oh ! I climbed the tree, and when he wasn't looking, whisked him right off the limb by his tail," 5 58 CHIP. said Charley. Well, I think the fairies must have helped you, else he is a blind specimen of squirani- ty, for squirrels, of all animals, are the most difficult to catch. Their eyes are very quick, and they manage somehow always to keep the trunk of the tree or the limb between them and any spectator. Then, they are so nimble that they can run to the very topmost bough and sit very securely upon a twig that will bend beneath their weight, defying any boy like you to follow where they lead. The only way to capture them is to chase them to some lone tree, follow as far as you dare, then shake the limb violently enough to make them fall to the ground, where, if you have allies nimble enough with their caps to cover the poor little frightened thing, you may secure him. They are very mischievous animals. A friend of mine had once a hackee, or as boys called him, a chipmunk, in a cage. The cage and everything about it, was made of wire, that he could not well gnaw ; and as long as he was kept a close prisoner, he did very well ; but his mistress pitied him so much, that one day she opened the door, and allowed CHIP. 59 him the liberty of the room for an hour or so. At the end of this time, she enticed him into the cage with a bit of apple, or something, and shut him in. She let him out the next day and was again suc- cessful in making him a prisoner ; but the third time, Chip made up his mind that he would not be shut up any more, nor would he lose his treat either ; so, he whisked into the cage, snatched the apple, and was out again before they could wink, hardly. Ever after, he was master in the house, having complete possession of himself, and everything he wanted to make himself happy. He built his nest on the top of the book-case out of hair he filched from the sofa ; gnawed holes wherever he wanted to make an entrance or departure ; hid thimbles, scissors, spools of silk, in short, there was no end to his mischief, and he would not be caught. Finally, my friend said she could not stand it any longer. She was going into the country and Chip should go too ; so she commenced upon him a reg- ular system of starvation. Everything eatable was put out of his reach, and when he was well starved, he resigned himself to the situation and capitulated. 60 CHIP. Poor Chip ! He was not treated very badly. As soon as he reached the country he was set at liber- ty, but Mrs. C was no better off. He chose a tree near the house in which to build his nest, and gave up none of his bad habits. He foraged on his mistress' pantry by day, and at night he would steal into an open window and make off with a candle. If he could not get a whole one, he could put up with a piece. By and by, his friends advised him that as the cold winter was coming on, he had better make the acquaintance of some of his fellow squirrels, and learn how to gather nuts and store them. Chip thought it was altogether best to exercise a little forethought with regard to his future, now that he was free to act for himself, so he set off for the wood, and the last time my friend saw him, he was dipping his paws in a brook, ready to wash his face. She heard that he made himself a nest, three feet under ground ; that it had two entrances eight feet long, and contained a quart of hazel nuts, a peck of acorns, two quarts of buckwheat, and some grass seed ; that it was made of oak leaves and CHIP. 61 grass, and furthermore, that he conveyed all these nuts to his nest by means of his mouth, four at a time ! Only think of his industry ! How many journeys he had to make over this long road ; but then I suppose he had some help ; for I am told that two usually occupy one nest, remaining in it year after year. Squirrels subsist mostly on vegetable food. They do not lap their drink as cats and dogs do, but put their noses into it and drink "just like folks," then sit back on their hind legs and wash their faces with their fore feet, occasionally dipping their paws into the water. Mabel wants to know how I can tell that this squirrel that Charley has caught so mysteriously is an English squirrel. Well, Mabel, I am indebted to an Illustrated Natural History, by the Rev. J. G. Wood, for my knowledge of this little fellow. This is what it says : " Its color is a ruddy brown on the back, and greyish white on the under portions of the body ; that he has also a very bushy tail." This corre- sponds very nicely with the facts in this case. (32 CHIP. Now, Charley, we are coming near a large tree, give Bunny a chance to prove his claim to his title. Hold him very gently, so. There he goes ! "You did not think he could jump so far." Yes; "he will fling himself to a great distance, and if he should make a misstep, which he seldom does, he will spread out his tail and feet, presenting as large a surface to the air as possible, and alight without much of a jar to his feelings." The color of the squirrel varies with the country it inhabits. Even in England, in cold winters, it sometimes changes to grey. Mabel is not satisfied yet, I see. Well, Mabel, what is it? " I wanted to know if there were no other kinds but the chipmunks and the English ? " Yes ; there are several other varieties, differing in form, color, and habits. There are flying squir- rels, black squirrels, Java squirrels, and the Sibe- rian squirrel, that is hunted so much to make caps and capes and cloaks for young misses. Now, Harry wants to know about the lynx and the viper and the wildcat. The lynx belongs to the cat family, and is a very ugly-looking animal. I think I should rather be CHIP. 63 excused from approaching nearer to the real animal than his picture. " It is of a dark gray color, washed with red, with dark patches down its sides, and has the peculiar habit of changing its fur with the season." Its face is disgustingly large, with immense bushy whiskers, eyes wide apart, ears tipped with tufted hair like stiff plumes. It has very sharp, quick eyes, so that to be " Lynx-eyed " has passed into a proverb. Its tail is short, not more than six inches, and it is a good climber. Think of it, Master Charley, suppose you had been gobbled up by such a monster as that ! Ugh ! it makes me shudder to imagine such a thing. No, no, sir, we must make friends with the brownies that inhabit these woods, to bring us our specimens of Natural History if we would examine any more. "Brownies couldn't bring us a bear, or a wildcat," said Charley, " Brownies are fairy folks, and they are small you know." Yes, I know, but couldn't they charm one for us while we examined it. Florence said, "she always thought Brownies were very cJianning" 64 CHIP. Charley took in the joke, and looked at her as though he wanted to say something very bright, but he only whistled, and then asked, " If wildcats were cats run wild ? " It is the opinion of most naturalists that they are quite different. " The tail of the wildcat is rounder at the end, and at least two inches shorter, than the house-cat ; and it has been observed that a house-cat run wild for two or three generations, did not lose this dis- tinction." There are other differences, too. "It looks decidedly more like a tiger, is longer, has a larger and coarser look about the head, stands higher on its legs, and is more difficult to kill. It has been said that if a house-cat has nine lives, a wildcat has twelve." It makes its home in the cleft of a rock, or in the hollow of some tree, sometimes in the nest of a large bird, and haunts the shores of lakes and riv- ers. It is easy after having taken one, to ensnare another, because like the fox, if the dead body of the one taken is left behind, others of the colony will be sure to visit it and fall themselves into the snare. CHIP. 65 A cat run wild, was killed very valiantly not long ago in New Brunswick, by a little boy nine years old, who, with his two younger sisters, were left one evening to keep house. The mother had not been long away, when a starved cat made his entrance among them through an open door, and sprang at one of the children. Sammy immediately seized a billet of wood, and was fortunate enough to aim his first blow so as to stunn the animal. The little girls jumped upon the table and cheered their brother in this wise, "Give it to him Sammy ;" and Sammy did give it to him till he was entirely killed, when his courage forsook him, and he left the house to his dead foe for the rest of the evening. The papers reported at the time, that it was a real wildcat, which was not quite true. Sammy's courage, however, was equal to the occasion, as I hope it always will be. I trust this little boy will never be afraid to do right, not even to be called a coward, which is the greatest fear that can fall upon a brave spirit. God bless him ! and make him as ready to defend 66 CHIP. himself and sisters from every evil thought and ac- tion, as he was to slay that hungry wild beast. Lilie has a story to tell us about a cat she knew by the name of Sambo. It's a true story ? " Yes, true, every word. Oh ! Sambo was such a handsome cat ! " Well, had we not better reserve your story about the cat for another time ? We are approaching a place where there seems to be some excitement. We will leave the Dilligence now, riding so long in one position is tiresome, and walk round this charm- ing little village. Keep well together, Grace look out for Charley. 'Twouldn't take much to make a gipsey of him, and I see they have tents here. A GAG. 67 CHAPTER IX. AGNO. THE eighth of March, Agno and roses! I re- member this is gala day for Agno, the anniversary of its patron saint, San Provino. Agno is a small village in the canton of Ticino (Techeeno). The people here speak Italian, and are for the most part Catholics. The procession which approaches is in honor of an old bishop, who was canonized because the fire which consumed his church, failed to destroy his wooden image. This religious festival occurs every year at this time, and lasts three days, ending with a fair which is held out of doors, at which time the rich and the poor mingle freely, drinking with each other, danc- ing on the green together, and make themselves generally social. 