low lullabies,—altogether making almost the finest medley of bird songs and glees that ever greeted her ears. Of course, she listened in rapt pleasure until there came a pause, wondering all the time, however, what rival of the nightingale could thus have come back before the buds and flowers. And when, at last, the serenade was ended, she hastened to the window, looked at each bough of every tree, and finally descried-little dirty-faced, ill-clad Tim Milligan, the newsboy, with cheeks puffed out like balloons, and pursed-up lips, whence suddenly issued again that torrent of bird-like melody. Ere long, he raised his hand and took from between his teeth a queer little metallic sheet, and instantly the music ended. Whence, I say-ho, rollicking, deceitful cat-bird, revel in thy taunting mimicry; but beware thyself,. of Tim Milligans, and street-whistles! A LITTLE SOLDIER-GIRL. "YES," said a tall man with a sword, as he strolled with Deacon Green along the foot-path in my meadow; "yes, my five-yearold Nelly helped to hold the fort! Bless her! "One day, we soldiers rode off in chase of a band of five hundred Indians. After some hours, we found that more than half of them had turned about and were on their way back to attack the fort. They hoped to capture it; for they knew that it was built chiefly of adobe [sun-dried bricks], and they felt sure that we had left only a few men to defend it. We rode back as fast as our jaded horses could go, and we arrived not a moment too soon! "The women and children had gone into the block-house and were unhurt; but several of the soldiers had been wounded in running to the same shelter. For three hours my wife fired repeating rifles, one after another. A soldier, hurt in both legs, loaded the rifles, and passed them to little Nelly, who carried them to her mother, dragged it along the bottom. The things shown in the picture came up in this dredge, not very long ago. The lower of the two beautiful filagree marvels is a sponge, and its stalk is a bundle of about three hundred threads of glassy stuff called silica. Indeed, this material glistens as if it were in reality the finest spunglass; and, although the silvery web is so delicate, it is able to withstand the tremendous pressure of the water all about it. The other sponge, with its spreading roots, has been dragged out of the mud, and is floating in the water. Those two many-legged shrimps once. frolicked about in their cold, sunless, soundless home, among myriads of just such lovely forms as these. That may be all very well for shrimps, but as for your Jack,-give me the lightsome air, the glowing sun, the merry brook, the rustling green things, and my bonny birds, that make happy life about my pulpit, not to mention those rackety, red-cheeked, dear boys and girls of the Red School-house. DEEP-SEA WONDERS. and brought back the empty ones to be reloaded. The child grew tired before long, but the attack of the Indians was so fierce and unresting that even she, poor mite, could not be spared. The tears came again and again, and she begged to be let off. But her mother would say: 'Stand to it, my Nelly! THE LETTER-BOX. AGASSIZ ASSOCIATION-SECOND REPORT. Six or seven hundred eager questioners to answer at once-and but twice as many words to do it with! First, to the boys who have asked "How can I make a cheap cabinet?" we offer this simple design. The right-hand picture shows the cabinet complete, and the plan beside it is drawn so that every measurement in it is one-sixteenth of the corresponding measurement in the finished cabinet. No nails are used. Wood of light color looks well; chestnut is easily worked. The ends of the top and bottom are mortised into the sides. Close to the side boards holes are bored through the projecting parts of the tenons; and wedges are inserted and hammered tight. The frames of the doors are doweled at the corners, each joint being made by boring a hole through one piece into the next, and inserting a dowel coated with glue. The short dotted lines in the plan help to explain this. The glass should not be set with putty, but with narrow strips, beading, or rattan, fastened with brads or "needle-points." Butt-hinges may be used, with ornamental hingeplates set outside, as