Then, stimulated by his comrades' shouts, Hermann put forth all his strength, tugging as if he were uprooting a tree, till the sweat hung in big drops on his forehead, and the veins of his hands stood out like cords. But though the unknown was sorely shaken, across the line he would not come; and at length Hermann paused, exhausted.
Then the watching eyes around saw the stranger's arms stiffen suddenly, and Hermann's huge frame bend slowly forward. Frantically he struggled, but his strength was spent, and forward he slid, inch by inch. Just on the chalk line he made a final effort, and stood firm for an instant; but now the stranger exerted all his force in turn, and pulled him over the line with such a tremendous tug that they both rolled on the floor together.
"Comrade!" shouted the hunters, crowding round the conqueror, "you've done what none of us could ever do. Tell us your name, that we may remember it."
"My parents named me Ferdinand," answered the stranger, with a queer little mocking smile, "but of late folks have taken to calling me Strong Schalk!"
"Strong Schalk!" echoed Hermann, starting from the seat upon which he had sunk dejectedly. "Shake hands, lad; it would have broken my heart to be beaten by a tailor, but I don't mind a bit being beaten by you. Come, let us be friends!"
And from that day forth the two men were the best friends imaginable.
[HOW TO MAKE A TOY CANOE.]
BY C. W. FISHER.
The building of a birch-bark canoe of sufficient size and well enough made for actual use would rather tax the mechanical skill of most boys; but with no better tool than a jackknife, and with a little ingenuity, a small model may be easily made.