the stake where the cap had been. For two or three days the wrens were very shy, and would not go near the box. But at last, one of them flew to the trellis and peered all about to see if there was no danger near. In a little while, be hitched along towards the box, making a queer noise all the time. By and by, he ventured to alight upon the box, and finally he popped his head into the hole. Then he looked all around again very cautiously, and at last in he went. Pretty soon he came out again, and stationed himself upon the top of the box, and began to sing with all his might. If you will excuse me, I will try to put his song into words: Hi diddle ho diddle, . Come hither, come hither, Here's a hole for our door, And a room for our nest, So come my sweet bird, And we both will be blest. Hi diddle ho diddle, Thus the little fellow went on singing as if he would split his throat, and pretty soon his little mate was seen flying along toward him. She alighted upon the box, and nothing could exceed his apparent delight. Mr. Wren then popped into the box, and Mrs. Wren popped in after him. . Jack was an attentive observer of all these proceedings, and he was greatly delighted to find that he wrens were willing to accept of the box in exchange for the cap. The next day, they began to build their nest in the box. It was very pleasant, indeed, to see the little creatures at work. They would carry up quite large sticks, and were very handy in getting them into the hole. They began their work by sunrise, and so industrious were they, that, in four days, the nest was finished. The lower part consisted of rough sticks and coarse straws. ears. The upper part was finer, and the nest was lined with fine grass. In a week, there were four little spotted eggs in the nest. The female wren was now rather quiet, but the male wren was very watchful indeed. If he saw the cat coming near the trellis, he would fly at her, and snap his little beak close to her Puss would sometimes strike her paws at him, but, in general, she was frightened and ran away. The little wren was very pugnacious. If a robin or a blue jay came near, he went at him in the most fearless way, and drove him off. One day, as Jack was watching him, the little fellow attacked a crow that was passing by, and, overtaking him, picked at him so sharply as to make the old fellow cry for quarter in a very loud voice." Caw, caw, caw," said the crow, and Mr. Wren, seeming satisfied, returned to his box. Perching himself upon the very top of the trellis, he began to sing a song of triumph, shaking his wings all the time, in great glee. The female wren soon began to sit upon the eggs, and nothing could exceed | must remember that he had never been the watchful care and anxiety of good out of the box before. I suppose you master Wren. He was always on hand, will tell me that he was guided by if any cat or bird intruded upon his instinct-that strange power given by dominions; and they were sure to pay the Creator; and you will tell me right. dearly for their temerity when they did After the first one had departed, the othSO. He spent a good deal of his time ers came out one by one, and all were in singing, in part, I suppose, to amuse successful in their first flight, except the himself, and in part also to amuse his last. This little fellow, in attempting to little lady. light upon the fence, missed his footing, and fell to the ground. The old wrens came to him immediately, and there was a prodigious chattering about what had happened. The little fellow looked very serious for a time, but at last he made a new effort, flew a little distance, and reached one of the lower rails of the fence. The old wrens cheered him with their approbation, put a big spider into his mouth, and he seemed to be quite happy. Well, after a time, there were four young birds in the nest, and both Mr. and Mrs. Wren were too busy in feeding their children, to sing or play. They caught flies, and moths, and spiders, and gave them to their young ones, and it was amazing to see what a sight of these insects the little wrens ate, and it was really amusing to see how serious the old wrens appeared to be about these days. The little ones grew apace, and in a short time it was thought best for them to leave the nest. You may well believe that Jack was on the look-out, to see the little creatures in their first adventure forth into the world. In the first place, one of the young birds put his head through the door of the box, and looked all round to see if the coast was clear. It was amazing to see how cunning the little fellow was, though not more than a fortnight old. The old wrens were at a little distance, chattering at a great rate, and seeming to invite the little fellow to try his wing. At last, he took courage, leaped from the box, and alighted safely upon a fence at some distance. Now, how do you think this little bird knew how to fly,-where to go,-and how to 'light upon the fence? for you This was a great day among the wren family. Never was there such a bustle before! The little wrens kept calling out for something to eat; the old wrens flew first to one and then to another, giving each an insect with a little good advice, and departing to provide more food. It would take me a long time to tell all that happened upon this interesting occasion. Jack was there, and saw it all, and if you ever meet with him, you had better ask him about it. I can only tell you, at present, that, from this time, he was very much interested in birds; not as creatures to be hunted and tormented or killed, but as creatures that build nests, and have their homes, and rear their young ones, which they love very much, and whom they treat with the utmost care and tenderness. He looked ingenuity, many curious habits and wonderful instincts. He, therefore, found a great deal more pleasure in watching their movements, and studying their characters, than in throwing stones at them, or shooting them. I shall tell you about other birds as we proceed in our story. upon them as creatures displaying great | about two years old, a girl was added to our circle, and she was named Sarah. We were now very poor, but had once been in good circumstances. My father had formerly been a merchant in Middletown, in partnership with his brother Benjamin. They traded to the West Indies, with a sloop called the Carbuncle, and my uncle Ben used to command her. He usually went to St. Domingo, where he carried horses, mules, cows, oxen, potatoes, onions, &c., and brought back sugar and molasses. Dick Boldhero. CHAPTER I. Early days-The keg of gold-Misfortunes Voyages. From all I can learn, it seems my uncle Ben was an eccentric character, but still he managed his part of the business well, and the concern went on in a thriving way for some years. At last, it was thought best for him to remain at St. Domingo, so as to carry on the business there, and accordingly it was so arranged. He took up his residence at Port au Prince; but, in about a year after he was established there, the insur s I am about to tell my story, it is proper that I should say something of my birth, parentage and early days. About half way between Hartford and New Haven, in Connecticut, is a small, pleasant city, called Middletown. It is