shown. Hook one door to the shelf, and it will hold the other door shut. The shelves may be made with raised edges, like trays,-the front rims are not shown in the picture. These edges will save the contents from rolling off when the trays are taken out. The shelves slope forward, to show the specimens to better advantage; and they rest on dowels let into auger-holes in the side boards. To prevent them from slipping, pegs are set in them underneath, resting against the backs of the forward dowels. The shelves may be put in flat, and may rest on screw-eyes screwed into the sides of the cabinet. Metal ears are set on the back, projecting above the top, for hanging the cabinet; in addition, it is well to drive a screw from the inside through the back into a stud in the wall. The scalloping at the top of the back may be done with a fret-saw, the hole in the center of each scallop is bored right through. The ornamental lines across the sides are made with a gouge, and should be painted brown; then the whole cabinet should be covered with two coats of white shellac varnish. Those skilled in fret-sawing may like to set in the top the letters A. A., in Old English text. If you are puzzled over any part of the cabinet, no doubt you "know a fellow down at the shop" who will give you a hint. And now, while the boys have gone for some boards and the hammer, a word to the presidents of all the ST. NICHOLAS chapters, which are now found in more than twenty States and Territories, to say nothing of England and Germany. The more specific you can make your work, the better. For instance, if you are much interested in entomology, instead of attempting to cover the whole field, suppose you direct your attention to the scales on butterflies' wings. Are the scales on all parts of the same butterfly of the same shape? Are the scales on butterflies of different sorts different in shape? Are the scales of moths essentially different from those of butterflies? Can lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) be classified by their scales, as fishes can? Let each member of your chapter who has access to a microscope study some one kind of butterfly thoroughly, and make a report, with careful drawings, of the scales of both male and female. Then let your secretary make a report, carefully condensed, from these, and send it to Lenox with the drawings. We will compare the reports sent in, and publish the general result of all your observations. "And what shall I do? I don't like bugs! I love flowers." "How shall I begin? Minerals are my Patience! Get your cabinets ready and collect as many specimens as you can, until next month, when the flowers will be wondering if it is not time for them to begin teaching again, and when we hope to find you still eager to "consider" them. AWARD OF A PRIZE. THE prize for drawings of snow-crystals has been awarded to Miss Mary L. Garfield, of Fitchburg, Mass. Several other members sent drawings which caused us to hesitate in our decision. The drawings of Corwin Linson, especially, deserve commendation. They came too late to compete with the others, as also did fifty cards of crystaldrawings from Miss Klyda Richardson. Unfortunately, the request for these snow-flakes was not published until late in the winter, and we prefer, now, to postpone a further report upon them, and to defer printing the drawings, until next winter, when each one of the members in snowy districts can have a good chance to make similar pictures. But now the snow has got on its summer legs of silver, and has run away from Chrysalids are beginning to crack. us. It is the day of resurrection for the caterpillar. The woods are again sweet with wild flowers. Here is May, and we of New England are just beginning to search for the first violets. But, oh dear me! what a country this is! It spreads so widely that there are all kinds of climates in it at the same time. And we forget that you of California picked your violets in February, and wrote to us in midwinter, inclosing the fragrant blossoms, and asking how to press and preserve them. So, next month, we shall take up this subject, give you a few hints concerning the pressing and keeping of flowers, and perhaps pass on to suggest a few things about insects. ELIZABETH M. MORRIS.