Various

“ To-day I return the tarts in the fire-crackers, thereby making double restitution to her most charitable and generous Majesty the Queen of Hearts.
[The Knaves open the fire-crackers and shake out the tarts into a tray held by the Joker.]
Queen of Hearts. The tarts?
"THE IDENTICAL TARTS!"
Knave of Hearts. Ay, my Queen, the identical tarts.
Queen of Clubs. But they must be stale of the last summer?
Joker. Nay, fair lady. These be royal tarts, and not of the general. Age cannot stale them, nor can human possibility limit their infinite variety. ”

“ It's the province of a fool to be foolish. And verily am I not a king? Am I not monarch of all I survey? In truth I am, for I survey nothing, and am therefore King of Nothing. There's a title for you—his Majesty the King of Nothing! (Yawns and stretches and rises from the throne; picks up his stool, places it near the front, and sits down.) In faith the throne's no softer than the stool, and perhaps it is best for me to cling to this. It affords at least one advantage over the King. If he falls—and I fall—he gets the greater injury, for he tumbles from a higher place. ”

“ King of Spades (with asperity) . Ay, marry, fool; but not so dry as thy wit.
King of Hearts. Come, come, cousin, heed him not. (The Joker moves over to the throne of the Queen of Hearts, and enters into earnest conversation with her.) It pleases me to hear you say you bring a good appetite to the feast.
King of Spades. Verily I feel as though I were one vast incarnation of appetite.
King of Hearts. All the more honor will you do us, and we shall ever recall this Fourth of July as one that pleased you. And the good lady of Spades, has she too—
Queen of Hearts (screams) . Ah, me! ”

“ Fretting and fidgeting and violent fanning add to one's discomfort. To go right on with one's work, and neither think nor care for the heat, often enables one to forget it, and if the mind be only held superior, the body does not so much mind being too warm or too cold. Some foolish people actually fuss and fume themselves into fevers, when summer is reigning in her bounty, ripening fruits and grains, and giving us her splendid skies and sunsets.
To keep the house cool in July, air it thoroughly in the early morning, then close the windows and screen doors, and darken bedrooms and parlors. ”

“ Soldiers and martial music—bugles, drums, fifes, playing their loudest—picnics, and fire-crackers galore signalized the day, which was further endeared to children by cherry-pie at dinner, and ice-cream following fireworks in the evening. Tired and happy we went to bed, and we were confirmed by these delightfully patriotic Fourths in our love of country.
Florence and Eva, looking languidly up at this point, observe that the Fourth in these days is too warm for so much exertion.
It is very much as one looks at it whether one is to suffer or enjoy most during the summer. ”

“ Every word is truth, sire.
King of Hearts. Then go thou and seek the fire-crackers. (To the other Knaves.) And go ye with him. (To the Knave of Hearts.) The Queen holds my word that if thou bringest them back, I spare thy life. Now look to thyself. Away! ”

“ Following the child's glance Phil uttered a startled exclamation, and sprang through the doorway. A moment later he emerged, rifle in hand.
High up on a shoulder of the mountain, hundreds of feet above the cabin, sharply outlined against the sky, and bathed in the full glory of the setting sun, a mountain-goat, with immensely thick hair of snowy white, and sharp black horns, stood as motionless as though carved from marble. Blinded by the sunlight, and believing himself to be surrounded by a solitude untenanted by enemies, he saw not the quietly moving figures in the dim shadows beneath him. ”

“ It doesn't look as though we could follow the coast any further, though; for just below here the cliffs seem to rise sheer from the water."
"No," said Serge, "we can't. We can only get out by boat or by scaling the mountains."
"In which case we shall starve to death before we have a chance to do either," retorted Phil, gloomily, "for we are pretty nearly starved now. In fact, old man, it looks as though the good fortune that has stood by us during the whole of this journey had deserted us at its very end." ”

“ For a column about schools printed in New York there is a page printed in Boston. The faces of the school athletes there are as well-known to the public as those of the most prominent amateurs or professionals. Too much of that sort of thing, of course, is bad, because there are young men who are thus led to believe themselves much more important than they are. [Pg 682] Really, the worth of a man in this world—no matter what his sphere in life may be—is not gauged by the number of inches he can occasionally command in a double-leaded column with a spread head and a portrait. ”

