A Night's Adventures.
It made a most tremendous ——!(1.)
I gave my horse a sudden ——:
He threw me full against an ——,
And broke my collar-bone.
"What can I do in such a ——?(2.)
My horse is gone, I have no ——,"
I murmured with a groan.
I was as wet as any ——;(3.)
The wind and thunder made a ——,
And neither moon nor star was ——;
The night was black as sin.
The fall had given me such a ——!(4.)
And I was miles from any ——:
I floundered on through mud and ——
To reach the nearest inn.
But when I found the wished-for ——,(5.)
And saw through windows dim with ——
A fellow holding up an ——,
I would have cried with fear.
Each seat was filled by such a ——,(6.)
As might have fled from any ——
Of thief or buccaneer.
I strove to overcome my ——,(7.)
And ventured on a traveler's ——
To enter boldly there.
The porter waved aloft a ——,(8.)
But still I stepped within the ——
And took an empty chair.
The leader gave a fearful ——;(9.)
Sprang up, and overturned the ——.
Oh! I could cover half a ——
With what I felt that night.
He came, and gave me such a ——,(10.)
That I cried out amain, though ——
With anguish and affright.
"Come, will you join our game of ——?(11.)
Or do you choose that I should ——
The wretch, who wishes naught but ——
To honest men like us?"
With that he flung me from the ——,(12.)
And seizing on me by the ——,
He drew me forth into the ——
And made a dreadful fuss.
The night had now grown clear and ——.(13.)
I wandered to a distant ——,
And thought the cold ground not so ——,
As was that fearful spot.
But soon there passed a friendly ——,(14.)
Who placed me in his empty ——
And took me to his cot.
M. W.
The solutions are as follows: 1. Clash, lash, ash. 2. Plight, light. 3. Trout, rout, out. 4. Strain, train, rain. 5. Place, lace, ace. 6. Scamp, camp. 7. Fright, right. 8. Broom, room. 9. Scream, cream, ream. 10. Tweak, weak. 11. Skill, kill, ill. 12. Chair, hair, air. 13. Chill, hill, ill. 14. Swain, wain.
Pittsburg, Pa.
Dear Readers of "St. Nicholas:" I live in a city of iron and steel manufactories. I will do my best to tell you how an ax is made.
The works are a beautiful sight at night, with their huge, glowing furnaces and the forms of the brawny workmen, passing between us and the light. In one furnace they are heating pieces of cast-iron, about twelve inches long, four inches wide, and one-half inch thick.
A workman takes a pair of long pincers, draws from the furnace one of the red-hot pieces of iron, and passes it to another workman. This workman is standing before two large wheels, which revolve slowly, and which have several notches in them. The piece of hot iron is placed between these wheels, with one end in a notch, and the iron is bent double, bringing the two ends together, making it look somewhat like a clothes-pin, except that the clothes-pin should have a hole at the head, like in the piece of iron, for a handle. The ends of the bent iron are next hammered together, after which the coming ax is again heated. It is then taken to the steam hammers. The first hammer joins the parts of the iron firmly together, while the second, having on its face the mold of an ax, gives the iron the same shape. The sides are then made straight and even by a circular saw.
But an ax in this shape could never be used to much effect, for cast-iron cannot be ground down to a fine enough edge. Steel can be ground, however, and so a piece of steel must be added to our iron ax. Two workmen take hold of the blade with pincers, and while one holds a sharp tool on the broad edge, the other strikes with a sledge. Into this split thus made, a piece of steel is slipped, and a steam hammer joins them firmly.
After this, the ax is tempered, sharpened and polished; and, when the blade is furnished with a handle, the ax is ready for sale.—Yours truly,
"The Doctor."
The following is sent to us as written, without help, by a little girl nine years old.
The History of a Cat.
I am the family cat. I am not so very pretty, but they all like me very much. I have a pretty baby-kitten, and I have a daughter named Tortoise-shell. She is a pretty and good cat. She also has a baby-kitten prettier than mine. Mine has such big eyes that its little face does not look as cunning as my daughter's baby-kitten's face. My mistress is very good to me sometimes, but sometimes she pulls my tail and makes me mad, and I scratch her and then she slaps me back; but when she is good to me, and pets me, and gives me cake, then I purr to her.
Once my mistress' brother had a dog given to him. This dog's name was "Captain." I did not like him one bit.
My mistress' brother's friend tried to set the dog on me, but he would not come near me; so the boy let him alone.
