Charley wrapped the marbles in three or four thicknesses of paper, and then loaded the cannon, ramming the package of marbles close up against the powder. Then he laid a piece of cloth over the cannon to protect it from the dew, and put the powder-flask in his pocket. "Now if anybody attacks us," he exclaimed, "we can give him a dose of canister-shot."
"You'll have to ask him to be kind enough to come right up in front of the cannon," remarked Joe, "for you can't aim it at anybody while it's lashed fast."
"That's so," said Charley. "I am smart not to think of cutting the lashing." So saying, he cut the cannon loose, so that he could turn it in any direction. "Now, boys, turn in, and I'll keep a look-out till ten o'clock, for I'm not a bit sleepy. I don't believe anybody will trouble us, but at any rate we'll take care not to be surprised."
The boys felt so safe, in spite of what the old man had said, that they were soon peacefully sleeping, with the exception of Charley, who was sitting very wide awake, with his back against the mast. It was not yet ten o'clock when Tom was awakened by feeling a hand laid on his forehead. "Hush!" whispered Charley. "I can hear a row-boat coming toward us. Wake up Harry and Joe, and come on deck; but don't make any noise. I've unshipped the tiller, and you can use it for a club."
[to be continued.]
[HISTORICAL TREES OF THE UNITED STATES.]
BY MARY A. BARR.
I have a suggestion to make, my little friends, which I think you will all like. It is to keep an Album of Leaves. Not only can you collect and exchange leaves of different varieties, but of famous trees, of which there are many in the United States. Arrange them neatly; write below them where and why you gathered them, if they are historical or famous, and what made them so; and to prove to you how interesting such an album can be made, I will tell you of some trees that are as celebrated as either Washington or General Grant.
In the year 1682, under the wide-spreading branches of a huge elm in Philadelphia, the good and wise William Penn held a council with the chiefs of the Pennsylvania Indians, and made a treaty with them which was never broken, and from which the tree received its name and fame as "Penn's Treaty Tree." It was blown down in 1810, and when its rings were counted it proved to be 283 years old, having been 155 years old at the time of the treaty. It was so honored that when the English held possession of Philadelphia during the winter of 1778, Colonel Simcoe placed a sentinel under it to protect it from the soldiers who were cutting down all the trees near for fire-wood. A large part of it was sent to the remaining members of Penn's family at Stokes, near Windsor, in England, where it still remains, and the rest was made into work-boxes, chairs, and many other ornaments.