“ Joker (rising from his stool and making a mock obeisance) . My gratitude, gentle Knaves, for your varied courtesies. (The Knaves bow and exeunt, R., in single file. Joker puts his stool back in its place, beside the throne.) Of two misfortunes, rather let me suffer that of being a fool than a knave. The one knows nothing of the evil he does; the other knows nothing of the evil he does not do. And methinks whether of evil or of good those Knaves know but little of what they now perform. They bear those explosive bombs to the banquet hall? Surely they err. ”

“ In a short time the slope below Middleton presented a curious sight; four hundred men and boys dressed in new uniforms with shining brass buttons were digging a long trench that stretched from the railway track to a steep bluff on the east. The old iron guns were in a position to command the bridge and the further bank. The freight-car with over two tons of gunpowder on board was anchored firmly in the centre of the bridge.
One man was left at the bridge to fire the train of powder if the enemy advanced. ”

“ In the race between Yale and the Atalanta crew on New Haven Harbor, in 1890, Phil Allen, stroke and captain, broke his oar and jumped into the sea. He was picked up by the referee's tug, and stood at the bow dripping wet as he watched his seven men defeat the crack amateur crew of New York. Allen got his training at St. Paul's—in fact, most of the best oarsmen of Harvard and Yale learned to row on Lake Penacook. ”

“ The biggest field meeting in the neighborhood of New York will be that of the New Jersey Athletic Club at Bergen Point. Several of the school athletes who have made records for themselves the past season have entered, and if they manage to do as well as they did at Travers Island on the 15th of last month they will soon establish a high reputation. Baltazzi will jump, but only high enough to win. He has been training hard lately, and can do six feet now beyond question. But he is keeping these extra inches up his sleeve for the Britishers in September. ”

“ Newspaper enterprise and competition have become so great of late that it is very difficult to withhold from the public any matter of real importance. If one paper does not get it, another will. If the newsgatherer does not obtain all the facts, there will be just enough printed to give an erroneous and unfortunate impression to the reader. ”

“ The Spades are the exponents of the under-bred, uneducated, but well-meaning portion of society. Thus the Knave of Spades should be a good-natured fat fellow, meaning no harm, but not particularly comely or graceful. ”

“ There are almost no hills, with the exception of a small stretch, which is rolling country and not difficult. The Madeline House at Red Hook is a good resting-place, and the rider on the journey passes through Staatsburg, Rhinebeck, Red Hook, Upper Red Hook, Cleremont, and thence, after a two-mile run, enters Blue Stores. From this point on to Hudson, a distance of eleven or twelve miles, there are more hills, though no very bad ones, and the road is not so good. It is six and three-quarter miles to McKinstryville. ”

“ Now suppose it had been signed the 15th of January, what sort of a Fourth of July do you suppose that would have made?"
"Too cold—snow would put out the fire-crackers," replied Tommy.
"Just what Thomas Jefferson said," returned Aunt Mary. "Charles Carroll of Carrollton wanted to sign it on the 15th of January, but Jefferson said, 'That's no time for fire-crackers. The snow will make 'em sputter and go out. We owe something to posterity.'"
"Now, Aunt Mary," broke in Tommy, "I believe you—"
"Listen," went on Aunt Mary. "Listen, and learn about history. ”

“ The mast is 7 feet 3 inches long, and 2-1/2 inches thick at the deck, tapering towards the top. The boom is 9 feet 1 inch in length, excluding jaws, and should be about the same thickness throughout the whole length, having only a slight taper towards the end. Each jaw should be made of a separate piece of wood, in shape shown in No. 2, and fastened to boom in manner shown in cut. The sprit is a three-quarter-inch pole 9 feet 9 inches long.
The sail is the next thing to attend to, and being quite small, may be made at home. Its dimensions are: along the mast, 5 feet; on boom, 9 feet ”

“ Shells were sent up to the school Athletic Association by Yale and Harvard, who were anxious to encourage the sport so as to obtain good material for their own crews, and for a number of years there were class races in the fall and spring. But after the novelty of the thing had worn away, and no race was arranged with Andover, interest flagged, and in 1883 or 1884 the sport was abandoned, and the old boat-house was left to decay and fall to pieces. ”

“ A yellow light is much more agreeable and less injurious to the eyes than a red light, and if the glass is a deep orange the light will be quite safe. It is best, when developing, not to expose the plate to the direct rays of the lantern till development is well started. ”