68 AGNO. There is nothing in America which corresponds to the canvetti of the Swiss. Unlike the German beer-gardens they are built partly underground, and as you see, near a wood, so that with a trellis cov- ered with the vine at one end, they are completely sheltered from the sun. They are very picturesque. To-morrow and the following day, they will en- tertain each other in these canvetti. The ladies will don their gayest apparel, and the gentlemen in their holiday suits, with their drinking-cups sus- pended from their botton-holes, will be very jolly. The distaff, on this occasion, decorated with flowers and ribbons and fringed silk, will be devoted to or- nament; and it is borne very proudly by these beaux, until they choose to express their partiality for some lady by presenting it to her. Old quarrels are sometimes fought out at this time, but the Swiss do not often allow wine to get the better of them. " Do I think it right to drink wine ? " Certainly not for us, as we have been educated to do without it. The wine which the Swiss drink has very little alcohol in it ; less, perhaps, than has AGNO. 69 our cider. Neither the Swiss or the German drink much of any strong wines. The beer that they like and such as they drink, almost universally, with their food, contains so little alcohol that great care is necessary to keep it from souring. Little of the drunkenness common to whiskey and wine bibbers in this country and England is known to them. The procession nears us ! These in their long black cassocks, with the three-cornered caps on their heads, and their should- ers decorated with the embroidered and bejeweled stole, are the bishops and priests. The stole in the old Greek days was worn only by virtuous women, and so came to symbolize purity. Following them are the acolytes. They look very gay in their scarlet and white robes, swinging aloft their golden censers twenty-four of them. Here comes the dais, which bears all that was not perishable of the poor wooden bishop, crowned with flowers ! I hope he did as little harm while he lived in the world as has this wooden image. Ah! this is the most interesting part of the show. Two or three hundred misses and children, all 70 AC NO. dressed in white, with their blue sashes in honor of the virgin ! blue being supposed to be her color ! It is a happy song they sing of which we can only understand the chorus. " Hail to the San Provino Hail to thee, bright saint." In their hearts I think the chorus runs more like this : Hail ! bright summer ! We praise thee, oh God, for this glorious sun, these bright flowers, and all these beautiful things ! They are on their way to the church yonder, where mass is to be celebrated. "What is mass?" The word is derived from the Latin missa, mean- ing to send away, or dismiss, and originally was applied to the penitents and catechists, who were only allowed to remain until prayers were offered, being dismissed before communion service. Now it has come to mean, only, the Lord's supper, and when it is celebrated with music it is called high mass, without music, low mass. This day is the festival of a good many saints ; three Egyptian martyrs, who lived in the first half century ; two Irish, of about the same age, besides, AC NO. 71 St. Felix, St. Julian, St. Rosa, and St. John of God, the founder of an order of charity, so the prayers will be many and long and the ceremonies tire- some.* At the elevation of the host we should all be obliged to kneel or offend the people, which we would not like to do, so we will back to the Dilli- gence, where, if Lilie pleases, she can tell her story of Eliza and her cat. " Gipsies and fortunes ! " Oh ! no ; we cannot trust them. I can tell your fortunes just as well as the Gipsies. " You tell fortunes ! " Yes and without silver, too try me. " Elevation of the host ! " Grace wants to know more about that. The host, dear Grace, is simply a wafer made of flour and water, corresponding to the bread used at our communion service, and is thought to be, after the priest blesses it, the real body of Christ. Now, after the consecration a little bell is rung, this wafer *Such is not the case now, I am told by those who visit Catholic countries abroad. It is not many years, however, since Protest- ants were made to suffer severely for any such offense. 72 AC NO. is raised, and while the change is going on, called transubstantiation a long word for you young folks everybody kneels. This is the elevation of the host. The silence in a Catholic church at this time is very impressive to many, oppressive to me, because I think very differently about these things. " Fortunes ? " Yes, yes, I will tell your fortunes. Show me your palms. You first, Lilie. I see, in a beautiful wood, a tall, handsome-look- ing man ; he has his hair curled, and a curious way of always keeping his broad-brimmed hat on, even in the presence of distinguished people. He wears a very old-fashioned dress ; waistcoat, almost as long as his coat, buttoned down to his waist ; his coat-sleeves are very loose at the wrist ; his shoes are low, stockings long and buckled over his knee ; he is talking with a great many men who wear bright feathers in their hair. They smoke together. Ah ! little girl ! you have quaker blood in your veins. Your life has been a peaceful one. There is nothing in the past to regret. " The future ? " This line on the palm indicates a long life if you live ! AGNO. 73 Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, Venus ! Yes ; here is the fourth finger very straight, I think you will be an honest little girl if you are very careful not to take anything that does not belong to you ! Jupiter! This first finger, the Jupiter finger, says, " She has a very nice little mistress, upon whose strict integrity her friends can always rely ; that she never lies down at night without thanking the dear Lord for giving her such good parents, and such nice things, and asking Him to take care of her, and then feeling safe in His care. She does not forget when she is enjoying her breakfast, and she does enjoy it, that the same One who has watched over her sleep has provided all the materi- als from which it was prepared." It is easy to prophecy for her. " He who neither slumbers nor sleeps shall keep thee in all thy ways." "Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, Venus." Harry wants his fortune told ? Well, sir, I think you must pay me something for your fortune. How strange ! The same people with bright feathers in their hair ; they roam the forests. 6 74 AGNO. Here is a village. In one of its tents is a king seated on a mat made of some kind of a skin. He has a string of wampum round his neck, a bow and arrow by his side. He is rich. Young man, your ears and eyes are quick. Not very long ago, a beautiful Indian princess ran wild in her father's hunting grounds. That girl was your ancestor. Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, Venus ! Jupiter, Mars. Your Mars finger says, "That your mother often finds you out at the heels, at the toes, at the elbows, at the knees, and not often out of mischief." Jupiter, Mars, Saturn ! Your Saturn finger says, " That Mars is right about the mischief part, for he knows who poured the oil all out of his mother's lamps and filled them with sand ; hid himself in the flour barrel, and mixed cakes enough for breakfast ; and cut the pictures all out of his geography and sold them for pins !" Your Jupiter finger says, " He hopes his young master has sowed all his wild oats, for he thinks he must have learned by this time that they never will AGNO. 75 be allowed to grow until he comes of age, for both his father and mother pull them up before they scarcely have time to sprout." Your future ! I see great buildings granite- iron fronts stores ! No air castles there, but well founded and funded if you are temperate and up- right in your dealings, and " mind your business." Harry looks thoughtful and says, " I s'pose I do wear my clothes out dreadfully, and have got into a great deal of mischief in one way and another, but mother'l have her reward some day for all her pa- tience and patching." " You didn't mean such a fortune as this ? You wanted to know whether you would be through with this trip in time for Maggy Donald's party, and if your mamma would get you that new pink silk you saw at Putman's store." Well, dear Lilie, I do not think it is quite right to pry so curiously into the future. It seems to me a little like peeping into letters and boxes and draw- ers that do not belong to us, which I consider very dishonorable. I say a little like ; it is very little like that, because, it is our Heavenly Father's pur- 7G AGNO. poses that we are questioning. It is much better for us not to know what he has in store for us, as you will learn by experience. Fortune-telling and fortune-tellers will do for pastime, if we pay no more attention to it or them. " Tell all your fortunes ? " " You all want to know if you will be rich ? " Well ; stretch out your hands, palms up, straight as you can. Oh ! yes ; they will all hold water, you will all be rich if "The hand of the diligent maketh rich." Massagno ! We get the first glimpse of Lake Luganno here ! What a romantic little village ! Here is the handsome villa of the Consiliere di Stato (Consil- yaree de Stato) Col. Luini. It is now owned and occupied by his daughter. Let us walk in and see how life goes on in the home of a Swiss peer. This hill will give us a little exercise. What clear skies, and sparkling waters ; what grand mountains, and happy-looking valleys, and slopes, and fields ! Here we are at the very entrance to the gardens AC NO. 77 of Luini. The tropics and the temperate zones dis- play their treasures in harmony with each other. Pines, oaks, and chestnuts, oranges, lemons, and grapes, separated only by transparent doors, flour- ish abundantly in this charming spot. This great stone house, with its deep windows and high walls, will open its doors very hospitably to us, I think. Yes ; and the lady " will be most happy to have us dine with her." Rather unceremonious to be sure, and it will re- quire some patience and self-possession to sit through twenty