situated upon the west-rection in St. Domingo broke out. My ern bank of Connecticut river, and lies upon the turnpike which constitutes the great avenue between the two places first mentioned. About a mile and a half south of Middletown, upon this high road, is a turnpike gate, and contiguous to it is a small toll-house. This was originally called Hill-gate, being situated on a hill, but at last it was familiarly called Hellgate. In the house which bore this ominous title, I was born, about five and forty years ago. Our family then consisted of my father and mother, a brother, named Seth, and myself. Seth was two years old when I was born. When I was uncle, who was a hot-headed fellow, took some part in the struggle, in consequence of which, he was obliged to seek safety in flight from the island. Whither he went, we could not exactly find out, but we were told that he went on board a Dutch vessel, bound for Şurinam. From that time, however, we heard nothing of him. At the time that the disturbances commenced at Port au Prince, the Carbuncle was lying in port. Her cargo was in, and she was almost ready to sail; accordingly, she took her departure, and escaped. She brought a letter from my uncle Ben, very hastily written, saying that his life was in danger, and He went on to say, however, that he should send a keg of gold by the vessel, which was of great value; that, if my father never heard of him more. he might consider it as his own. very probably he might never return. | confinement, that his constitution was weakened, and his health impaired forever. After his release, he obtained the situation of toll-keeper, from which he received about one hundred dollars a year. Upon this pittance, our family was now obliged to live. My mother, however, was a good economist, and though we lived humbly, we had still the necessaries of life. You may well imagine my father's disappointment, at finding that the precious keg was not to be found on board the sloop, when she came back. The supercargo, whose name was Ambrose Dexter, and familiarly called Amby Dexter, declared that my uncle had not time to put the keg on board,-that he was obliged to fly, and that he went hastily by night on board the Dutch vessel of which we have already spoken. My father continued the business for a year or two, employing Dexter as his supercargo; but the trade proved unprofitable, and at last he became a bankrupt. The idea was then common that the creditor has a right over the soul and body of his debtor. Accordingly, the persons whom he owed threw him into prison, where he remained for two or three years. My mother was reduced to extreme poverty, but she still continued to pick up a subsistence.. Upon my father's failure, Dexter took the store and continued the business, and very soon he became a rich man. For some reason, he seemed to hate my father, though he pretended to be very kind to him. He used to go and see him in prison, and promised to use his influence for his liberation; but it afterwards appeared that he had actually bought up claims against him, and caused him to be imprisoned upon them. As I have said, Amby Dexter advanced rapidly in wealth, and in the space of a few years he became a very rich man. In reflecting upon all the circumstances, my father became suspicious that he had embezzled the keg of gold, which had been sent by my uncle Ben, and that this was the secret of his sudden prosperity. He intimated these views, in a confidential way, to one or two whom he esteemed friends. He showed them the letter he had received from his brother, together with the documents tending to establish his views. These confidential friends, however, betrayed his trust, and told Dexter of what my father had said. As if our cup of misfortune was not yet sufficiently full, our house was secretly entered shortly after this time, by some one at night, and my father's papers were carried off, together with two hundred dollars, which belonged to the turnpike company. A story was soon put in circulation, that the robbery was all a sham; and it was soon generally suspected that my father had taken the money, and caused the rumor of the theft to cover up his guilt. He was tried for the embezzlement of the property, but though he was acquitted, he My father suffered so much from his was deprived of his place. Dexter brought an | Domingo, and was instructed by my mother to make inquiries about my uncle at Port au Prince. This I did, but as it was about twenty years since the events occurred which I have mentioned, I could hear nothing of him. Nor was this all. action against him for defamation, in consequence of what he had said about him to his confidential neighbors. A poor man's word is feeble, and carries little conviction with it; while the rich man's word is full of authority. Accordingly, in this contest, my father could hardly fail to be overwhelmed by his proud and prosperous enemy. He had even lost the papers, by means of the robbery, which justified the suspicions he had expressed, and thus he was regarded by the jury as without excuse or defence. He was sentenced to pay five hundred dollars, and being unable to do it, he was sent to prison. Here he lingered for a few months, till, at last, worn out and emaciated with confinement, and sick at heart, his spirit departed, as I trust, for a better world. As it is a painful story, I shall not detail the course of events which followed, in respect to my mother. It must be sufficient to say, that my brother Seth grew up rather a wild fellow, and the neighbors said-"I thought it would be so, for he comes of a bad father." At last, when he was about seventeen years old, he went to sea, and was not heard of afterwards. For myself, I went to school till I was nine years old, when I went, as cabin-boy, on board a vessel which plied between Middletown and New York. Here I continued for several years though I was often beaten because they said I belonged to a bad family. They seemed to think I could do nothing right. However, I bore it all, and grew up a sailor. When I was about fifteen, I went on a voyage to St. After my return, I made several other voyages, and was soon able to do something towards the support of my mother and sister. At last I went upon a voyage which produced results which may be interesting to the reader. I shall give an account of it in the next chapter. The Indian and his Dog. N the borders of the state of Pennsylvania there lived a man by the name of Le Fevre, who had a family of eleven children. One morning, the youngest of these, about four years of age, was found to be missing. The distressed family sought after him, by the river and in the fields, but to no purpose. Terrified to an extreme degree, they united with their neighbors to go in quest of him. They entered the woods, and beat them over with the most scrupulous attention. A thousand times they called him by name, but were answered only by the echoes of the wilderness. The different members of the party employed in the search, at length assembled themselves together, without being able to bring the least intelligence of the child., After reposing for a few minutes, they formed themselves into several different bands, and renewed the search. Night came on, but the |