CIRCLE-GAME.

Mark upon a piece of paper three rings, the largest from eight to fifteen inches in diameter, the other two considerably smaller. Within the rings mark the numbers 10, 20, and 50, as shown. Lay this paper upon the carpet or floor, and roll your marbles, the object; being to have them stop upon the paper and as near the center as possible, each person to let his remain where they stop until all of his be rolled. Should a marble rest on a line, tally for it the number in the largest circle adjoining.

[TOMMY'S THREE HORSES.]

The first is a pony without any head;

'Tis a wonder, indeed, how the creature is fed.

The second, you see, is a steady old chair;

Very gentle is he, and he needs little care.

And here is another—the third one, of course;

But the driver's Tom's brother, and Tom's his own horse.

[THE CHICKENS THAT WOULD NOT BE TAME.]

In a small village there lived an old woman who kept poultry. One day this old woman went to see a little girl, who had some chickens which were so tame that they would eat corn and crumbs out of her hand.

"That's nice," said the old woman; "I shall teach my chickens to do that."

So she went home, and got some corn and some crumbs, and went out into the yard and called the chickens; but they would not come to her. They were afraid of her, because she used to shout at them, and throw sticks at them, every time they came into the garden, or near the house.

When she saw that her chickens would not eat out of her hand, this old woman was very angry, indeed.

"You bad chickens!" she said, "I'll catch you and make you eat out of my hand." So she ran after them and tried to catch them, but some ran one way and some another, and she could not lay hold of any of them.

The next day she went again to the house where the tame chickens were, and this time she saw the little girl's mother, and told her about the trouble she had, and how her chickens would not let her come near them.

"I don't see why they are not nice, gentle chickens like those your little girl has," said the old woman.

"Well," said the little girl's mother, "perhaps they would be tame if you had always treated them as well as my little girl treats her chickens. She has been kind and gentle with them ever since they came out of their shells, and they have learned not to be at all afraid of her. But I think I have seen you throwing sticks at your chickens and chasing them about the yard. If you do that, they cannot help being afraid of you, and they will never come to you and eat out of your hand."

What the little girl's mother said was very true, and if any of you have birds or animals which you wish to tame, you must always treat them so kindly that they will never have any reason to be afraid to come to you.

[JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT.]

"Thirty days has September, April, June and November; all the rest have forty-three, except February, which is leap-year every four months." I may not repeat this correctly, but I heard a little boy saying something of the kind. Perhaps you all know the jingle better than I do, so I'll say no more about it.

NATURE'S PADDLE-BOATS.

A little bird has told me such a strange thing! It's about a kind of jelly-fish which he called a "Globe-Beroe," I think; but you can find out for yourselves, if I caught the name aright or not.

This jelly-fish looks like a tiny ball of the clearest ice. All around it, much after the fashion of the lines of longitude on a geographical globe, are eight bands a little less transparent than the rest of the body. On each of these are thirty or forty small paddles, in shape like the floats upon the paddle-wheels of a steamboat; and it is by means of these that the little creature pushes itself along in the water. The paddles are alive, and move either swiftly or slowly, one at a time or all together.

Not only can this natural paddle-boat send itself along, but it can also cast anchor. It puts forth very fine threads, which gradually lengthen, unfolding from their sides transparent tendrils like those of a vine. These catch hold of and twine around some fixed thing, and moor the craft; and when the Beroe is about to be roving again, they unwind themselves, and all slip quietly back into the little ice-ball out of sight.

There are countless millions of Beroes in the Arctic regions, where the sea is in some parts colored by them for miles and miles. If there were not such immense fleets of these tiny paddle-boats there would be little chance for us to wonder at them, because they choose for their moorings just the places where whales love best to feed and play their rough games, and where, too, their own presence in the sea makes it into a kind of soup of which whales are very fond.

TINY TREES.

Only think of trees, full-grown trees, so small that several of them,—roots, stems, branches and all,—piled one above another, would not be as tall as I am!

What kind of birds would stoop to roost in such little, little trees, I'd like to know?

They tell me that such tree-lings do really grow, away up, on high mountains, near where the snow stays all the year through, and also in very cold countries near the polar circles.

I do hope the words "polar circles" will bring clear ideas to you, my dears. They've quite tangled up my notions. Wont some of you explain the things to me?

BIRDS AND TELEGRAPH-WIRES.

The Little Schoolma'am has been talking about snow-birds, and she says there was a poem about them in ST. NICHOLAS for April, 1875, and also a picture of the dear little fellows comfortably perched on a telegraph-wire, out in Colorado, somewhere. I dare say you'll remember them, my chicks.