courses, and not make any wry faces at the strangely cooked food. They probably would be equally unwilling to dine upon some of our dishes. Certainly, there are other children here. The Swiss are unlike the English in this particular. In England the children are not allowed at the table with their parents at all, that is, among what is called genteel people, they eat with their governess, and the ladies there leave the table when the wine is put on ; but here it is not so. The Swiss are 78 AC NO. very careful not to have anything said or done that would exert a bad influence upon the children. You see, the first course is some appetizer like capers, or celery, eaten with oil and pepper ; then sausages cold, and in every form, made from the head of the pig ; or cold tongue ; or brains prepared with eggs and fried ; then soup ; next fish ; next baked meats, followed by a turkey stuffed with chestnuts. Of every kind, each one will take a little, -having the knife and fork and plate changed each time. The cloth is now removed, and the desert, in the shape of all sorts of puddings and pies, sweetmeats, nuts, wine, etc., is brought on. Wine of a sour kind is drunk all through the dinner. Upon the walls are hunting accoutrements and pictures of game and fruit. The floor is made of nicely polished .wood, in mosaic, or composition, kept polished with oil. We must look well to our ways, for it is as smooth as glass. In the large parlors are pictures from the old and young masters, choice bits of sculpture, an elegant AC NO. 79 clock that will play for us a different tune for every hour, finely carved furniture, an exquisite table in mosaic, as fine as are the ornaments your mammas wear in their ears, besides, all sorts of knickknacks. " You would be contented here ? " Not long. " New England, my home o'er the sea," you would be likely to sing, I think. 80 ELIZA AND HER CATS. CHAPTER X. i ELIZA AND HER CATS. Now, Lilie, your cat stories. " Well, I began about Sambo, but the cats all be- long to Eliza, perhaps you would like to know about her first. Eliza is our girl, you know, and she is very queer. She spells her name this way : she calls e a, a, lyi, li, E li, zed, r, za, Eliza. Isn't it funny ? Jug she spells this way : jaw, u, g, and she calls it joog. She is so queer ! You might think, to hear her talk, that she is unkind. She told me the other day she would give my cat to the bird, I mean my bird to the cat ' Joot,' as she calls her, her name is Jet, a coal- black one, but she didn't mean it. Mother says, ' She's a real diamond in the ' This is her picture, the only one she ever had taken." ELIZA AND HER CATS. 81 rough.' I wish you could just see her once. She's always neat and tidy, no matter what she's doing. Such white teeth and rosy lips ! Her face is as clean and fair, with a great dimple in her cheek. When she laughs you can have no doubt who it is, for it rings all over the house. She isn't handsome, but I like her ; mother likes her ; the baby cries after her, and father likes her, and she likes cats. Why, she has had three at a time, besides two kittens ! This is her picture, the only one she ever had taken. See the white muslin band around her neck, with embroidered ends ; and her white apron. This is the way she looks in the afternoon. Don't you think she's nice ? She came from the north of Ireland. Three cats and two kittens ! Sambo, Jet, and Daisy. Sambo is gray, large and handsome. Jet is black, and Daisy was white, with just a little gray on her tail. Daisy is dead ! One day she came into the sitting-room bringing her kitten, and Eliza thought she would see what she would do ; so she opened the door into the 82 ELIZA AND HER CATS. front entry where she seemed to want to go, and followed her up two pairs of stairs to the door of an unfrequented garret. She never was allowed to go there before. There she stopped and mewed at Eliza to open the door. Then she took her kitten and put it down through a very small hole in under the floor, and left it. The next morning Daisy was lying on the stoop, dead ! Eliza said, ' She knew she was going to die, and wanted to take care of the kitten ; ' but, I should think she wanted the kitten to starve, too, else, why didn't she leave her where we could take care of her better." Florence, who had been busy with her pencil, spoke out here and said, " I guess she wanted to take her kitten with her to where the good cats go." " This same cat was left at home alone once Eliza had but one then for two or three weeks. She grew very hungry, and a boy enticed her into his father's barn and fed her with new milk night and morning. Soon, he found she had four kittens away up on the hay, ever so high. He was very much pleased, but just as soon as we got home, Daisy knew it, and came bringing her kittens one at a ELIZA AND HER CATS. 83 time, from that hay-mow, over three board fences ! By the time three had been taken safely, the cat was pretty tired. After resting awhile, she went back for the fourth, and she purred very happily when they were all there. The boy cried dreadfully. He took them back once, but puss wouldn't let them stay, she would have them in her own home." Yes ; cats are very unwilling to leave their homes. It is so unlike them to do it, that people are superstitious about it. I knew a cat to desert the house where she was reared, because it was be- ing repaired. She disappeared, nobody knew where. After a time she made her appearance in the neigh- borhood, taking up her abode with another member of the family, in an entirely new house. But I have interrupted you Lilie, go on, please. " I wanted to tell you about Sambo. He was one of Eliza's kittens. She gave him away to a neigh- bor, a few doors away. Two or three years after, Sambo's mistress moved, and Sambo asked Eliza, she declares he did ask her to take him back. Of course she did, and he is with us now. 84 ELIZA AND HER CATS. He is the funniest cat, the sliest, smoothest old puss that ever you saw. You ought to see him manage with a kitten ! When he thinks we are not looking, he will box its ears and be very cross, but let any of us observe him, and he puts on the sweetest look, licks the kit- ten's face, and makes all manner of friendly demon- strations. One time mother had made some giblet soup which she left in a tureen on a table. Sambo smelled it. I suppose he thought, how nice it is ! and jumped upon the table to help himself. Mother saw him take out one of the giblets with his paw, and throw it down to the little kitten on the floor. Didn't he get a good whipping for meddling?" " What ! for acting out his nature ? " says Nelly. " Yes ; hadn't mother a right to act out her na- ture too ? Nature to eat giblet soup ! He did not behave well at all, Eliza should have taught him better manners, that is all." Well, Florence, your pencil has been pretty busy ; let us see what it has accomplished. " Kits, cats, sacks and wives." ELIZA AND HER CATS. 85 Sambo, sure enough ! This is Jet, of course, and the giblet soup scene ? " But Jet is Eliza's favorite. She follows her round just like a dog. I believe she can understand what we say ; for if we tell her to go find Eliza she trots right off after her. Mother says, ' cats are fond of clean things, that she can never get a room cleaned and the bed nicely made up with fresh clean clothes, that Jet will not find her way directly into it, and place herself right in the nicest part of it,' and I believe she likes ruffled shams to lie on. Jet, you know, I told you, followed Eliza round, just like a dog. Well, one day Eliza's clean apron was put out on the ground to dry, and mother saw Jet lying on it ; after that Eliza's dress was lying on the top of the clothes horse, which was hung up on some high nails, and she saw Jet lying away up there. Wasn't that like a dog's love for his master? I asked Eliza what Jet did that was wonderful, she said, ' She did nothing bad.' She drives all the other cats away, and we thought, one day, Jet spoke to a cat and told her to go out of the yard, she made a noise that sounded 86 ELIZA AND HER CATS. very like it. It seems to me cats think. Why ! Jet will keep a mouse all night to show to Eliza in the morning, so she will be praised. She knows when there is any meat in the house, too ; just as soon as she hears the knife sharpened she runs very fast to get her piece. They must think, how else could they learn to open doors. I have seen Jet many a time j-ump up and rattle the door-latch till she succeeded in opening it. I have heard people say that cats were treacher- ous and deceitful. Now, Jet is not treacherous to Eliza. She will allow her to rub her back the wrong way and not even growl, but if anybody else attempts to meddle with her, she will growl and put out her claws. I think it is because Eliza is always kind to her." Your stories have interested me very much. For one, I must plead guilty to a dislike for cats, which distresses one of my little friends very much, al- though I have learned to be pleasanter in my man- ners to them, from the good example set me by a big boy friend, who has always a kind word for puss. There never has been any room in my house ELIZA AND HER CATS. 87 for a cat. Now, I will try to be more of a Chris- tian, and Tabby shall have a place on my rug, when I get the rug ; it isn't nice to have them lying on beds, or on nice chairs, or sofas, or the tablecloth ! Tabby shall have a nice soft chair made expressly for her that she shall. " Didn't tell you ! " You poor children been standing with your hands stretched out ever since your fortunes were told ! Why, Florence, that was a better subject for your pencil than Lilie's cats ! You couldn't resist catching your pencil could you, little puss, hands or not. Well, children, I will countermand immediately all such orders, once for all, we are no longer in school, and you are at liber- ty to put your hands in all sorts of favorable posi- tions. " Soldiers in Switzerland ! " Yes ; every man is a soldier, but there is no standing army. But " To return to our muttons ; " as I was saying, I am very much interested in cats, and I ask every cat's pardon that thinks, for all the unkind thoughts I have ever had of her. Lilie