-The first volume of ST. NICHOLAS is out of print, and the publishers know of no place where a copy of it can be obtained. It is not probable that the volume will ever be reprinted. The publishers will pay the full retail price for a limited number of the issues of ST. NICHOLAS for November and December, 1873; January, November, and December, 1874; March and November, 1875: August and December, 1876; and January, 1877; but the copies must be in good condition, and suitable for binding. The covers and the advertising pages may be torn, but the maga zines themselves must be neither torn nor soiled. DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I was much interested in your April article about the cochineal insect, and the colors made from it. One of the sentences said that: "The best carmine can be made only in fine weather"; and this reminded me of a little anecdote that I read in a book, about Sir Humphry Davy, the great chemist. An English manufacturer agreed to pay £1,000-about five thou sand dollars-to a Frenchman, if he would reveal to him the secret through which French makers were enabled to produce carmine of a quality generally so much better than the English. The Frenchman politely took the money, and said: "You must work only on clear, sunny days." And this was the whole of the secret; for, in other respects, the processes followed by both parties were exactly alike. But it was a dear bargain for the Englishman, because-says the story-in his country there is very little of the beautiful sunny weather that is frequently enjoyed in France.-Yours truly, A. Č. MAY JENNINGS asks us to reprint this little paragraph from the "Letter-Box" of May, 1874: May-baskets are very welcome as birthday gifts to May children, or as offerings to invalids and to little children in hospitals, or to put before fathers' and mothers' plates on May-day morning. A pretty May-basket can be made by trimming a paper-box (a collar-box will do for a small one) with tissue-paper fringed and crinkled, so as to hang around the outside, and by sewing to opposite sides of the box a strip of card-board for a handle. This, also, can be covered with tissue-paper. Moss, wild flowers, and green leaves will soon make the basket beautiful; and if you have a delicate bit of vine to wreathe about the handle, so much the better. Narrow white ribbon bows, with streamers, where the handle joins the basket, give a pretty effect; and, for very little children, it will do no harm to put tiny round egg-like sugar-plums in the middle of the flowers. JOHN J. KEAN.-The "Petite Anse Amateur," mentioned in the "Letter-Box" of December, 1879, is edited by Avery & McIlhenny, New Iberia Post-office, La. CHARLEY G.-You will find a short and lively May-day acting-play in ST. NICHOLAS for May, 1876. It is called "May-day In-doors," and was written by Mrs. Abby Morton Diaz. DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: Have you noticed that in February and March of this year the days of the week fall upon exactly the same days of the month? For instance, the Saturdays in both months were the 5th, 12th, 19th, and 26th; and the Sundays were the 6th, 13th, 20th, and 27th. I suppose this happens always when February has twenty-eight days, or four complete weeks.--Truly yours, B. C. T. DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I have lived here in Dakota about four months, and have seen many wonderful things. The prairie fire for instance, which at one time entirely surrounded our home. It was beautiful to look at, but at the same time it was frightful on account of the danger to our homes. Our homestead is two and a half miles from the town (Huron), on the Chicago and North-western R. R. The road is through to Ft. Pierre, on the Missouri River. Our town is now about eight months old and it has over seven hundred people We shall soon have two churches and a school-house, and it is also expected to be the county seat. There is not a tree in sight, but the scenery is beautiful. At times we have imaginary lakes that look perfectly natural to a stranger's eye. There are many antelope here in droves from fifty to three hundred, and during the severe storm in October many were driven to the Jim River, near town, where the sportsmen shot them.