Well, she went on to say that telegraph-wires are not always such good friends to birds, for she had heard that, along the great railroads in the West, large numbers of prairie-chickens are killed at certain seasons of the year by flying against the wires. Sometimes this may happen in the dark, but more often in the day-time when the wind is very strong.

Of course, this can't very well be helped; but it does seem dreadful, doesn't it, my dears? However, the section-men, who have charge of the railroad tracks, get some good from it, for they make a regular business of gathering the fallen birds, which are then cooked and eaten.

WALTON'S KITTY AGAIN.

Dear Jack: A while ago I told in ST. NICHOLAS something about "Walton's Kitty," that loves music and climbs upon any one who sings to her, putting her head as close as can be to the lips of the singer. Now, here is another true story about this same cat:

In the summer, Walton's aunt used to set the milk in a cool closet, in a pitcher with a long, narrow neck, but day after day, when teatime came, every drop of that milk was gone. Nobody drank it, nobody used it, nobody spilled it. "Walton's Kitty" and all her descendants were clear of suspicion, because of the long, narrow neck of that pitcher. So everybody watched and waited to find out how the milk went.

And this is what they saw: There sat "Walton's Kitty," dipping her paw deep down into the pitcher, taking it out, and then lapping the milk from it! If she dropped the smallest drop, she stopped and cleaned that up, and then went on. As the milk dwindled to the bottom of the pitcher she shook her paw around; and she never left off until every drop of milk was gone!

Since then, the milk for tea stands in a covered pitcher, but "Walton's Kitty" has hers in a tall, narrow goblet. It is a very affecting sight, and people laugh till they cry as they watch her.—Yours truly,

M.B.C.S.

FLINT ONCE WAS SPONGE.

You never would think it, would you, my dears? But the Little Schoolma'am says that it was; and she always is right.

She says that flint really is nothing more nor less than sponge turned to stone. Once the sponge grew at the bottom of the sea, as other sponges grow now; but that was ages and ages ago, and since then the sponge, turned to flint, has lain covered by rocks and earth of many kinds piled thick above it. Seen with a microscope, flint shows the make of sponge in its fibers; and sometimes you can see, bedded in it, the shells of the tiny creatures on which the sponge had fed. Now and then, inside a flint, will be found bits of the sponge not yet changed.

That last proof settles it; but I must say it's hard to believe;—hard as the flint, almost.

SOME OLD PUZZLES.

Here are two letters, with old puzzles in them, that may amuse you for a while on one of these shivery evenings, my chicks. I'll tell you the answers next month.

Michigan.

DEAR JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT: The other night one of my brothers said he did not believe we could pronounce a certain word after he should have spelled it. I will tell you what it is, though you may have heard about it already:

A cross, a circle complete,

An upright where two semi-circles do meet,

A triangle standing upon two feet,

Two semi-circles, a circle complete.

Yours truly, CORA.

Oswego, N.Y.

DEAR JACK: I send you a riddle which I found. I take ST. NICHOLAS and like it very much. I have all of the volumes from 1874.

I am a word of plural number,

A foe to peace and human slumber,

Yet, do but add the letter S,—

Lo! what a metamorphosis!

What plural was, is plural now no more,

And sweet's what bitter was before.

Yours truly, KITTIE.

Talking about riddles, reminds me of one that was made by Richard Whately, an archbishop of Dublin, as I've heard. This is it:

"When from the Ark's capacious round

The beasts came forth in pairs,

Who was the first to hear the sound

Of boots upon the stairs?"

I'm told that it never has been guessed right by anybody; yet the archbishop said there was an answer, although he did not say what it was. May be you can solve the riddle, my dears, if you brush up your wits a bit? Let me know as soon as you think you have the right answer.

THE NEWEST FASHION.

The girls of the Red School-house often talk about new fashions, especially when the Little Schoolma'am is about, for she is pretty sure to drop some useful hints. Well, one day she told them, among other things, about the "latest novelty" in ladies' ball-dresses at Upernavik, in Greenland.

As nearly as I can remember, she said that the costume consists of a little jacket, made of bright-colored calico or flannel; long pantaloons of sealskin, trimmed like the jacket and sitting close to the figure; and white, red or blue boots: the whole set off by gay ribbons and all the beads the wearer can get.

A jaunty suit enough, no doubt; but, if she wore only that, the wearer must have been obliged to dance, merely to keep herself warm.

By the way, I wonder what ever possessed them to call that frozen country Green-land?

TO SURPRISE A DOG.

This is the way a man among the Himalaya Mountains once astonished a stranger dog. He put on a pair of huge goggles and walked steadily and quietly toward the dog, without speaking a word. The dog bristled up and stared hard for a moment, and then, all at once, he seemed to wilt, and away he slunk as if ashamed of himself.