says, " she is not treacherous, but very lov- 88 ELIZA AND HER CATS. ing and kind to her friends ; " is a good, careful mother did you say ? She is, naturalists say. She does not like water very well, a little nervous about wetting her feet, likes her home and the people in it, has been known to forsake even a good habitation where its human- ity was inhuman. Indeed, in her native country, Egypt, she was held in so much reverence that when one died, the master of the house shaved his eyebrows and set his house in order as for a great event. There are several varieties of the house cat. The Angora, a beautiful animal with long silky brownish white fur or hair, the tail curling up over the body in quite an artistic manner, with sparkling blue or yellow eyes, is a native of Asia- Minor, comes mostly from Smyrna ; the tortoise shell cat, which comes from Spain ; the Maltese, from Malta, as its name indicates ; and the Manx cat, a to be pitied variety, without any tail, found on the Isle of Man. It is not very long since cats were introduced into England. At first, quite a price was paid for them and they were protected by law, but they ELIZA AND HER CATS. 89 were obliged to be good mousers. None were kept, as I understand it, that didn't catch mice. It is thought that the reason why cats were so much rev- erenced by the Egyptians, was because the coun- try was so troubled by rats and mice. I think it is a fact that rats are more troublesome in a flat, dampish sort of land than where it is higher and drier. Yes ; the cat shall have a rug all to herself in my house. She shall give up all her cat notions about water though ; that, it seems to me is rather simple. Afraid of wetting her paws ! I shall wet her paws for her till she gets used to it. " She won't stay with me ! " But, I will make it so pleasant for her if she will keep off my bed, not insist upon sitting on the tablecloth, or getting into the band-box where is my best bonnet and let me wash her paws. " She won't let me wash her paws, mother tried it ! " Well, she may come without washing her paws, it is her nature, I suppose. I'll have poor pussy, nature and all ; but I believe if every- body's cat's paws should be washed for two or three 7 90 ELIZA AND HER CATS. generations it would make a difference, don't you think so, children ? Charley whistled, Hiram threw his cap up and caught it two or three times, and Harry said, " Three cheers for the cats ! " Mabel said, very softly, " I am going to have an Angora cat. Uncle George had one and he pierced its ears and put in red ribbons. Its name was Silky. Uncle George got married last winter, and moved into a new house, and Silky went with him ; but she visited her old home every day." Luganno, ! It is most time to hear from John. Perhaps we shall get a letter here. Jet, Daisy, and the Giblet Soup scene. LUG ANNO AND JOHN'S LEISTER. 91 CHAPTER XI. LUGANNO AND JOHN'S LETTER. THIS is quite a place a theater, two churches, and silk manufactories. I should think it might be a sort of trading town for the country population. The streets look narrow. Oh, you've got it ; I thought we should hear from him here. Let us see what it says. " To you," oh ! pardon, " I may read it." How pleasant it is to receive a letter when we are among strangers ! We are interested in the least little bit of gossip that relates to home affairs, when we are away from it. CHICAGO, COOK Co., ILL. DEAR GEORGE : I felt pretty sober the day you left, I can tell you j 92 LUG ANNO AND JOHN'S LETTER. didn't care so much for the overcoat as I thought. There has been plenty need of it here, for it has been as cold as " Greenland's icy mountains." We had a strong idea of setting up one of Ferguson's heaters out doors, to see if it wouldn't bring the old fellow into something of a melting mood. The thermometer turned up-side-down, it was so icy. March is a wild chap in his young days good deal of bluster and blow blow away ! The harder you blow the harder I shall hold on to my coat. Good time to make sugar if we had some of those rock maples that grow up in Vairmount ; can't squeeze much sugar out of these cotton-woods, though. We had an awful time with one of Jack Harding's horses the other day. He got into a quick-sand away up on Prairie Avenue, and the harder he tried to get out, the deeper he sank into the sand. It took four men to raise him out of his " little bed." Sam Weston's dog, I heard, went of his own ac- cord to have his picture taken to send to you, but it was so cold the photographer couldn't stand still long enough, so poor doggie came back, disconsolate, without it, but he sends his love. He is decidedly LUG ANNO AND JOHN'S LETTER. 93 dogistic ; don't you think so ? Sam Haines has a " King Charles spaniel that will play tag with the boys just as well as any of them do. He will dart away from the boy who happens to be tag just as the boys do ; then when he thinks it is about time for him to have his turn at catching the boys, he will stand still to be caught. When he tags it is by putting his teeth into their trousers leg." I did not get quite used to your absence for two or three days, but concluded, at last, it was no use to " cry for spilt milk," so Will Myers and I joined partnership and set up a carpenter's shop out in the back yard. We bought eighteen hundred feet of boards got them low, about sixty-five cents a hun- dred four thousand shingles cost us two dollars. Mother let us have some old window sash and a door that was about the house ; we did all the joiner and masonry work ourselves, there were bricks enough about the house to build the chim- ney, so that didn't cost anything. When the shop was done it measured about fifteen feet by twelve we made a bench out of the lumber that was left, 94 LUG ANNO AND JOHN'S LETTER. set up our kit of tools, and my emery-wheel that I had last winter down in the cellar. Will brought his printing-press, it is a little hand-press that his father gave him last Christmas. We set up an old stove, and made a fire. I tell you what, didn't we look cozy and like business. We are prepared now to do anything in our line as well as anybody in the city from kitchen tables to hotels. Had one order come in last night for a black walnut table. Ferguson, the heater man, calls upon us if he wants any little thing done, and he is as good as an advertisement for every day in the week. Any printing you want done here's the place, from wedding cards to bill posters, any tools polished, come on with your hoes, it can be done as well with my emery-wheel as anybody's in the city. When we get tired we just take a nap on the bench. One night, just for the novelty of it, mother let us sleep out in the shop. She don't like that though, and so we have never asked her but once. Mother! how I do pity boys that haven't got a good mother ! It would break my heart, I do believe, to LUG ANNO AND JOHN'S LETTER. 95 worry her. She and father too, are so willing to let us do anything that is healthy, even if it makes them a little trouble. Our house didn't cost much all told, about fourteen dollars, and Will and I earned that ourselves. How do you all do ? Had any break-downs or turn-overs ? There's one thing I've thought a good deal about. That is the seeds of that apple William Tell shot from his son's head. They must have been pretty well scattered about. I wonder if you couldn't get me a few cuttings from some of the trees that sprung up from them ? With my car- penter's turn I have quite a taste for apple culture. 'Twould sound pretty well, the William Tell apple, don't you think it would ? Then there's another thing, couldn't you dig around those lakes in Swit- zerland where are the buried cities and bring me a few of the coin the people of that time used ? I don't know as it is quite the thing for me to ask so many favors when I refused to go with you, but the world will not regret my stay at home, considering what an advantage my shop is to them. I havn't stopped to punctuate this much. I'll try to have 96 LUG AN NO AND JOHN'S LETTER. the periods right and put a few commas and things at the bottom as Lord Dexter did. Don't let Grace Brooks and Florence Allen see this letter. They will be altogether too much shocked at such a harum scarrnm sort of a fellow. Tell Willie Jackson, I don't suppose he has said a word all through your journey ! tell him Charles Fobes has got nine hundred and ninety-nine differ- ent kinds of eggs. His mother says he has worn out four or five pairs of pants climbing trees for bird's nests, and his father says it is quite impossi- ble to keep him in shoe leather. Mother says she would much rather make him one pair of pants a week, and have him hunt birds nests, than lounge round the corner store, hearing such conversa- tion, listening to all the village gossip. What a pity 'tis that stores are such places for idlers. Now there is Mr. Frank, he will not allow people idling about his premises. Ladies hate to go to trade there, and I should think they would begin to find out that it was not for their interest to keep such a place. If they gain one kind of custom, they lose another, better. I am glad mother has kept me LUG ANNO AND JOHN'S LETTER. 