-From your admiring friend, C. M. S. In good season to appear with Mr. Beard's "Chapter on SoapBubbles," in the present number, comes the following letter: DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: Did you ever hear of a "soap-bubble party"? Well, an English lady gave one not long ago, and, from the account I read, it must have been very merry. Early in the evening, the guests seated themselves at a long table, on which were a number of pretty bowls, half-filled with warm soap-suds. By the side of each bowl was a common, straight-stemmed clay pipe, ornamented with little bows of narrow ribbon, and painted in pretty colors. The blowing of the bubbles began at once, and it must have been funny to see the guests--all grown up though they were, and some of them with names well known in social and political affairs-vie with each other, and try who could blow the biggest and most beautiful bubble; acting, indeed, as if they had become boys and girls again. If any of your readers-little folks, grown folks, or folks altogether -should give such a party, they might let each guest carry away a pipe as a memento; and, of course, these souvenirs would be all the more highly prized if prettily decorated, and by the hands of skillful hostesses. M. V. W. NELLY B.-It is believed that the Europeans imported brazil-wood under that name from India, before they discovered South America, and that the country of Brazil received its name from this red dyewood, with which the early navigators were acquainted already, and which they found there in great abundance. DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: Your girls and boys may like to hear how the children of Kent-"the garden of England"--celebrated Mayday fifty years ago. In the morning, numbers of boys and girls went about in little companies, carrying boughs of hawthorn or other trees in blossom. In every group, two children bore a May garland, which was formed of two small willow hoops, crossed, decorated with primroses and other flowers, and green leaves. Now and then there would be, in the middle of the garland, a doll May Queen gayly But generally there were several verses, or perhaps this one, which dates back to the days of good Queen Bess, I believe: "A branch of May I've brought you here, It's but a sprout, but it's well budded out, Later in the day, in some places, boys and girls joined in the merry-making on the village green, around and about the May-pole, as described by Olive Thorne in your May number of 1878. I am sorry to say that these pretty customs seem to be dying out, but, at any rate, it is pleasant to call them to mind.-Yours truly, W. H. F. NEW SUBSCRIBER.-I. The first number of ST. NICHOLAS is dated November, 1873. 2. From time to time, the following magazines have been merged in ST. NICHOLAS: "Our Young Folks," "Little Corporal," "The School-day Magazine," "The Children's Hour," and "The Riverside Magazine." 3. In Paris, a French magazine entitled "St. Nicolas" is published weekly, but it does not at all represent the American ST. NICHOLAS. DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: Will some of your readers tell me why it is that when you warm a piece of paper by rubbing it between your knees, it will stick to a piece of wood?-Yours truly, ZELLA (7 years). DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I live in Chicago, near Lincoln Park, and in summer often go to the park and down to the lake. One day, when gathering shells, I found a small snail, which I kept in a bottle of water. And one time, when giving it some clean sand and water, I found in the sand a small beetle. I took a look at him through the magnifying-glass. His shell looked like tortoise-shell, only the beetle-shell had great, deep ridges in it. He was a queer-looking insect, for on his stomach there were a great number of smaller shells, in which live other little insects. Once, when I was looking at him, one half of his shell came off. Inside of his shell he has four wings, two on each side, and they glisten like pearl. Still they are so thin that they look like lace; and you could see the veins and veinlets in them. In the middle his wings parted, and if you could