(PUBLISHED ON PAGE 476 OF No. 134.)
Prologue.
tars in the heavens brightly shine;
tars in the theatre shout and stride;
tars on our flags along the line
erved to arouse the soldiers' pride.
First Verse.
winkletum Shine was a little star
ucked in a far-away nook in the sky;
aking a look at the world from afar,
hinking his station exceedingly high.
Second Verse.
mbition to rise is unknown in a star,
nd Twinkletum felt that he wanted to fall,
-shooting he went without asking his "mar,"
nd he shot down head first 'gainst a high garden wall.
Third Verse.
ecalled by a view of companions on high,
ecollections of home came to Twinkletum Shine;
emorse gnawed his breast as he clung to the vine
unning over the stone wall 'way up toward the sky.
Fourth Verse.
till not high enough to reach his dear home,
o the naughty star, sorrowing, faded and died.
mall stars in the future should not try to roam;
uspended above, they should be satisfied.
The letters replacing stars are italics, and they will be found to make the following names:
Prologue.—First line, e a e r g i; this, transposed, will give the word Egeria, a primary planet. Second line, a r t h e r e n i e makes Irene and Earth, two planets. Third line, n u a o n t l i, Lunation, applied to a movement of the moon. Fourth line, e a s s d p i, Apsides, also relating to movements of the moon.
First Verse.—First line, n u n a l a r gives Annular, when the sun is totally obscured except a bright ring around a dark body in the centre (Mattison's Primary Astronomy, p. 118). Second, third, and fourth lines, c e a r y h e s g k e m a r n s c e e, Ceres, Hygea, and Mars, planets; and Encke, an astronomer who discovered an apparently oval comet (Mattison, p. 143).
Second Verse.—First line, m b r u a gives Umbra, a part of the moon. Second line, t t a o l, Total, one form of eclipse. Third and fourth lines, o e e m r o e g i a r l l, Galileo, who invented the telescope, and Roemer, a distinguished foreign astronomer.
Third Verse.—First line, a l e d e p i s, Pleiades, a cluster of stars. Second line, l l s e a l s, Lassell, who discovered a satellite of Neptune (Mattison, p. 130). Third and fourth lines, m r a d i b r s t v i o r e s a l l o e s, Variable, a term applied to stars which move in unexpected directions; Lord Ross, a titled astronomer; and Metis, a planet.
Fourth Verse.—First line, t h n o r, Thorn, Prussia, the birth-place of Copernicus (Mattison, p. 10). Second and third lines, h g t r o r n e n i l s h t, Northern Lights. Fourth line, s d e y h a, Hyades, a cluster of stars.
LETTER SEQUENCES.
BY G. B. BARTLETT.
This little game consists in preparing a sentence or story in which the letters of the alphabet are used in regular order.
When several persons are engaged upon it at the same time, the game may be played in two ways. A certain amount of time may be allowed, and the one who has the most complete and connected story being the winner. It very often happens, however, when this plan is pursued that some one with a special talent for remembering words will win every time. It may be better, therefore, to have all the story when completed placed in a hat or some other receptacle. Then let them be drawn out one by one and read, the authorship remaining unknown.
When all have been read, a ballot is taken to decide upon their merits, and the author of the one which receives the most votes is declared the winner of the prize.
Of course these stories are not expected to be sensible, as a great part of the fun consists rather in their absurdity. Ex may always be used in place of X.
Specimen Story.—A braying, careless donkey eats green hay in June's kind, lovely month. No opening posy quaintly roared, "Spare thou us, vain warbler!" Excuse yours, zealously.
FUN ON THE POND—LAUNCHING THE RAFT.