97 away now, but I used to think I might go as well as some other boys. Jim Russell came in last night for me to go out boating with him this morning, but mother has al- ways been so unwilling for me to go, on the Lake at all, that she was almost afraid to have a wash- tub in the house where I could see it, for fear I might not be able to control my love for the water. I take to it about as readily as a duck does. I do not blame her so much. Lake Michigan is very angry in a storm and they come up very quick here, and then again, there are no little islands scattered about to flee to, as in New York and Boston, and away down East or along the coast of the State of Maine. If you happen to be caught out there you can scud in most anywhere, but this great blue lake, it looks like an ocean. Jim has a splendid boat though, I did want to go out in her. She is fifteen feet long, four wide and eighteen inches deep, built of hard pine, sharp bowed, stern two feet wide fourteen deep ; the cox- swain board made of ash with the name on a silver 98 LUG ANNO AND JOHN'S LETTER. plate ; the grating in the bow made of black walnut and ash, yoke and rowlocks made of brass, tiller ropes, silk, for dress up, you know, ash mouldings, bottom painted white with just a tint of green, up- per part oiled and varnished. Three thorts and benches each side. Ain't she a beauty though, cost seventy-five dollars. Jim's father had her made to order by Deguio & Doyle, Portland, Maine. I'm going East, if nothing happens, another summer, and mother will not be so afraid to have me row out in the harbors there. Don't let the girls see this letter, but tell Mabel her doll's hat blew into the mud once and I wiped it on my coat sleeve, and her mother said there should be no lack of cookies when she got back, and the last I saw of the kitten she was barking up a tree. I like the girls, but they are so particular about what a fellow says and how he says it, that, this letter is not for them to read. Now that about the thermometer turning upside down because it was so cold, and doggie's going to LUGANNO AND JOHN'S LETTER. 99 have his picture taken, well, it rather spoils a joke to have to explain it, you know ; that about the horse getting into the quicksand, and Sara Haines' dog, is real truth. I saw it myself, boys will be boys, so don't show this letter to the girls. I think too much of myself to use profane or vulgar lan- guage anywhere or at any time, but I must have some fun if the thermometer does stand on its head. Give my love to the girls and tell them I was sorry not to go, but what would have become of Mr. Ferguson ? I used to think whrn I heard him talk about his heaters, that it was a great mistake in Dr. Kane not to have lived in this day. If he had only had one of his heaters he could have gone right straight through an iceberg, and made an open polar sea. I say what would have become of Mr. Ferguson without that carpenter's shop ! Oh ! we have had a circus here, one of the best you know, all the animals of all the zones, grandma went with me. I don't think she enjoyed it much, she said the seats wern't wider than a slice of bread. 100 LUG AN NO AND JOHN'S LETTER. Don't let the girls read my letter, but I should be most happy to read one from them. Adieu, from your loving JACK. MR. GEORGE JONES, LUGANO, CANTON TCINO, SWITZERLAND. It is a most unfortunate thing that he did not mark his letter private and confidential, but now, as he says, it is not much use to cry for what can- not be helped. The girls are all too glad to hear from him I know. The Devil's Bridge. MOUNTAINS. 101 CHAPTER XII. MOUNTAINS. " CAN children ask too many questions ? " I re- peated to Grace, as we were looking at the far off mountain tops glistening in the rosy light of the fresh morning. Will there be any danger of get- ting the consumption and being carried like the sick acorn, away up into the air, if we pry a little into the history of those mountains, for I am cer- tain they have one. I am sure it would be a much better way to spend one's time generally, than to be questioning the propriety of this one's manners, or that one's mode of dress ; or whether Mrs. A. kept a girl, or chose to do her own work ; or if the cat sat on the tablecloth at neighbor Brown's, a doubt, in some 102 MOUNTAINS. cases, which would get the worst of it, pussy, or tablecloth. " Tut, tut, ma'am, you had better be prying into that mountain chain forbidden ground to you." Well, well, I won't say any more after this, but go on prying. I must say, just this once for all, that I do enjoy the air of a house that is properly kept, well opened two or three times a day, beds well aired every morning, carpets, if we have them, which is of very little account, well cleansed twice a year, well washed dishes, and clean tablecloths. I insist upon this last item, then Madam Grundy may say what she pleases the rest of the time. Oh ! but I do like good bread not sour, nor sweet with soda and, now I think of it, I like a great many things, that it takes a great deal of time to make ; and we cannot all study tills, and boulders, and sandstones, and slates, and schists, and gray- wackes, and granites, and gneiss ; but we must all talk and be amused after we have got our work done ; and so, who cares what Mrs. Grundy says, only, dear Grace, learn to discriminate between truth and error. Do not judge people or things hastily. We, MOUNTAINS. 103 and what a blessed thing it is so, all differ from each other, no two thinking or acting alike ; what a world it would be were it otherwise ! Look at the different sects among Christians. It seems to me very like our school. Now, I could not talk to Charley Jones as I can to you, he would not know what I meant. Still, he can be made to understand enough for his age, and, of course, as he advances, he can comprehend what you do now. Human nature is the same among the rich and the poor, the high and the low. We are all ambitious to be heard, and in many cases if a brother or sis- ter has not influence enough in one place to make known his ideas and have them appreciated, he will go to another ; thus comes the Adventist, the Methodist, the Baptist, the Presbyterian, the Con- gregationalist, the low church and the high church Episcopalian, the Catholic, the Universalist, the Unitarian, and the New Church man, I hope no- body is left out, all right and we hope all wrong ; for, a religion based on " Love to the Lord, and to the neighbor as thyself," must be right ; while doctrines, that all Christians disagree, one with another, 104 MOUNTAINS. upon, must be wrong, since, in the true way, " the wayfaring man, though a fool, need not err," or wander, and with that good, charitable Robinson, who prayed so fervently with the Puritans before they left Delfthaven, we hope that there will ever be new light shed upon all the churches, and with him we trust they will be ready to receive it. Yes, it is pleasant to have you to talk with, for we should both tire, always to bring our ideas down to children. See ! how the light changes on those mountains, a cloud shadows one, and the sun behind lights up another, and low down is thrown that beautiful blue veil, which enchants the eye by concealing their rugged inequalities, suggesting only softness and beauty. Dare I pry into the age of this mountain ? I can just inquire if he knows one Potsdam that lived in America so many years ago ? "Potsdam Potsdam related to old calciferous lived before my time. I knew Pliocene well." He is not so old as I thought well read you see he has heard of them. MO UN TAINS. 1 05 " I have a very good reminder of his time, in the plants and animals of my cabinet, as also of an ear- lier age of minerals, collected before ' the moun- tains were brought forth.' " Old, I shouldn't think he could have a tooth in his head, and am not at all surprised at his bald- ness ! Why ! at that rate, he has lived nearly two hundred thousand years ! Dear me ! before his time there's Azoic, nobody knows how old ; then, Palaezoic lived after him, longer than Methuselah, multiplied by hundreds ; next, Mesozoic their names all end in zoic last and least, perhaps, is Cenozoic, and St. Ghotardo comes in the latter part of his life ! Zoic must mean something it seems like a sur- name yes, yes, it means animal a-zoic without animal life the first age of the world was "With- out form and void." " Let there be light," not solar, but chemical light, activity, and we have the second day, or age, the Palaezoic, or ancient animal life, a low order, consisting of all the divisions of mollusk, marine plants, sponges, etc. A third age, and we have Mesozoic, or middle 100 MOUNTAINS. animal life. A fourth age, and Cenozoic, or recent animal life, this fourth age taking in long periods of time, and many, many changes preparatory to the grand climax of animal life, man. Yes ; this record written on tables of stone makes the world very old, but not older than Moses makes it in his record, I think, only, in his first chapter of Genesis he has given us the whole thing in a nutshell. " Can children ask too many questions," I again asked; and the mountain answered, "Not if the children are pleasant about it, and answer their own questions. I am not ashamed of my age at all ; in- deed, my neighbors Mt. Blanc and Rosa are older and taller than myself, and the American Mt. Washington claims to be of greater antiquity than these last. But what is age here, or there ? Deeds, not years, make our lives long or short. Some people do a great deal of work and make very little fuss about it ; others are not contented if they are not both seen and heard. These last are apt to be bad tempered, shedding a great deal of light sometimes, only to pull down and destroy at others. MOUNTAINS. 107 There's Vesuvius I do not know his age, he is certainly old enough to begin to do better he is always in a state of excitement, sputtering and foaming and smoking, keeping up such a fire that he often boils over, and destroys whole towns and cities, sparing neither sex or age. I suppose these fermenters have their mission. The world would either stagnate, or burst up entirely without them. They act as safety valves upon so- ciety, letting off the steam and other gases." Sure enough, I thought, what is age here, or there. We can be old old maids even and if we are not cross and ugly, it seems to me the world can tolerate us, especially, if we " Love God and little children." Yes ; " it is time to make our journey." The roads are passable ; you have fished and boated, explored churches and grottoes, played with dolls and marbles, and eaten plenty of the most delicious figs and grapes, and now are ready for the ride of fifteen hours over that venerable mountain pass St. Gho- tardo. Ghotardo is not one, as you may have thought, but rather, a chain of mountains. 