I heard about this only the other day, my dears, and I tell it to you merely to warn you not to try the little trick, unless you are sure your dog will not get angry and jump for you.

It would not look well for you to slink off as if you were ashamed of yourself.

THE KINDERGARTEN AT HOME.

DEAR JACK: Will you please tell your older boys and girls that in good systems of Kindergarten teaching they will find a great many means of amusing invalid brothers or sisters without wearying them, and many games and much fun for the younger ones, who will learn at the same time things that they ought to know. To carry out these methods one wants sticks, blocks, slates, slats, colored balls, and other things easy to make and cheap to buy, the use of which is pleasant to teach as well as to learn and practice.

I bought lately a full set of Kindergarten apparatus such as I have named, and sent it to a little niece of mine in California, and the dear little one writes to me that she has had much happiness and enjoyment out of it. I hope some of your young friends will try the experiment and let me know what success they have.—I am, dear Jack, yours affectionately, A LITTLE SCHOOLMA'AM.

KAFFIR IRONING.

You all know how ironing is done here—with flat-irons, I think somebody said. Well, the birds tell me that the Kaffirs of South Africa don't use flat-irons, but have quite another way. They make the clothes into a neat flat package, which they lay on a big stone. Then they just dance on the package until they think the clothes are smooth enough! It must be good fun to them! Luckily, Kaffirs don't wear cuffs and frills.

SLIPPERS FOR HORSES.

Where do horses wear slippers?

Now, my chicks, this is not a conundrum. So you need not be chirping out, "On their feet, of course;" or some foolish answer of that kind. The real answer is, "Japan,"—at least, so I'm told, and there are such numbers of other queer things there, that I don't wonder it is so.

Well, Japanese horses wear straw slippers,—clumsy-looking things, I should say. But, besides that, they stand in their stables with their heads where American horses' tails would be! Perhaps Japanese horses like to see for themselves what is going on?

"Where is the food put?"

Why, in a bucket hung from the roof, of course. Where else, would you suppose?

ON THE ICE.

[THE LETTER-BOX.]

Fair Haven, Vt. 1877.

DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: Two of my sisters and myself have taken your magazine ever since it was published, and like it very much. I am glad Miss Louisa M. Alcott is writing a story for your magazine, as I am very fond of her stories.

I have read, "Eight Cousins," "Rose in Bloom," "Little Men," "Hospital Sketches," "Aunt Jo's Scrap-Bag," and "Little Women," myself, have been called "Meg, Amy, Beth and Jo." My oldest sister Ada, who is sixteen years old, is the "Amy" of our family; My little sister Stella, who is eleven years old, is well skilled in music, and we think she is very much like "Beth"; and I am thirteen, and have been called "Jo."

So, you see, I was greatly interested in "Little Women," as I could appreciate it so well; and it seemed to me as if Miss Alcott must have seen us four girls before she wrote the story.

I have four first cousins, and they are all boys, and with my sisters and me we are "eight cousins." One of my cousins is a little baby, a little over five weeks old. He makes the eighth cousin.

I liked the piece about Miss Alcott in the December number very much. We expect to take your magazine until we are young women. I think it the best published for young people.—Your friend,

ANNIE ADAMS.

By letters just received from England, we learn that the pretty Christmas and New-Year cards in our December and January issues were not drawn by Miss Greenaway, though a friend had mistakenly sent them to us last summer as specimens of that lady's work, cut from a scrapbook. We, therefore, hasten to correct the error, wishing at the same time, that we knew to whose hand to credit the drawings. To our still greater regret, we now learn that Marcus Ward & Co., of London, having published these as Christmas cards, and counted upon having a large sale for them in America. Had we known this in time, we certainly should not have copied the pictures without previously referring to the publishers. The best reparation we can make at the present date is this acknowledgement and a bit of honest advice to our readers: Hunt the shops for the beautifully colored cards from which these pictures were copied, and buy them for next Christmas. They are far better than our printed ones.

Brooklyn, N.Y.

DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I am twelve years old and very fond of reading, and as I never can find an interesting book of history, I read stories. But mamma and other people tell me I ought to read something instructive, but as I never can find anything I like, I would be much obliged if you would help me a little by giving me a list of pleasant books. I have taken you for three years and enjoy you very much indeed.—Your very affectionate reader,

ALICE CLINTON.

"Greene's Shorter History of the English People," a new work, is very interesting. H.M.D. in the "Letter-Box," October, 1876, says that "The Life and Times of Sir Philip Sidney" is such a pleasant book that you cannot help having a good time when you are reading it, and will not think it is history unless you know beforehand. "Seven Historic Ages," by Arthur Gilman, is another attractive book, and if you are like most smart girls of your age, you will find Prescott's "Ferdinand and Isabella" as interesting as many story books. It is a history of Spain in its most prosperous times. It is long, but, once begun, few find it hard to finish.