“ Three of the principal car lines pass through it, so much of Chinatown and its life can be seen even by one coming up from downtown on the cars.
One is much amused by the curious ways and dress of the Chinese children, especially the young ones. Sometimes around Chinese New-Year's there is a great celebration and much firing of fire-crackers. Then the buildings are decorated in the brightest colors, and each Chinaman salutes his friend or neighbor with "Quong he fat choy" (Happy New-Year) . Chinamen also make presents to their white friends at this time, sometimes very elaborate ones. ”

“ It is a good idea to have a small shelf about three inches above the table, just large enough to hold the lantern.
At the right hand of the table should be shelves for the chemicals, developing-trays, glass graduates, and all things used in developing. On the upper shelf place the bottles containing the chemicals used in developing plates and in sensitizing paper. Every bottle should be labelled in large, clear letters. A set of labels on which are printed the names of all the chemicals in general use in the dark-room may be bought for ten cents. ”

“ The road-bed is of clay, and is rather poor, though it improves as you approach McKinstryville. Out of McKinstryville the road runs direct to Hudson, about five miles away. It is sandy, with occasional bits of loam, and is by no means as good riding as from Poughkeepsie to Blue Stores.
It will be noticed by looking at the map that the best bicycle route, which is, of course, the Albany Post Road, keeps on the higher ground, somewhat back from the river, after leaving Staatsburg. This is the road that is, on the whole, wiser for the wheelman to take. ”

“ We'll clear out all the drawers and closets in the 'north room,' and give away everything we don't need, and then have Martha clean the room."
"Oh no!" exclaimed Cynthia; "everything in this house is as neat as a pin. And we haven't got anything we don't need, Edith. And I can't. I must go on the river."
"You can go afterwards. You can spend all the afternoon on the river. This is a splendid chance for house-cleaning, with the children off for the morning. Come along, Cynthia—there's a dear."
Cynthia slowly and mournfully followed Edith up the stairs. ”

“ The coal is the famous Pittsburg seam, and almost all of it, lying along the river, is exposed above the surface of the water. Hundreds of coal tipples between Pittsburg and Morgan town are busily engaged in loading the fleets of coal barges that ply up and down the rivers of Ohio and Mississippi. ”

“ Joker. There is no mystery, my lord. It is all but too plain. Her Majesty the Queen, as you know, did fashion eight large fire-crackers of fine red paper, the which were placed upon the board for the banquet. I went to seek a fan for her Majesty of Spades, and in passing the banquet hall curiosity did impel me to look in upon the tables. The fire-crackers are not there, my liege. They have been purloined. They have been stolen. ”

“ For the amateur who has not that luxury of the photographer, running water, the arranging of the dark-room may be made to suit his own convenience, and not that of the water-tap. In the room devoted to photography, the developing-table should be placed on the side of the room opposite the window. ”

“ Table of Contents,
which is sent free on application to the Publishers, there are found dozens of the best things in the World, which are well worth committing to memory; and they who know most of such good things, and appreciate and enjoy them most, are really among the best educated people in any country. They have the best result of Education. ”

“ From the vehicles are thrown out slips of paper about an inch and a half by five inches, with slits cut in them. There is a common belief that the devil must go through every hole in every piece of paper before he can reach the soul of the dead. ”

“ Skinny climbed into the wrecked car, and lifted the end of a tarpauling that covered some barrels.
"There you are," he said, triumphantly. "All the powder you want—nuff to blow up the town."
"I don't suppose they'll let 'em stay here very long," said Hosmer.
"But they can't send them South on the road now," remarked Tevis. "The big bridge is down ten miles below—heard tell of it last night. They will have to go back the other way; not a train's been through for forty hours."
Tevis's grandfather was the station-agent at Middleton, and he spoke with an air of certain knowledge. ”

“ Lay the hemlock boards on the floor, and nail strips across them, leaving an opening of 8 inches between the boards. Turn the boards over, and with pencil marks divide them at every foot, and fasten the sections, narrower side up, strongly upon these boards in the order and manner shown in Nos. 6 and 7. It is better to fasten the mould (planks and sections) together with screws, as it will be easier to take apart when done with, thus enabling the wood in it to be used in the construction of the boat. ”