108 MOUNTAINS. The reader that would follow our route will please turn to the little map of Switzerland at the beginning of the third chapter, which is sufficiently accurate to answer our purpose. Looking along its southern part he will observe on the northern coast of Lago Maggiore, the town of Luino, that marks the beginning of our journey. A little south is Agno, and farther east Luganno. Going east still, to the bend of the Tocsin river, is Bellinzona, from which point, following the course of the same river, we continue our journey up the mountains. Three thousand feet above the sea level, and we have left behind us all evidences of a tropical cli- mate ! The vine, olive, and fig tree have given place to clumps of maple, walnut, chestnut, and beech, these in their turn, by forests of larches and pines, inhabited by the bear, the lynx, and the wild- cat. The trees are gradually growing smaller, the air colder, and we have on our furs. Grace, has donned a complete suit of sable, and gone into the coupe", not even asking for a sight of the outside, contented to listen to the conversation of the Professor, who is entertaining his company MOUNTAINS. 109 with an account of glaciers, and peaks, and passes. " She took rather nice furs ? Didn't cost less than one thousand dollars. You read that the other day." You are right George. The Russian sable commands a high price, because it is the only fur the hairs of which look equally smooth turned in any direction. In winter, when the animal is taken, the fur is a beautiful black, and in its natural state has a bloomy appearance. When it is dyed, which may be detected in two ways, either by rubbing it with a moist linen cloth, or noticing the twisted, crisped condition of its fur, it is not so desirable. Sometimes it is colored with smoke. This can be detected by the smell. Yes, she took the most expensive. I think home products just as warm, and so will brave this arctic climate with Hudson Bay sable, at much less cost, I think, or, even be contented with the fine imita- tion of it, the stone marten, which the French dye so successfully. Lilie thinks she will patronize America, too, so she will take the mink. Mabel will look to a high- 110 MOUNTAINS. priced American fur, and chooses the black fox. Xellie and Florence will have ermine, it is so aris- tocratic, has such rich associations, having been worn only by judges and members of royal families. Ah ! little girls, true royalty is not always among the rich and royal of the earth. Some poor peasant girl that " acts well her part," may in God's eye be more truly noble than any of these ; neither does it follow because they are rich that they are not noble. Charley says " he shall take the fur of the fisher, because that is a North American animal." It re- sembles the fox, is rich and soft of a dark brown or blackish color. Willie will have seal. He does not care if it al- ways is dyed, dyeing makes it look better. It has to be sent to England, for the secret of coloring it so cunningly, is only known there. Laura will go to South America for hers, she likes chinchilla, if little girls have worn it a long time, she, is a little girl yet. " She says the chin- chilla resembles the squirrel and the rabbit, and is found in the cold mountains of Peru and Chili." MOUNTAINS. Ill Hiram will take the lynx skin. " Doesn't mind if it is always dyed black." But it is always worn by ladies in mourning ! " Well, then, I just will roll myself up in a buffalo or a bear skin, for that is all I know about," he says, and with head and ears covered from the cold, we all go into the interior. Hiram says, " He might have taken the white fox skin, with its long, fine wool ; he wouldn't care if it was used only for sleigh robes, all he wants just now is to keep warm. Ugh ! isn't it cold though ? " Yes ; we are nearly five thousand feet above the sea level. Nothing to be seen but a few beeches, stunted pines, rhododendrons, willow herbs, juniper trees, and the ragged mountain side ! 112 MOUNTAINS. CHAPTER XIII. CHARMING THE BEAR. THE interior is well filled. An American mother is just telling a story to her little boy, that' we become at once interested in. " Once upon a time, there dwelt in Sicily, in that famous wood where grows a chestnut tree so large as to shelter a hundred horses at once, a colony of brownies. They had heard that away up here in the mountains of Switzerland, there were bears. Now, one bright moonlight night, some of the most adventurous of them proposed to come to this coun- try, and, if possible, charm a bear into visiting their beautiful island, perhaps he might be prevailed upon to stay with them. So four of them started. Lillia was drawn on a golden cloud from Mt. Etna by six glow worms. She looked very beautiful as MOUNTAINS. 113 she came along, with her golden hair floating in a long mass of ripples behind, and a bright silver but- terfly set with shining brilliants on her forehead. Her robes were flowing and graceful, and she car- ried in her hand a wand, such as becomes fairies. Arista was borne along on a sheaf of wheat in As- per's chariot of wind ; and Andra came after, gaily striding a thistle. On, on they came over the blue Mediterranean, over the Appenines, through Italy into Switzerland among the Alps, where, pretty tired and out of breath, they rested at the foot and on the limbs of an old beech tree. By and by a bear came out of his nest near by, and Lillia says, ' Oh ! bear, brown bear, I love thee.' Bruin heard something, he did not know what for the brownies hid themselves and he kept still, so still ; but he could see nothing, so he ventured nearer to the tree, and Lillia said again, ' Oh bear, brown bear, I love thee, come go with me to my chestnut tree in Sicily,' and the bear listened again, but saw nothing ; then he stood up on his hind legs close to the tree, put up his ears, opened his 114 MOUNTAINS.* mouth, and raised his paws, listening listening and Arista spoke, ' Oh bear, brown bear, we love thee, come go with us to Sicily. You shall have honey, and figs, and olives.' The bear heard and was just going to turn, when Arista threw a silken thread over his head, drawing him back gently to the tree, and Asper and Andra said, ' Oh !. bear, brown bear, our mistress loves thee, go with her to sunny Sicily ; you shall have chestnuts, and wine, and milk,' and they threw a thread over his paw and drew him softly back toward the tree. Then Lillia put out her wand, and Bruin was so charmed that he never noticed two little children that had lost their way and sud- denly come upon him in the wood." " But the bear didn't go, oh ! no ; and the brownies were soon satisfied that he would not be happy in their island, and his country was too cold a place for them ; so they danced awhile. Bruin learned their steps, taught all the other bears, and since then, a bear dance has been quite the fashion among all genteel bears." " Other bears besides brown ones." There are MOUNTAINS. 115 many ; the polar, or white bear, found in the polar regions ; the grizzly bear, at the foot of the Rocky mountains ; the black bear, inhabiting the Appa- lachian mountain ; the cinnamon bear ; the Asiatic, or sloth bear ; the Syrian bear, the one alluded to in scriptures, gentle in disposition, found now in Palestine ; the spectacled bear in the Chilian Andes, and some others. The grizzly bear is said to. be the hardest to kill. Bears are said to be very affectionate. A mother bear will allow itself to be killed rather than leave dead bodies of its cubs or mate, and they will not touch food, though starving, that their cubs cannot take. The bear hugs its prey to death, and the black bear never attacks man, except in self-defense, and not then, unless he sees no other way of escape. Bears are very social and can be easily tamed. There is an account somewhere of two that were harnessed into a team and made to draw heavy loads. The weight of the brown bear varies from seven to eight hundred pounds when fine, ordinarily, weighing from five to six hundred. 116 MO UN TAINS. The bear remains in his den from the last of Oc- tober to April. This is called hibernating, and it has always been supposed that it took no food dur- . ing this time ; but, according to Dr. Kane, this is not the fact. However, the polar bear may differ from others, and take his food when it is most con- venient. We enjoy the story, but Willie wants to know before it is fairly finished, why it is so much colder up here on the mountain-top, than it was in the valley. Well, sir, suppose, some icy morning in winter, you should take it into your wise head to crawl out from under your bed-clothes and lie on the outside of the bed. " Have we crept out of our blankets ? " That is just what we have done. The atmos- phere clothes the earth as with a blanket for a dis- tance of forty-five or fifty miles. Think what a weight of blankets ; fifty miles ! Do you not think the lower ones would be rather warmer or thicker than those above ? You understand the higher we rise in the air, the less weight is above and the thin- ner the covering ; the thinner the covering the colder MOUNTAINS. 