When my mistress went to get my daughter's baby-kitten, Captain went with her. My mistress did not know that Captain went into the room with her. Tortoise-shell was tending her kitten, but, as soon as she saw the dog, she jumped up and scratched his nose good for him. He did not stay very long. He was given to my mistress' brother on Saturday. The next day, which was Sunday, my mistress and the rest of the family were at church; the dog got out, I don't know how, but when my mistress came home from church she looked all about, but could not find him anywhere. She was very sorry, but I was not sorry one bit; I was glad. So now we've come to the end.
G.M.M.
Oswego, N. Y.
Dear St. Nicholas: Please will you tell me where I can find directions how to build a boat?—Yours respectfully,
Harry Mead.
Midland, 1878.
Dear St. Nicholas: I wish that you would tell me how to make a yatch I have a schooner but she gets beat bad and I should like to know how to make a yatch that will beat them all I think one about 30 inches will be long enough.—I remain your constant Reader,
G.B.J.
In St. Nicholas for July, 1875 (Vol. II.), Harry will find full directions how to make a serviceable boat at a small cost; and G.B.J., whose letter we print verbatim, also may find hints that will enable him to build an all-conquering "yatch."
Milwaukee, Wis.
Dear St. Nicholas: I am going to tell you about a game that we play here a good deal. I do not know what it is called. It can be played by any number, though the more the merrier. Each player must have a sheet of paper and a pencil. When all are supplied, each one must write across the top of the sheet a question, taking up as little room on the page as possible, and turning the paper down so as to cover up the writing, as in "Consequences." The paper is then passed to the next neighbor, who is to write a common noun, of any kind, under the question, and turn over in like manner. After the noun has been written, the paper is passed on. Then everybody opens the paper that last came to him, and must answer the question in rhyme, inserting the noun. I will give you an illustration.
EXAMPLE:
Question,—"Do you like pigs?"
Common noun,—"Peas."
Answer, in rhyme,—"I love the gentle animals
That sport about our home.
And all among the peas and corn
So happily do roam."
"Ah! little pigs I'll harm you not,
Nor e'en disturb your play,
But you shall have your own sweet will,
And feed upon the best of swill,
Through all the livelong day."
Will somebody answer thus this question, that was given to me:
"Which was the greatest battle of Alexander the Great?"
Noun: "Toes."
Yours truly, D.J.
Dear St. Nicholas: I send you a puzzle, which I hope you will print:
My first is in your body,
Quite useful in its way.
My second flows in Italy,
And flows by night and day.
My third, a thing to cook with, is
In every kitchen found.
My fourth's a common article,
A very simple sound.
My fifth folks often get into,—
The careless ones, of course.
My whole, a clumsy animal,
Is partly named for horse.
R.N.P.
Answer: Hip-Po-pot-a-mus, hippopotamus.
Wilmette, Ills.
Dear St. Nicholas: I have been taking your book two years. I think it is splendid. Some of the stories are so funny. I go to a private school, and I am in the Fourth Reader. The girls play on one side of the grounds and the boys on the other; the cherry-trees are on our side, and I like it the best. We have lots of fun. I am nine years old. I have two little sisters, Belle and Marion, and a little brother, Bobo. When we get big we may write some stories for your book. We are little now, but everybody was little once.—Your friend,
Kitty Griffiths.
Philadelphia, Pa.
Dear St. Nicholas: I do like you so much, and I wish you would tell me something. I see pictures and read books in which are the names Penelope, Juno, Achilles, Hercules, and so on. The dictionary tells but little about these names, and I want to know all about them. Can you tell me how to find out?—Truly your friend,
Carrie H.
You can learn a good deal about the personages you mention from Bulfinch's "Age of Fable," from Alexander S. Murray's "Manual of Mythology," and from Mrs. Clement's "Handbook of Legendary and Mythological Art"; but the poems of Homer,—the "Iliad" and the "Odyssey,"—of both of which there are good English translations,—are the chief sources of the information.
Chicago, Ills.
My Dear St. Nicholas: I send you an Enigma to publish in your magazine. The answer to the Enigma is "Washington."—Yours truly,
Willie M.
My 1, 9, 10, is the same as one.
My 8, 1, is two-thirds of two.
My 6, 5, 10, is three-fourths of nine.
My 10, 9, 8, 4, 5, 6, 9, is nothing.
My 3, 2, 1, is what my 5 did.
My 8, 9, 10, is very heavy; but
My 10, 9, 8, is not.
My 6, 5, 7, 4, 8, is always somewhere, but not here to-day.
The Boy Engineers: What They Did, and How They Did it, is an illustrated book published by Messrs. G. P. Putnam's Sons. It seems to have been written for readers living in England, but young amateur machinists anywhere would find it an entertaining book. It gives good practical hints about the management of tools, and explains how to turn and carve in wood and metal, how to make a clock, an organ, a small house, and how to set up a steam-engine. The type is large, and the style easy and pleasant.