Geneva, N.Y.

DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: Please tell "Jack" that apples that are part sour and part sweet grow in the beautiful State of New York. I have tasted of such fruit and am sure it is so. Who can tell me more about this wonderful fruit? And how many have ever eaten such apples?

Can any one tell me what causes them to grow one side sweet, and the other sour? Hoping to hear more on this subject, I remain, yours truly,

ALMA AYLESWORTH.

Mobile, Ala.

DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I wish to tell you of Fanny, our little mule, who cannot be forced to work on Sunday. She is gentle, obedient and faithful on week days, but on Sunday Fanny will not be made to move.

Don't think us heathen, dear ST. NICHOLAS, for the boys just tried to make her carry a load of hay as a test, and to tease her, also; but when papa saw what they were up to, he put a stop to it, and now Fanny enjoys her Sundays in peace. My little sister says, "she is a religious mule." Do you think that the mule really knows when Sunday has come?—Your well-wisher,

ERNESTINE HAMMOND.

KING ALFRED AND THE CAKES.

(Jack-in-the-Pulpit's Story in the December Number, Straightened Out.)

King Alfred the Great, having been driven by the Danes to seek safety in flight, disguised himself as a peasant, and took refuge in the hut of a cow-herd, where he was told to watch the baking of some cakes. But he forgot the cakes and let them burn; and when the herdsman's wife came in, she gave him a sound scolding for his carelessness.

Charles I. of England was defeated at Marston Moor; and his son, Charles II., after losing the battle of Worcester, barely escaped capture, by hiding in the leafy branches of an oak-tree.

Robert Bruce lost many battles, fighting for the Scottish throne. At length, he lay down disheartened on a heap of straw in an old hut. While he was thinking over his troubles, he saw a spider trying to get from one rafter to another. It failed many times, but at last succeeded, and Bruce, taking courage at the insect's example, went on fighting until he had secured his kingdom.

Sir Isaac Newton had on his table a pile of papers upon which were written calculations that had taken him twenty years to make. One evening, he left the room for a few minutes, and when he came back he found that his little dog "Diamond" had overturned a candle and set fire to the precious papers, of which nothing was left but a heap of ashes. It was then that he cried, "Oh, Diamond! Diamond! thou little knowest what mischief thou hast done!"

It is said that George Washington, when a boy, destroyed his father's favorite cherry-tree, and, being asked about it, replied: "I cannot tell a lie; I did it with my little hatchet."

Oliver Cromwell, when dispersing Parliament, saw the Speaker's mace upon the table, and, pointing to it, said, "Take away that bauble!"

Just after Lord Nelson's great naval victory off Cape Trafalgar, as he was dying from a wound received in the battle, he kept repeating the words, "Thank Heaven, I have done my duty!"

Prince William, son of Henry II. of England, was drowned on his way home from France. The king was so affected by his loss that "he never smiled again."

[Fannie P. sends a complete and correct version. Willie H. Paul and Bertha Paul straightened out all of the story except the part about Lord Nelson. The versions sent by E.J. Smith, Charlie W. Jerome, Lulu Way, and John N.L. Pierson, were correct, as far as they went, but they explained only the parts that referred to King Alfred himself.]

Here is a little story sent to ST. NICHOLAS as a companion to "The Story that Wouldn't be Told," in the November number:

THE STORY NOBODY KNEW.

Once there was a little story that nobody knew, and nobody could tell it, because nobody knew it, and yet this little story wanted dearly to be told. It used to wait about where people were telling stories, and when a story was ended and the merry laugh went round, it would say to itself, "Now they will certainly tell me," but they never did. So at last this little story got quite low-spirited and wandered off by itself out of the house, and through the garden into the orchard, and there in the orchard, under an apple-tree, there was a little girl lying fast asleep among the buttercups and daisies. The little story looked all around to see that no one else was there, and then it cuddled down beside the sleeping child and whispered itself into her ear. It was so exciting, so charming, that the little girl awoke, and thought she had dreamed it all, and ran to tell her mother the beautiful dream. When she saw her mother, she cried out, "Mother! mother!" and was just about to tell the little story, when suddenly she forgot it all, and now the little story can never be told, but it still comes to good children in their dreams.

A little girl, eleven years old, sends these verses of her own composition to the "Letter-Box":

VALENTINE.

I am a little Cupid,

And I come to visit thee,

To tell you that I love you,

And to know if you love me.

And if you'll be my little wife,

And come along with me,

I'll take you to a lovely place,

And pretty flowers you'll see.

And when you have been there a day,

You'll be a little Cupid,

With no hard lesson-books to learn,

That are so dull and stupid.