117 we shall feel. This is not, however, the only rea- son ; the direction of the winds have something to do with it, and there are other reasons that you will understand better when you have studied more. The air at the top of Pike's Peak, one of the Rocky mountains, is much warmer than that of Mt. Wash- ington, though the latter is but little more than half as high. " Shall we not go outside ? " Yes ; much rather be outside. We must, like the Russians, rub each other's noses if they are likely to freeze. Here we are at the very tip-top, and have left behind all signs of vegetation, except the few little flowers that brave frost and snow, a few stunted pines, and ju- nipers, the latter ever seeking the shelter of some friendly rock from the cold winds. We have neglected to notice the little Alpine flowers in passing. You did not know that we should see many that would remind us of home, did you ? Charlie and Nellie would almost have been willing to encounter an uncharmed bear to pick the violets and anemones that grow in some of the rich woods. Let me think. I have seen five 118 MOUNTAINS. different varieties of that charming little wind-flow- er, one or two of them much larger than ours ; be- sides buttercups, the golden cinqufoil, the geum, the star cudweed, all dressed in straw-colored vel- vet as becomes such a cold climate, three varieties of the blue gentian ; the Alpine honeysuckle ; the Alpine rose, that flourishes even in the highest al- titudes ; the saxifrages, and the charming thrift with its pink flowers gracefully placed on a cushion of moss ; while, all along, the mountain sides have been perfumed with wild thyme, rosemary, and mountain lavender. Grace, too ! Tired of the coupe ? Nor of the Professor ? " Oh, no ! He has been talking about glaciers and cities buried in the lakes of this country ! He says, at least I understood him to say, that there were cities belonging to two different ages, ages of which we know nothing more than we learn from the buried cities themselves, buried in these lakes, one below another ! I could not wait to hear it all, I was so anxious to talk with you about it." Not more surprised than I was to read about it. MOUNTAINS, H9 There are two kinds of lake cities ; one built on a foundation of reeds and tree-stems ; another, called pile dwellings, built on platforms supported by piles driven into the lake bottom. They represent all stages of civilization from the stone to the iron age. In the canton Zurich a city was found from which they took * " mealing and hearth stones, eight pounds, of wheat and barley bread, burnt apples," why the apples should be burnt I do not understand, " beechnuts, acorns, cherry-stones, a canoe twelve feet long, and it was especially rich in bronze relics, hatchets, knives, spear heads, pins, needles, fish hooks," etc. In Lake Neufchatel were remains of the iron age, ornamented iron, as well as rings, balls and beads of glass. Yes, the mountain was right. This is a pretty old world, and we know, as yet, very little of its history ! " The Professor said tfcere were some glaciers known to be from five hundred to six thousand feet thick ! " * Encyclopedia Americana. 120 MO UNTA INS. Yes, the great Humboldt glacier in Greenland, spoken of by Dr. Kane, is of such colossal dimen- sions as that. An ice river. It really does flow down the mountain sides. We shall soon come to it, the glacier of St. Anna, between Hospenthal and An- dermatt, after we cross the mountain pass. You will understand why it should be called a river, when you think of the immense weight of ice at the beginning of the glacier, pressing upon that of a lower plain ; that the rays of the sun fall with more force upon some parts than others ; and strange to say, the ice nearer the earth is warmer than that above ; that these and other causes oper- ate to thaw a part, and you know water is one of the things that cold expands, so of course when the ice melts it contracts, then the frozen parts crawl up, almost as a worm throws itself along by alter- nate stretchings and contractions. Six thousand feet ofc'ice crawling along the ground ! What a crushing weight ! Suppose, George, you were to slide over your mother's parlor floor after the carpets were taken up, with nails in MOUNTAINS. 121 your boot toes and heels. " Scratch it ! " I think you would a little. Well, these great ice rivers have scratched all along all the valleys of both continents, and have left the marks of the great nails in their boot heels and toes wherever they have slidden. Sometimes, instead of scratching, they have polished as smooth- ly as a graver's tool the stones over which they have passed. Traces of these rivers exist in Amer- ica and Europe, so that geologists have come to think that at one time this whole continent lay many feet under snow and ice ; indeed, that the whole of New England was buried six thousand feet deep in it, and only Mt. Washington was able to raise its head above it ! Study for yourselves, dear children, but do not worry to learn faster than is pleasant and easy. There is time enough for every- thing, if we are not idle, and what we know not now we shall learn hereafter. So improve every advantage for study and observation thrown in your way, and be good boys and girls. Now we pass the glacier of St. Anna. How its icy waves glitter in the sunlight ! That old man 9 122 MOUNTAINS. you seem to see in the far distance is a hard-hearted one ; he is made of stone. Avalanches from the mountain side precipitate many large rocks and stones into the valleys. Those that fall upon gla- ciers so obstruct the rays of the sun that the ice does not melt under them, and they are left, like monuments upon its surface, several feet above the ice level. The motion of glaciers has been determined by noticing the position of these ice marks from time to time. Our route lies over a bridge which is a most wonderful work of art. It is said to have been con- structed under the direction of a monk, and consists of a single arch thrown over the river Reuss, which tumbles and foams so violently as to have baffled all efforts to bridge it before. Because he was suc- cessful, either in sport or earnest, most likely the former, the people said lie was inspired by the devil, and so it received the name of the Devil's Bridge. From this point to Aamstaag the scenery is very wild ! Yonder is a whole forest of pines, thrown down by an avalanche; trees are seen more than a MOUNTAINS. 123 hundred feet long, shorn of their leaves, interlaced by debris of rock in a thousand grotesque ways, with the water circling about them, and here and there falling in sparkling cascades. The road winds along by the side of the river, which rolls its waters over a bed very deep and much broken. This river is often crossed by flying bridges, which are constructed on a principle that Grace understands, I think ; that of two forces moving upon an object in opposite directions, the object acted upon moves in a line between them. A barge is anchored by a long cable touching the wharf with its side. When, with a boat-hook, it is pushed off, the river current propels it down stream, the cable draws it the other way, and so it goes very surely between these opposing forces to the other side. Passing the Paffensburg, another bridge, and one of such marvellous height that you hold your breath, we come upon the little village of Aamstaag, and we are in the plain again. One cannot too much admire the enterprise of a 124 MOUNTAINS. people that have overcome such difficulties as have these brave mountaineers ! Aldtorf and letters. " James Badger has become an Adventist. I vis- ited his family. He is very strict in the observance of the seventh day, and very good." This reminds me, Grace, of what we were talking about the other day. That all these different sects were all right, and all wrong. If the people that compose them are good, it is but the few, perhaps, that ambition alone governs, why is not that diver- sity where each one receives the spiritual food nec- essary for his growth, better for society ? " Shall be glad when we get home." And so shall we. WILLIAM TELL. 125 CHAPTER XIV. WILLIAM TELL. IN Aldtorf, meaning old village, situated near Lake Lucern, is shown the square where William Tell performed his famous feat of archery. He was the son-in-law, you remember, of Walter Furst, one of the three patriots who first formed the design of freeing their country from the despotism of Albert. The story, as it is related by the Swiss, is some- what embellished, no doubt, and runs in this wise. The tyrant, Gessler, a baillie, or governor of Al- bert's, not content with exacting the most humilia- ting respect to himself, had caused to be raised in the public square at Aldtorf, a pole, upon the top of which was placed a cap, supposed by some to be the ducal cap of Austria. To this cap he required the same honors as to himself. One day, William, or as he was called, Giullaume, 10 126 WILLIAM TELL. Tell, was walking in the square, conversing with his little son. Affecting not to notice the cap, he passed many times without paying it any attention. His little boy, feeling the sadness which op- pressed his father, said, " Father, what lies beyond the mountains ? Why do we not go there and be happier ? Can we not live there better than with these odious governors, who oppress us so ? " " No ; my son. The land there is indeed fertile, and would yield us an abundance of corn, and oil, and wine ; the skies are sunny, but the country be- longs to others ; we must hope and strive for better times here." Scarcely had he spoken thus, when an order came for him to appear before the tyrant Gessler, who asked him " How he dared to disobey him ? " " Because I am free," replied Tell, without any emotion ; " such acts of submission are only for slaves." The tyrant, transported with fury, swore he would punish him in such a manner as to make all others fear to follow his example. He immediately ordered Tell's son to be brought, and, turning to WILLIAM TELL. 127 the father, said, " I hear you are the most wonder- ful archer in my province. Give me a proof of your skill by shooting this apple from the head of your son," thinking within himself that if the father killed the son it would be a good and sufficient reason for taking his life as a parricide. Tell could have braved the most horrible tor- ments ; but this chilled the blood within him, and he threw himself at Gessler's feet begging him not to make him the murderer of his own son. The inflexible governor renewed his infamous or- der, in a menacing tone, adding, that if he disobeyed both should die ; and the unhappy father, with a despairing heart, embraced his son, blinded his eyes, placed him at the distance required and com- manded him to be motionless ; then raising his eyes he implored the assistance of Heaven. Taking from his quiver two arrows, he concealed one under his coat, and placed the other, wet with his tears, in his bow. Already, the ferocious Gessler enjoys his triumph, when he sees Tell, with a trembling hand, adjust the apple placed on the head of his son ; but his 128 WILLIAM TELL. cruel hopes were not realized. Heaven has listened to the prayers of Tell. The arrow flies, the apple is hit, the child is safe, and the air resounds with the acclamations of the people. Gessler, more furious than ever, despairs of find- ing any other pretext for his vengeance, when he perceives the arrow that Tell had concealed, fall from under his coat, and demands to know for what it was intended. Tell, not able to control his indignation, replied, "To kill thee, tyrant, had I slain my son." Gessler caused him