PRIZE STORY COMPETITION FOR DECEMBER.
I
n the place of a "Picture Page Wanting Words," the usual Monthly Prizes are offered for the best Original Stories on the subject of "A Skating Adventure," namely—-a Guinea Book and an Officer's Medal of the Little Folks Legion of Honour for the best Story; and a smaller book and Officer's Medal for the best Story (on the same subject) relatively to the age of the Competitor, so that no reader is too young to try for this second prize. All Competitors must be under the age of 16. The Stories, which are not to exceed 500 words in length, must be certified as strictly original by a Parent, Minister, Teacher, or other person of responsible position, and must reach the Editor on or before the 10th of December (the 15th of December for Competitors residing abroad). In addition to the two Prizes and Officers' Medals some of the most deserving Competitors will be included in a Special List of Honour, and will be awarded Members' Medals of the Little Folks Legion of Honour. It is particularly requested that each envelope containing a Story should have the words "December Prize Story Competition" written on the left-hand top corner of it. (Competitors are referred to a notice respecting the Silver Medal, which was printed on page 115 of the last Volume.)
LITTLE DOCTOR MAY.
Little Daisy playing
'Mid the ripening corn,
Pierced her plump white finger
With a cruel thorn.
Home she flies, eyes clouded
With a mist of tears;
Little bosom trembling
With vague childlike fears.
Brother Leonard lifts her
Lightly from the ground;
May, beside her kneeling,
Tends the swelling wound.
Softly takes a needle—
Knows what she's about—
Pricks, and lo! the hidden
Thorn slips safely out.
Daisy's fears have vanished,
Tears are passed away—
Leonard dubs his sister
Little Doctor May.
A DAY IN THE SNOW.
Words from "Little Folks."
Music by the Rev. F. Peel, B.Mus., Oxon
1. Come along, bairnies, laughing and singing,
The echoes all ringing around as you go;
Come, for the fairies with chill little fingers
Have seiz'd on the raindrops and turn'd them to snow.
Come along, bairnies, laughing and singing,
The echoes all ringing around as you go.
2. Come, watch the white flakes softly descending,
Still, never-ending, silent, and slow,
Folding a mantle of beauty around us,
A mantle of flickering, fluttering snow.
3. Come, rosy fingers, gather the treasure!
Bright looks of pleasure I see as you go;
Laughing and singing, The echoes all ringing—
Oh, the delight of a day in the snow!
OUR LITTLE FOLKS' OWN PUZZLES.
double diagonal puzzle
If definitions of the objects and scene shown above be placed one under the other in the order indicated, the diagonals, left to right, will form the names of two well-known cities.
MENTAL HISTORICAL SCENE.
A
n old man is seen in a dungeon, dressed in rags and covered with mud. A slave enters with a sword, evidently for the purpose of murdering him, when he stops suddenly, awed and frightened by the prisoner's face and stern voice, as he demands if he has the presumption to kill him. Then the slave rushes from the cell, declaring it impossible to despatch such a man. Who is the prisoner?
Nellie Ellis.
(Aged 15¼).
Frost Hill House,
Liversedge, Yorkshire.
SINGLE ACROSTIC.
T
he initials read downwards will give the name of a great musician.
My first is one of England's public schools.
My second is one of the continents.
My third is a planet.
My fourth is one of the largest rivers in Europe.
My fifth is one of the Christian festivities.
My sixth is the opposite to rejoice.
Mildred C. Watson.
(Aged 12.)
Harrow-on-the-Hill,
Middlesex.
MISSING-LETTER PUZZLE.
W
hen the missing letters have been supplied, the whole will form a verse from one of Cowper's poems.
W × e × t × e × r × t × s × w × r × i × r × u × e × ,
B × e × d × n × f × o × t × e × o × a × r × d × ,
S × u × h × w × t × a × i × d × g × a × t × i × n
× o × n × e × o × h × r × o × n × r × s × o × s.
Henrietta Puttock.
(Aged 13¼)
Clevelands, Billingshurst, Sussex.
SQUARE WORDS.
A
volcanic mountain.
2. A sign of sorrow.
3. A designation.
4. An extent of surface.
1. A sweet-scented herb.
2. A thought.
3. Not distant.
4. An article of pastry.
1. A range of mountains.
2. A trial of speed.
3. A portion of land.
4. A mocking look.
Louie W. Smith.
(Aged 15¼.)
11, Woodside Terrace, Glasgow.
BURIED NAMES OF FLOWERS AND TREES.
T
he initial letters of the following flowers and trees, if put together, will form the name of a town in England.
1. That pot is made of iron.
2. To and fro several times he went.
3. You can sit in the porch, Ida.
4. Mamma, please may I have that book?
5. That reel may do for the kitten.
A. K. M. White.
(Aged 15.)
7, Carlton Crescent, Southampton.
CRYPTOGRAPH.
T
he following will form a well-known verse by Wordsworth.
Nzib szw z orggov ozny,
Rg'h uovvxv dzh dsrgv zh hmld,
Zmw vevibdsviv gszg Nzib dvmg,
Gsv ozny dzh hfiv gl tl.
Amy G. Merson.
(Aged 14)
De-la-pole,
Cottingham, near Hull.
RIDDLE-ME-REE.
M
y first is in ache, but not in sore;
My second is in pippin, but not in core;
My third is in pie, but not in tart;
My fourth is in wheel, but not in cart;
My fifth is in sole, and also in pike;
My whole is a fruit which all of us like.
Janie Wilson.
(Aged 11-½.)
Jessiefield Offerton, near Stockport.
ARITHMOREM.
1. 5 + reri = a piece of water.
2. 51 + egarf = weak.
3. 54 + lye = bright.
4. 56 + e = bad.
5. 11 + as = an imaginary line.
6. 506 + azr = a mask.
7. 104 + li = polite.
Effie E. Bell.
(Aged 14.)
Market Place, Swaffham.
DIAMOND PUZZLE.
A
consonant.
2. A fish.
3. A fragment.
4. To comprise.
5. A celebrated musician.
6. To roll down.
7. Not ever.
8. A large expanse of water.
9. A consonant.
H. Bell.
(Aged 13¾.)
St. George's Mount, New Brighton, Cheshire.