But, if you will not come and be

My pretty little wife,

You'll go straight back to school again,

With lessons all your life.

K. UNIACKE.

Two Rivers, Wis.

DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I am not quite ten years old, but I am one of your oldest subscribers. We have every number from the very first. I have a brother Fred, two years older than I. We have always lived on the shores of Lake Michigan.

During the summer months, the steamer comes in from Chicago every morning. Fred and I like to get up early in the morning, and go down to the beach, before breakfast, to see the steamer go out; and, afterward, the morning train, for the station is near the beach. It is lovely down there early in the morning; we dig wells, sail boats, and wade out after the waves that chase us back again.

We love the lake, and spend many happy hours down there. But sometimes it's a very wicked lake. Three weeks ago it blew very hard all night, and in the morning the waves were rolling up like mountains, and near the harbor pier there lay a wreck. Although they were so close to the town, and several other vessels were lying at anchor near, no one had heard, or seen, or knew anything about how it happened. It proved to be the "Magellan," of St. Catherine's, Ont. Since then nine bodies have washed ashore, among them the captain and his brother, the mate, both of them fine-looking young men, and not like ordinary rough sailors. The captain was a Knight Templar, and the Masons took charge of the body and sent it home, and some ladies made a beautiful cross of natural flowers, which they laid on his breast. But I will leave this sad subject, and tell you how we appreciate ST. NICHOLAS.

Last week we had a concert. There were several recitations from ST. NICHOLAS, besides the "Mother Goose Operetta" in the January number (1877). It was very pretty. There were fifteen children, all in handsome peasant costumes. I was Marie.

Last summer, when we came from the Centennial, in our Pullman car were two boys just Fred's age; one was from San Francisco and one from Chicago. Of course, the three were soon well acquainted, and had lots of fun together. And what do you think? They soon found out that each was a subscriber to ST. NICHOLAS! And how they enjoyed talking over the stories together! "Fast Friends" seemed to be the favorite; but I like "Eight Cousins" better.—Respectfully yours,

NETTIE CONINE.

Paulsboro, N.J., 1877.

DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I had pigeons at the Woodbury Fair both this year and last, and took the first premiums for best display: another little fellow, about my age, had four when I had six, and had eight when I had nine; how many had I better take next year? You are interested in this question, for the two dollars premium helps pay for my ST. NICHOLAS, and I don't want to be without that. I take the "Scattered Seeds," but like ST. NICHOLAS better. Please stop sending my magazine to Wm. E. Grant. I am no relation to General Grant, but am a Democrat, and for General McClellan. I am nine years of age.—Your constant reader,

WILLIE E. GAUNT.

You have done so well already, Willie, that we think you can best answer your own question; but we should take all of our best pigeons.

New York.

Will ST. NICHOLAS please tell "Sidonie" if the "trade dollar" is made entirely of silver?

It is not. There are 900 parts of pure silver and 100 parts of copper in the "trade dollar." The copper alloy is added to make the coin hard, so that it will wear well, as silver by itself would be too soft.

Chicago, Ill.

DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I, for one, think it is all nonsense about those "that" sentences. Anybody can put more than eight "thats" in a sentence; but if he, she, or it, can parse them, I would like to have them do it. I don't believe it can be done. Let them parse the sentence in the August number, for instance; and, if they can put in twelve "thats" and then parse them, why, then, and not till then, will I believe it. Please put this in the Letter-Box, and oblige.

C.P.S.

Louisville, Ky.

DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I thank you very much for the many beautiful designs which you have given for Christmas presents, and for the pictures and silhouettes which you have published, from which we have copied in tableaux vivants and shadow pantomimes. We had "The Modern and Mediæval Ballad of Mary Jane" (published in January, 1877) in our church entertainment, and it "took" immensely. "The Stalwart Benjamin" and "Lord Mortimer" were cut from pasteboard, and fastened up by wires, and, of course, no one knew that they were not people. The "Ballad" was read behind the scenes.—Truly yours,

KITTY B. WHIPPLE.

Boston.

DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: Papa has bought me every number of the ST. NICHOLAS you have ever published, and as I have seen several letters asking you about different things, I thought I would ask you about something I do not understand. If it is not really known who wrote the plays "Titus Andronicus" and "Pericles, Prince of Tyre," what circumstances lead people to think Shakspeare wrote them?

I have enjoyed you extremely, and as the Little Schoolma'am seems always to answer such questions, I write to you hoping you will ask her.—I am your fond admirer,

ETHEL DAVIS.

The Little Schoolma'am says it is not absolutely certain who wrote the plays you name, but this is about the way the matter stands:

The play "Titus Andronicus" is not now believed to have been originally written by Shakspeare. It is considered too horrible and repulsive to be his work. However, it may have been brought to him to be retouched and made ready for the stage. Hence is it, perhaps, that some passages of his are found in it.