to be instantly seized, and, lest he should be rescued by his friends at Aldtorf, he had him conveyed to his chateau at Kusnach, where he could have the pleasure of torturing him for a long time. The boat which was conveying him to his prison had made half the distance, and Tell saw himself near the plain of Gruntli, where the conspiracy was formed, when one of those impetuous winds, which troubles often the navigation of this lake, rose with such violence as to endanger the safety of all their WILLIAM TELL 129 lives. All, except Tell, were in the most profound consternation. Death appeared inevitable. At the sight of danger, Gessler, who knew the strength and dexterity of Tell, released him from his fetters and begged him to guide the boat. With a look of profound contempt, he seized the helm, and in spite of the storm, reached a large rock where the boat could land, and snatching his bow and quiver, he jumped upon it, repulsed the boat with his foot, and left his enemy to the mercy of the waves ! However, after struggling a long time, Gessler and his companions gained the land, and immedi- ately planned new tortures for Tell, should he dis- cover his retreat. Tell, watching his enemy from behind a rock, sent an arrow which rid his country forever from his tyranny. The news spread rapidly through the country. The courage and hope of the people -was roused ; soon, all the fortresses and the governors were in the hands of the conspirators, and the freedom of the country secured forever. Tell was afterwards 130 WILLIAM TELL. drowned in the river Reuss, as he was attempting to save the life of a neighbor's child. At Tell's chapel, situated on Lake Lucern, the Swiss annu- ally commemorate their independence, as we do ours, by patriotic speeches, bell ringings, guns, and dinners. The anniversary occurs on a Sabbath in July. As with us, there are two political parties, but not as with us, one of them, I am told, is so de- cidedly undemocratic as to care little for the dem- onstrations. This fountain marks the spot where stood the tree on which the ducal cap was hung, and to which Tell's boy was bound. The tree, it is said, remained there three hundred years after the event. Behind it is the tower, with records dating back more than half a century. Across the lake, among the ledges of rocks, is the little plain of Gruntli, of especial in- terest to all patriots. Although William Tell well deserves all his hon- ors, the story of Arnold Winkelreid merits an honorable mention, when we speak of the struggles of these brave mountaineers to hold that liberty which Tell's bravery and sagacity secured. WILLIAM TELL. 131 It was sometime later in the history of confed- eracy, that the free cities leagued themselves against the encroachment of Leopold and the Lords. At a certain battle, that of Sambuch, when Leo- pold's forces seerrled about to carry the day, this man, committing his wife and children to the care of his comrades, sprang forward, grasped as many of the steel lances as he could in his arms, receiving their thrusts into his broad chest, dragged them with him, and died a victim to his heroic devotion. The Swiss passing in crowds over his body, threw themselves into the opening he made, and by the impetuosity pf their attack, gained again the victory for their countrymen. This memorable day cost the Austrians their Emperor and two thousand men, while the Swiss lost but two hundred, and its brave magistrate, Ar- nold Winkelreid ! Such deeds of valor and patriotism should awaken in us all like sentiments. The time may come in the history of our own fair land, when political corruption shall set its ugly seal upon the foreheads of those to whom we look 132 WILLIAM TELL. for wisdom and uprightness ; and the tree from that " root of all evil " so overshadow every sense of justice and right in their hearts, that a greater ty- ranny than a Gesslej, or any other tyrant ever imposed, shall settle upon its citizens. Then, from among your ranks, little children, must arise another Arnold Winkelreid, willing to gather the points of the enemies' lances in his hands, that over the dead hopes of one strong life, the banner of truth shall be borne on to certain victory. CREEP. 183 CHAPTER XV. CREEP. Sweet little bird, whence did you come ? In md'ssy nest in woodland glade, Ky river bank, or forest shade, Makest thou thy home ? Strange little bird ! Why did you roam From mossy nest in woodland glade, By river bank, or forest shade, Where was thy home ? Dear little bird, or, hast thou strayed From gilded cage in ladies' bower Where thou wer( kept, to while an hour Away, for little maid ? Shy little bird, what is thy name ? Thy slender bill, and plumage rare, With sparrows, swallows won't compare ; They're not the same. 134 CREEP. Poor little bird ! what seek'st thou here ? Dost not love best, thy leafy nest In shady wood, where, for thy food thou search'st With mate so dear ? And this is the song the little bird sang, As he flew round my room ; As he tripped, and he climbed his little trill rang Without thought of his doom. " I come from the woodland, Where, all the long days Of summer, my lays resound with the praise Of Him, who created and fashioned my ways ; Who, told me to build without any fear A nest in the hemlock, no matter how queer It was woven ; of grass, or of moss, or of leaves, So it screened our seven treasures from the eyes of all thieves. Now, this is why I am here. 'Tis the last of the year, and before I appear At the south, where I go, I want the children to know At the north, that I love, though I leave them. That their winter snows Would redden my nose, and freeze my poor toes. Then, " under the rose," away from these foes, I'll make my nest, where I think best ; And Kris Kringle will tell you the rest." CREEP. At home ! We have enjoyed the trip, at least, I have. This beautiful, soft, hazy October morning, how pleasant it is to be at home ! Take your fill of it, ye little ones that have never known the want of a mother's love, or a father's providence. Eat your nice breakfasts, and out with you, into the fresh air. Live like the birds, while you may, and be thankful for that protecting care that has allowed neither " harm nor the fear of it, to approach thy dwelling." Miss Ilsley, Mrs. Parker, Mary, come quick ! Here is a bird in my room ! And they all come. Miss Ilsley cannot tell what it is, she is sure ; Mrs. Parker thinks it is a swallow ; Mary thinks it is a bird ! It is a bird, with a bill something like a woodpecker, a tail like a swallow, and feathers like chinchilla fur, except the gray and white is mottled with a lovely brown. A delicate little creature. It cannot be a swallow, nor a sparrow, and nobody in the house knows what it is. Where did you come from, little bird, and what did you come for ? Oh ! you are willing to tell me, but I cannot un- 136 CREEP. derstand that faint little whistle. You are not afraid, nor need you be. I shall ask the children what they know about it. Perhaps it is a wood- pecker. " Woodpeckers are black and white," says one little boy ; and a little girl says, " She is sure it is a female woodpecker." It must have escaped from some cage. See how familiarly it climbs up on my arm ; now it trips round the room so quick, and so quietly ; now up the window, climbing as easily as a young sailor up to the mast-head. Look at its toes. They are made for climbing and clinging. Nobody has lost such a bird. Can I borrow a cage just for a day, while I observe its habits ? Thank you, sir, I will keep it only a day, and then you may have the cage and the bird too. But it will die, something tells me, you have no right to give its liberty to another. The bird died, though I left it with food and water in abundance. It died all alone while I was away, and was never even caged, but enjoyed the CREEP. 137 liberty of the room as my guest. I dreamed, last night, that I had neglected to feed it for several days, and it died of starvation ! How ugly I felt ! But, as I was gazing at the little pet, dead in my hand, it grew into a beautiful rose, which, when I woke, was shedding its fragrance into my dream- land room. I learned that Creep came from the woods, where he had a little house on a hemlock tree made of leaves and moss ; that he was one of a family of seven by the name of Creeper, and his name was Cytherea ; that he knew when he was among friends, and was not at all selfish, but would sing, or frolic, or creep, or climb about as cheerfully as at home ; that he is as shy, and as nimble, and as dif- ficult to catch, as a squirrel, unless come upon unawares, and his fears excited. " How do birds fly ? " Do you see that little pink toy balloon, that but for its string would soon be out of sight ? Birds are not like that exactly, because that has no life, being filled with hydrogen gas, such as we light 138 CREEP. our dwellings with, a life destroyer ; but they are like it in this way : their bones are, many of them, hollow, and so connected with their lungs as to be filled with air as they breathe, which makes them very light, and by using their wings, as a boatman does his oars, they are pushed up by the air, as a boat is propelled by the water. Died of starvation ! That ugly dream ! Are there any little children, any mothers, any fathers, think you, that will die of starvation in this cold winter, that is sure to come ? You that have good homes, little boys, little girls, ask your fathers to start up their mills, if it only pays dollar for dollar. Can they not give their time once in a while ? I know the mothers, " With their needles and their shears, Will make auld clothes look amaist a weel's the new; " then the laborer will have his hire, and, " died of starvation," or, worse than that, " died in prison," for the crime of being unemployed, or illy paid, shall turn into beautiful roses of prosperity that shall delight their eyes and gladden their hearts. CREEP. 139 Yes, start up your mills, and your foundries, and your work-shops, and your ship-yards, and trust to the good God whose are " The cattle upon a thou- sand hills" for your wages. ERRATA. Page 100, for Tcino, read Ticino. Page 134, fifth stanza, first line, leave out the comma after Now.