"The dragon-fly at eve reposes
Upon a couch of fragrant roses,
The eel in mud must hide away;
A dragon-fly I'd be to-day."
Another: Bring in the word Cobweb in reply to the question, "How would you like to travel in the air?"
Answer:
"I confess I should not greatly care
To float like a cobweb in the air."
The game of Twenty Questions is very entertaining. One of the company leaves the room, and during his absence the others fix upon a word to be guessed by him. We will suppose Charley to have gone out. The Electric Telegraph is chosen as the subject for him to find, and he is recalled. They then proceed in this way:
Honora. We have fixed on a word. Can you guess it?
Charley. Is it animal, vegetable, or mineral?
Mary (who is asked). Mineral.
Charley. Can it buy anything?
Anna. I think it can; at least I could buy things by means of it.
Charley. Oh, I guess! I suppose banks can't do without it, Ned, can they?
Edward. I dare say they find it useful.
Charley. Anthony, do you ever keep it in your pocket?
Anthony (laughing). No; that I don't.
Charley. Is it ever put in a purse, Fanny?
Fanny. No indeed; it is so big.
Charley (catching at a new idea). Then I was wrong; it is not money. Does it cross the sea?
Mary. Yes. I think it does—that is, I believe it does sometimes.
Charley. Does it go very quickly?
Honora. It works very, very quickly.
Charley. It works? It does not go, then, of itself? Is it used on railways?
Honora (laughing). Yes.
Charley. Does it pull you along sometimes, Mabel?
Mabel. No, it does not; but sometimes it causes people to travel.
Charley. Is it very large?
Anna. No; very thin.
Charley. How long is it?
Fanny. Sometimes miles long, sometimes very short. I have seen it not as long as my finger.
Charley. What can it be?
Anthony. It is a very wonderful thing; it speaks without a voice.
Charley. Ah! and you can tell the hours by it, can't you? But no, it can't be a clock, for the face of that is round, and it is not very thin. I know! I guess! It is the "Electric Telegraph." Anthony, you have helped me to guess; you must go out. But, Anna, how could you buy things with it?
Anna. I could send an order by it to a shop.
Charley. And when did Fanny see it not longer than her finger?
Anna. She saw a tiny piece of the Atlantic telegraph cable, the first one which was laid beneath the ocean. Aunt Maria had it set a charm for her watch.
Anthony goes out.
The attention of the C. Y. P. R. U. is called to an exceedingly interesting article by Mrs. Sophie B. Herrick, entitled "Plants and Animals—Their Difference." Both girls and boys will be interested in the game of "Badminton," described by Sherwood Ryse, as also in Miss Barr's poem, "The Burial of the Old Flag."
Correct answers to puzzles have been received from Christina Limburger, Annie South, Eddie S. Hequembourg, Samuel H. Molleson, A. Bloomingdale, Walter P. Knight, Daniel Lindo, Frank Acheson, "Gazetta," Louis Frost, Lena Van Bosch, Ella E. A., Harry Johnston, Fannie E. Burt, Florence P. Jones, "Lodestar," Benjamin Lowenthal, Phebe D., A. W. Starboard, Beck Pierce, Puss Lester, John Tabb, "Count No Account," Olive A. McAdams, Louisa Mix, Thomas Brown, "Gretchen," Elsie Fisher, Jimmy Towers, and Eugene Davison.