"Pericles," as well as "Timon of Athens," is believed to have been the work of some other writer, afterward completed and partially altered by Shakspeare. It is thought that most of the last three acts of "Pericles" are Shakspeare's, though some of their prose scenes and all the choruses are by another hand.

[NEW PUBLICATIONS.]

ALL AROUND A PALETTE is a delightful book for boys and girls, especially for those who love good pictures and odd and sprightly stories with something in them besides the fun and sparkle. Mr. J. Wells Champney has put a picture or a sketch wherever there was a chance, and Mrs. Lizzie W. Champney has made the stories very bright, sweet and interesting. The book is published by Messrs. Lockwood, Brooks & Co., Boston, and is one of the "Children's Art Series."

Messrs. Porter & Coates, of Philadelphia, send us THE BOY TRADERS, by Harry Castlemon, a brisk story of adventure on the sea, in the Sandwich Islands and among the Boers. There are several striking pictures.

A YORK AND A LANCASTER ROSE, by Anne Kearney, author of "Castle Daly," "Oldbury," etc.; published by Macmillan & Co., New York. This book is by an English author, and is a charming picture of family life, which will interest girls of thirteen and fifteen years of age. The story is of two girls, each named Rose, the one rich and the other poor; and tells how they were brought together, and the influence they exercised upon each other, and relates, in a very pleasant way, the various adventures, sayings, and doings of their brothers and sisters.

THE CUCKOO CLOCK, by Ennis Graham, author of "Carrots" and "Tell me a Story"; published by Macmillan & Co. This volume is well illustrated by Walter Crane. The cuckoo in an old clock makes friends with a lonely little girl, and causes her to have a good time, and to see many wonderful things. One of the prettiest parts of the story is the account of the making of the clock in the German home of the little girl's grandmother.

SLICES OF MOTHER GOOSE, SERVED WITH SAUCE BY "CHAMP," is the title of a set of large cards, admirably printed in black and red, and giving new funny versions of Mother Goose rhymes, by Alice Parkman, illustrated with capital pictures and silhouettes by Mr. Champney. Messrs. Lockwood, Brooks & Co., of Boston, are the publishers.

SIX SINNERS, by Campbell Wheaton, has to do chiefly with one of the six dear little "sinners," Dora Maynard, whom girl readers will love right off. It tells all about her school-days, her pranks and fun, her troubles and how they were overcome, and tells it in a way so lively and absorbing that you will want to read all of it at one sitting. The book is clearly printed in large type, and is published by Messrs. Putnam, New York.

[THE RIDDLE-BOX.]

EASY DOUBLE CROSS-WORD ACROSTIC.

The initials and finals, read downward, form the names of two kinds of trees.

1. The width of a vessel. 2. A mountain of Crete. 3. A Tom-boy. 4. An inclosure. 5. To harbor.

WILLIE PETTINOS.

SQUARE-WORD.

1. A governor. 2. To join. 3. Flexible. 4. A girl's name. 5. Quick dances.

L.

NUMERICAL PUZZLE.

I am a word of five letters, the sum of which is 512.

My 1 × my 3 = 1/20 of my 5;
My 2 × my 4 = 1/5 of my 3;
My 5 ÷ my 1 = my 3 × 20.

SEDGWICK.

HIDDEN ACROSTIC.

At the top of a mountain,

Within a clear light;

In the midst of a fountain,

At edge of the night;

In field and in meadow,

In sunshine and shadow,

On land and on sea,

At the end of the earth,

Or in air, we may be.

Now put us together,

And, if you guess right,

You'll discover a water-fall

Sparkling and bright.

W.P.D.

EASY DECAPITATIONS.

1. Behead a kind of sword, and leave a fluid for burning. 2. Behead a sharp-pointed weapon, and leave a fruit. 3. Behead to touch, and leave a kind of fish. 4. Behead a vehicle used in winter, and leave a shelf 5. Behead a kind of deer, and leave a game that boys play. 6. Behead an ancient war implement, and leave a unit. 7. Behead animals of a common kind, and leave a sort of grain. 8. Behead to pull, and leave sore. 9. Behead the name of a vessel, and leave a narrow passage.

WALTER A.

TRANSPOSITIONS.

1. Change artful into a confusion. 2. Change a Persian king into a mixture. 3. Change a cutter into listeners. 4. Change a cheat into musicians. 5. Change repaired into healed. 6. Change a drink into a class embracing many species.

CYRIL DEANE.

CHARADE.