look very closely you could see a small portion of his back. The HERE are two capital letters from members of the Agassiz Association: DEAR MR. BALLARD: Your minerals arrived here safely, they are very nice. We have a live porcupine; I will send you some of his quills if you would like them. There is an opossum in the cage with the porcupine. Papa was one day showing the opossum to the class, when he noticed two or three quills in his nose. I think it was too bad for it must have hurt him. I wonder if they had been quarreling. Thank you for the little book you sent me; when the Spring comes I hope to collect plants. Did you know that the cats have a third eye-lid? If you have a gentle kitty, when she is asleep lift up her upper eye-lid, and you will see a thick veil over her eye. know if cats like music of any kind? We have a little black-and-white kitty that seems to like it when papa whistles. Can you tell me what the pocket in the ear of the cat is for? and if you have ever known of a cat burrowing in the earth to keep warm?—Yours truly, M. N. W. Do you OUR cat is 11 inches high and 19 inches long from the root of his tail to the end of his nose and his tail is 101⁄2 inches long. He has four legs and walks on the tips of his toes. He has four toes on each hind foot and on his fore feet five toes on each, one of which he does not use in walking because it is too high on his leg but he uses it in climbing. He walks on little cushions on the end of his toes. He uses his claws, only at will, as when he is climbing, stretching, fighting, etc. His ears are movable at will, but not so much so as a rabbit's. His eyes tip in like a Chinaman's. When he is watching for his prey he moves his tail from side to side. His tail is smooth and tapering. There is soft fur all over his body except on the end of his nose and the cushions on his toes and the inside of his ears. He is gray with lighter and darker stripes of gray all over his body, tail and legs. He lives mostly on bread and milk and what he catches which are rats mice squirrels rabbits snakes and birds. He will eat dough, sweet corn, cooked potatoes, and turnips, but does n't like the latter very well. When I rub him I can see sparks, and the longer and faster he is rubbed the more sparks you can see, and at the same time you can hear a snapping noise. I can, too, feel my fingers tingle. It is electricity in the hair. LINA ALDRICH. SOLUTIONS to February puzzles were received, too late for acknowledgment in the April number, from "A Hive of Bees," Wimbledon, England, 9. The names of solvers are printed in the second number after that in which the puzzles appear. ANSWERS TO PUZZLES IN THE MARCH NUMBER were received, before March 20, from "Jessamine," 3-N. Eyes, all- Willie Bond, 1-Alice Dunning and Julia Palmer, 2-Walter K. Smith, 1-Dora N. Taylor, 1-Willie Ross, 3-Edward Browazki, 2-Warner W. Gilbert, 2-" Artful Dodger," 2-Leon and Naomi, 1- Cornelia Mitchell, 3-Anne V. Gleason, 4-Frank R. Heath, 11- Fordyce Aimée Warden, 8-Walter Monteith, 1-J. Harry Anderson, 3-Eleanor B. Farley, 2-Carrie F. Doane, 4-Juliette S. Ryall, 2— Violet, 2— E. L. Myers, 3-John B. Blood, 3-C. H. McBride, 8—Virginie Callmeyer, 9-"The Blanke Family," 11-J. O., 2— Emma and Howard Collins, 3-Willie R. Witherle, 1-J. Milton Gitterman, 3—“ Antony and Cleopatra," 7- Harriet A. Clark, all-Henry Rochester, 3— Will Rochester, 5-Ashbel Green, Jr., 3-"Phyllis," 5-E. L. Gould, 1-Helen M. Drennan, 3-Henry K. White, Jr., 1-Grace Hewlett, all-Alice W. Clark, all— A. B. C., 5—Mary T. Dean, 3—H. Ware, all— Mary Appleton, 1-Gertrude L. Ellis, 5-Johnnie H. Fisher, 2-Sallie Wiles, 8-Livingston Ham, 2-H. and F. Kerr, 4- Bessie S. Hosmer, 11-Ruth Camp, 3-Thomas Denny, Jr., 1Willie A. McLaven, 6- Margaret Neilson Armstrong, all-Ella Marie Faulkner, 3-Richard Anderson, 2-Gail Sherman, 1-Lizzie C. C. 2- Madge K. L., 2- Herbert N. Twing, all-"Modah," 4- Eddie L. Dufourcq, 4-H. H. D., 2-Caroline Weitling, 6— Fred C. McDonald, all-H. W. R., 11-Bessie Taylor, 6-Edith Boyd, 1-" Delta Tau Delta," 1-Katy Flemming, 7-F. W. C., 2—"Witch and Wizard," 7-Marie L., 4- Robert A. Gally, 9-"Adam and Eve," 10- Willie T Mandeville, 3- Alice M. H., 3-Dolly, 9- Florence Leslie Kyte, 10-" Three Puzzlers," 