When Captain S. saw the piece of wood he challenged us each to make one peg which should exactly fit all three holes. “But it can’t be done, Captain,” we both exclaimed at once; “the holes that have corners couldn’t be fitted with a round peg, and the peg large enough for the square would be too large for the triangle,” continued Fred, as he examined the openings more carefully. “But it can be done,” answered Captain S., with a peculiar kind of chuckle he always gave when very much pleased. “It can be done, for I have done it hundreds of times.”
He had done it hundreds of times; had made one peg which should fit a round, a square, and a triangular hole, and fit them nicely! How was it to be done? We thought it over, and tried to study it out; we even took out our jackknives and whittled away at an old broken thole-pin which lay in the bottom of the boat. But we couldn’t make it work; there were always the corners to be filled, and little spaces would be left if we tried to compromise, and make the pin less round as it increased in length; then the triangle! that wouldn’t accommodate itself to any shape we could devise. We whittled away for over an hour, now and again receiving a little encouragement from the captain, who greatly enjoyed our successive failures. During the meantime a brisk south-west wind had sprung up, and we were bounding over the water at a delightful speed; but we paid little attention to the sail; in fact, we hardly knew we were moving at all, so intent had we become to solve the mystery. After the others of the party came on board, we soon fired them with our enthusiasm, and every bit of available wood and every jackknife was brought into use. But not one of the party was bright enough to hit upon the right shape. I shall never forget the fun made of us by the girls—not one of whom, by the way, could sharpen a lead-pencil decently—when the captain finally showed us how the thing was done. Asking one of the older boys to take the helm, he picked up a bit of wood we had thrown aside as too small, whipped out his jackknife, and in less time than it takes me to write it, had the peg made and fitted to the holes. How he made it fit so well in so short a time has never ceased to be a source of wonder to me; but probably the practice of years, while off on lonely whaling cruises, had something to do with his dexterity.
He first whittled out a cylinder, which exactly fitted the circular hole; then he cut it off, so that its length should be the same as the diameter of the square (see Fig. 2). Now, by putting this sideways into the square opening, it fitted it perfectly. Lastly, leaving the base of the cylinder undisturbed, he cut away from either side until he had a shape like Fig. 3, which, when looked at from another point, presents the appearance of Fig. 4, and would, of course, perfectly fit the last and triangular opening.
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SLATE GAMES FOR CHILDREN.
A slate is one of the most useful presents which can be given to a child. Long before the little hands can fashion letters, or the infant mind comprehend them, the baby fingers can make marks and scratches upon the smooth surface and derive considerable amusement from the exercise.
As the little one grows older, these meaningless scrawls gradually change to more intelligible forms, and then it is that the “Tit-Tat-To,” so very old, and yet so delightfully new, to every little girl or boy in their turn, comes into play.