In war, and in council, my first oft appears.
My second is that which my first often wears.
Very strong is my last; 'tis a bark, not a bite;
That from which it is taken is solid, not light.
Three joined in one, if my whole you should find,
An island well known it would bring to your mind.

M.D.

GEOGRAPHICAL PUZZLE.

(Composed by Mary V. and Willie K., each aged thirteen.)

An island west of British Columbia (1) went to the lightest city (2) in the world to attend a ball. She there met a peak in Oregon (3) named as follows: A city in Egypt (4), a city in Maine (5), and a city in Australia (6), in whom she was much interested.

Her dress was a valley among the Himalaya Mountains (7), and though elegantly trimmed with a city in Belgium (8), it was, unfortunately, two cities in France (9). As she felt a country in South America (10), she wore around her shoulders a city in Scotland (11) shawl. Her jewelry was exclusively a peak in Oregon (12). Her shoes were of a country in Africa (13), and her handkerchief was perfumed with a city in Prussia (14).

Being a lake north of the United States (15) dancer, she had distinguished partners, whose names were the capital of the United States (16), the capital of Ohio (17), the capital of Wisconsin (18), the capital of Alabama (19), the capital of Mississippi (20), and the capital of North Carolina (21).

Having boldly said that she was a country in Europe (22), she was escorted by a city in Indiana (23) to a bay in South-west Africa (24), where she freely partook of a river in Oregon (25), some islands in the Pacific Ocean (26), a river in South Africa (27), a district in France (28), and some islands in the Atlantic (29). After passing a river of Maine evening (30), she bade a cape in Iceland (31) to her hostess, and was escorted home by an island in Nova Scotia (32).

NUMERICAL ENIGMA.

My 1 2 3 4 is undoubtedly possessed by every one of the whole race of 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 (my whole), while my 5 6 7 8 ends a prayer.

C.D.

ILLUSTRATED PUZZLE.

Twelve things may be found in the picture above,

Not clearly perceived by the eye,

But with keen observation and witty conceit,

You will find them, I know, if you try.

First point out (1) an animal (other than bear),

(2) A spectator, (3) a portion of corn,

(4) One part of a sentence, and (5) parts of a bird,

And (6) what may your fair head adorn.

Now (7) part of a river, and (8) parts of a book,

And now, if you please, take the trouble

To pick out (9, 10) two letters, which, rightly combined,

In classical language mean "double."

The remaining two things in the picture above,

To which I would call your attention,

Are (11) part of a carriage or part of a boy,

And (12) a sort of a stop or suspension.

AUNT SUE.

CURTAILMENTS.

1. Curtail a bur, and leave to plague; curtail again, and leave plants. 2. Curtail a celestial body, and leave to make smooth; again, and leave a model. 3. Curtail a low, wet ground, and leave a planet; again, and leave to injure; again, and leave a parent. 4. Curtail a jury-roll, and leave a glass; again, and leave part of a gun-lock; again, and leave a parent.

CYRIL DEANE.

COMPLETE DIAGONAL.

Diagonals from left to right, downward: 1. Fifty. 2. A boy's nickname. 3. A title of respect. 4. To affirm. 5. Ardent. 6. A vale. 7. A rule of action. 8. A river in Italy. 9. Phonetically, a measure.

Horizontally: 1. Used by painters. 2. An Israelitish king. 3. A name for beer. 4. More dim. 5. To reduce.

N.T.M.

EASY NUMERICAL ENIGMA.

I am composed of twelve letters. My 2 11 3 is a fish. My 1 4 3 2 5 is a girl's name. My 7 3 8 10 5 is an American politician. My 12 8 6 1 is pretty for a child's wear. My 9 8 12 10 5 is a necessary domestic utensil. My 4 8 6 2 is very pleasant. My whole is the title of a popular book.

D.C.R.

SQUARE-WORD.

1. An emperor's title. 2. Nothing. 3. Weapons. 4. A flower.

B.

ANAGRAM DOUBLE DIAMOND AND CONCEALED DOUBLE SQUARE.

From the sentence "Seer eats a pear" form a double diamond, the center of which will be a double word-square.

CYRIL DEANE.

PICTORIAL PROVERB PUZZLE.

The answer is a well-known couplet.

[ANSWERS TO PUZZLES IN JANUARY NUMBER.]

DOUBLE ACROSTIC.—Initials, Russia; finals, Turkey; across,

R—a——Y
U—nit—E
S—ac—K
S—uga—R
I—O——U
A—n——T

HOUR-GLASS PUZZLE.—Diagonals, hones, sends; central, inner; horizontals,

HAILS
ONE
N
DEE
SORES

DECAPITATIONS.—Acorn, corn; brook, rook; drake, rake; flute, lute; pearl, earl; plane, lane; wheel, heel; spine, pine; trout, rout; prune, rune.