8-Lucy B. Shaw, 9-Susie Goff, 8- Allie D. Morehouse, 6-Alice M. Kyte, 6-Frank, Noble, and Anna, 11-Henry C. Brown, 11-Edward Vultee, 11-W. G. and L. W. McKinney, 9- Estelle Weiler, 4-J. S. Tennant, 8-"Unknown,' 2-Edward F. Biddle, 6-Jennie M. Rogers, 1-Florence Wilcox, 11-"Chuck," all-Jane Bright, 1-P. C. Hartough, 2-Lizzie D. Fyfer, 2- Lizzie H. D. St. Vrain, 9-Effie H. Talboys, 1- Mabel Thompson, 2-Mattie K. Watson, 3-" Belle and Bertie," 7-A. E. W., 11Florence G. Lane, 3- Newcomb B. Cole, 6-Walter B. Smith, 3-Alice P. Pendleton, 11- Mors O. Slocum, 6-Bessie Meade, 3-“Geor gia and Lee," 7-Lulu G. Crabbe, 12-Fannie Knobloch, 6-Kitty H. Hunt, 1-Neddie and Tillie, 1-Bessie Finch and Bertha Stevens, 1-W. A. T., 2-Norman J. McMillan, 1-" X. Y. Z.," 10-Etta C. Wagner, 2-Mamie L. Fenimore, 5- Lottie G., 2-Susie Evans, 5Barclay A. Scovil, 1-Tom, Dick, and Harry, all-Effie E. Hadwen, 9- Minnie Hazen, 2-George and Emma Huhu, 4-Anna B Moseley, 7-Jessie R. C., 1-Grace E. Hopkins, all-Frank L. Thomas, 2-O. C. Turner, all-"Two Boys," 5-Willie D. Ward, all-Letitia Preston, 3-Sallie Chase, 3-Lizzie C. McMartin, 1-Hoffman K. Reynolds, 3- Lizzie M. Boardman, 1-Isabel Bingay, 8-A. C P., 5-Annie Mills and Louie Everett, all-Laura M. Jordan, 1-Ella and Lulu, 8-Mamie W. Aldrich, 3-Rose and Bud," 3—M. E. H., 3-Walter B. Hull, 1-Jessie White, 9- Helen L. Woods, 2-"James Shriver and Co.," 11- Kate F. Smith, 1-Georgia Jones, 3-Willie F. Woolard, 7-Nellie Caldwell, 5-Charley and Minnie Powers, 1-George H. Brown, 3-Annie Buzzard, 4-William and Adolph Gibhardt, 5-C. D. W. T., 4-John A. Archer, 2- Ella M. Parker, 3-H. Conover, 3-Allie E. Burton, 8- Clementine Bachelor, 10-George R. Mosle, all-L. B. Longacre, 1-"Queen Bess," 10- Abie R. Tyler, 11-F. R. Gilbert, 1-"Guesser," 11-Grace M. Fisher, 4-John S. Hunt, Kenneth B. Emerson, 3-Charlotte F. Potter, 11-Wilbur Lamphier, 9-Glen A. Miscally, I-Rosemary Baum, 7- Bessie Embler, 1-Gertrude Jenkins, 6—Charlie W. Power, 7-F. W. Hoadley, 2-Florence P. Jones, 2-Hettie, Phebe, and Annie, 4-"Birdie," 3-"C. A. R.," 6—O. and W. Suckow, 3-Mauch Chunk, 9-Hallie B. Wilson, 3- Ellen L. May, 7- B. B. Potrero, 4- Philip Sidney Carlton, 1o. The numerals denote the number of puzzles solved. THE RIDDLE-BOX. BEGIN with a single letter, and add one letter at a time, perhaps, also, re-arranging the letter or letters already used. Each addition will enable you to make a new word. In the following presentation of the puzzles, the beginning letter is described first, and then come, one after another, in proper order, definitions of the words formed. I. Beginning with the vowel A, add a consonant, and form a short appellative for a near relation. Add other letters, one by one, and form, in succession, new words, meaning: an animal; a fruit; to festoon; saved; wretchedness: a place of delight; to become invisible. II. A vowel; a pronoun; a bond; a flat piece of earthenware; part of a fence; a shining material; feels a prickly sensation; a young bird; attending closely; shining with a fitful luster. III. A consonant; a first person, present tense, of a verb; a human being; the "high seas"; an exaggerated whim; a living creature; consisting of thin plates or layers; pertaining to a border. IV. A vowel; a pronoun; an amount; to meditate; one of the supposed founders of ancient Rome; an assembly of troops for parade; a baggage-horse; wind instruments of music. CHARADE. I'm a singular creature, it must be confessed, Disposed to be friendly, with case I'm at strife, The French and Italians ne'er whisper my name. I lead the Iconoclasts when they would break The idols and images I help to make, And such is my influence over mankind, Without my assistance they 'd soon become blind. D. JOSEPHINE POLLARD. DOUBLE ACROSTIC. THE primals form a motto that is heard upon a celebration day named by the finals. CROSS-WORDS: 1. A forerunner. 2. A bird sometimes called "golden-robin.' 3. Pertaining to coins. 4. Formed of sheets folded so as to make eight leaves. 5. A clergyman. 6. The muse of pastoral poetry. 7. Defensive armor for the head. 8. A high-priest of Israel. 9. A stringed musical instrument. 10. A fixed allowance of provisions. 11. Old-fashioned. 12. A view through an avenue. 13. Springiness, M. C. D. |