DIAGONAL PUZZLE.—Diagonal, January; horizontals, Jollity, sAdness, kiNdles, ensUing, compAny, appeaRs, holidaY.

DOUBLE PUZZLE.—Central Syncopations: Rabid, raid; stair, stir; haste, hate; steep, step; Tiber, tier; grain, grin; holes, hoes; tiles, ties. The syncopated letters, B, A, S, E, B, A, L, L, form the answer to the Cross-word Enigma.

GEOGRAPHICAL TRANSPOSITIONS.—I held, Delhi; panels, Naples; I turn, Turin; pains, Spain; pure, Peru; erect, Crete; more, Rome.

OMNIBUS WORD.—Crate:

ACCIDENTAL HIDINGS.—Esther, molEST HER; Theresa, THERE SAt; Ada, A DAmsel; Nora, NO RAy; Ernesta, stERNEST Age.

PERSPECTIVE CROSS PUZZLE.—Horizontals: 1, Grand; 2, plate; 3, ditch; 4, event; 5, prism; 6, eel; 7, great; 8, court; 9, terse. Perpendiculars: 10, Glove; 11, dread; 12, yet; 13, prove; 14, harem; 15, plant; 16, telegmatic; 17, preferment; 18, governable. Diagonals: 19, dry; 20, hop; 21, met; 22, peg; 23, toe; 24, cot; 25, Eve.

EASY SQUARE-WORD.—Dial, inca, acid, lade.

NUMERICAL ENIGMA.—Forest all, forestall.

FRAME PUZZLE.—Stock-dove, broom-corn, anonymous, inodorous.

CHARADE.—Cat.

WORDS ENIGMATICALLY EXPRESSED.—Pot-a-toe, potato; Mo-lasses, molasses; whisky; guinea-pig; false-hood, falsehood; toe-martyrs, tomatoes; pike-rust, pie crust; captive-atin', captivating; barber-us, barbarous; turn-pike; butter; IV, ivy.

PICTORIAL CHRISTMAS PUZZLE.—At Christmas play and make good cheer.

ANSWERS TO THE CHESS PUZZLE in the December number were received, before December 18, from "Frederica," P. Hill, J.E.N. James T. White, Laura Randolph, S.J.B., "Bessie and her Cousin," Alice Mason, and M.W. Collet.

ANSWERS TO THE MAGIC DOMINO-SQUARE PUZZLE in the December number were received, before December 18, from Alice Louise, William Lewis Lockwood, James Buckelew, Howard G. Myers, Jas. Forsyth, E.C. Rowse, Bertie Pierson, Walter Sanger, Kenneth Hartley, Hattie Coons, Margaret B. Dodge, Alice Downing, Anna A. Hays, Emma A. Gill, "Georgie," D.C. Robertson, Willie T. Sheffield, Samuel Herbert Fisher, George D. Mitchell, Carrie Welles, G.L., Emma Elliott, K.C.R., A.H., John Hancock, Jr., Harry Hartshorn, Carrie Doane, Carrie Heller, Eddie F. Worcester, H.S., Fred B. Appleget, "Three of Them" (?), C. Kittinger, "Bessie and her Cousin," and P. Hill, whose criticism we find just.

Helen L. Gilbert sends the solution of a puzzle in which 18 (not 16) is the sum of the dots in each row of half-dominoes.

ANSWERS TO OTHER PUZZLES in the December number were received, before December 18, from Charles Lothrop, R.T. McKeever, Arthur C. Smith, Lulu Way, James J. Ormsbee, Fannie Runnels, G.L., "Jennie," Bancel La Farge, Nellie Kellogg, Allie Bertram, L. Giraud, Alice N. Bailey, Josephine Seibert, "Frederica," P. Hill, B.P. Emery, "Bessie and her Cousin," A.G. Cameron, "Lizzie and Anna," Fred S. Pickett, Gracie S. Cook, Leonice Barnes, John Edward Hill, Carrie Heller, Bessie L. Barnes, Helen E. Risteen, "Blotterer and Blunderer," T.W. Siddall, Alice Mason, Fred M. Pease, Nessie E. Stevens, P. Hill, Katie E. Earl, M.W. Collet, and A.H. White.

ANSWERS TO THE "BLIND-CLERK'S PUZZLE," in Jack-in-the-Pulpit for December, were received, before December 18, from K.C.R., H.B. Hastings, and "Nat"; and answers to the TREE PUZZLE from Mary V. Ridgway, "M.," Linda L. Bergen, H. Walton, H.B. Hastings, J.C. Hoadley, Lewis K. Stubbs.

Caroline I. Lockwood, of Tunbridge Wells, England, sends an answer to a puzzle in a former number.