Various

“ Joe and Charley were both right. The fog was growing thinner, and the wind was rising, but the wind rose even faster than Charley had predicted. In the course of the next twenty minutes it was blowing so hard that it was no longer safe for the Ghost to carry her mainsail. Charley ordered it to be hauled down, the jib to be set, and the boat to be put before the wind. The moment the jib filled, the Ghost started away like a runaway horse, but whether she was heading for the beach or for the Bermuda islands it was impossible to guess. ”

“ There was evidently a good deal of "public spirit" among the younger generation of the people of Kerim.
The older people, with the single exception of the broad-shouldered Squire, had gone to bed at a healthy hour that evening, well assured that for once no patriotic racket would disturb their open-windowed slumbers. A quieter village there was not in the whole United States until just before the town clock prepared for the duty of telling them it was midnight.
The clock got ready. So did the Kerim boys. Squire Garnsey remarked, "I'll walk away a little, boys, so's I can see it burn." ”

“ Here too the boys met some gentlemen, who had been snipe-shooting, and who helped them step the mast. It was not, however, worth while to set the sail, for there was not a breath of air stirring, and so the oars were resumed, and through the thick fog the Ghost proceeded into Shinnecock Bay.
"We might as well keep on till six o'clock," said Charley. "If we steer about north-northeast by compass, we will get somewhere. I don't know exactly where, but at any rate we can't go far out of our course. The chart doesn't show any inlet into Shinnecock Bay, so we can't possibly get out to sea." ”

“ We can take the throat halyards and use them for a tackle, and we ought to be able to hoist that mast out."
"Let's try the plan we tried at the Coney Island bridge," said Joe.
"We had two colored men to help us then," said Charley, "but they're not here."
"Somebody will be here before long. Look at the road. There's a great deal of travel on it, and if we wait a while we'll be sure to have some help."
"But we don't want to ask people to help us," urged Charley. "We ought to be able to get along without help."
"If people want to help us, why shouldn't we let them?" said Harry. ”

“ I saw in Young People that there is a prospect of a Natural History Society. I am very much in favor of this, and I hope it will succeed. I would like to know if those who do not take Young People can become members. I have a friend who does not take it, but she reads mine whenever she comes to see me, which visit occurs every other evening, I going to see her on other days. If the society is formed, every member should possess a book on natural history; also, if the reports were printed in a special department, it would be very nice.
Gracie B.
Evans' Mills, New York. ”

“ We can't lug more nor ten baskets a day."
"Far!—where?" still questioned Douglas, as Hugh went to work again.
"You'll see when the fog lifts. The red cottage by the brook."
"What! not 'way down by the mill?"
"Yes, sir," said the girl, as she shook the basket, and piled some more chips on top. "Come, Dick, this is your side," and off they started in the light rain that was beginning to fall.
"Poor little things," said Douglas, "I haven't the heart to take their wood," and he threw some chips indifferently into the cart. "Oh, Hugh, I've a plan," and his face lit up. ”

“ It had been agreed that we were to marshal our forces at ten o'clock in the attic, and all help in the adjustment of curtains, seats, lights, etc. It was a time of intense fascination. We girls talked and laughed gayly, enjoying everything; and I can hear now the sound of the hammer as Mr. Ludlow nailed up this and that; the creaking of the boards as we ran across them before the druggeting was tacked down; the voices of one and another asking questions, offering advice, expostulating, criticising: it was a most enjoyable morning. ”

“ Although I can read Young People quite well, I can not write, so I have got my papa to write this for me.
My home is on the Yelm, the Indian name for a beautiful prairie in Washington Territory. From our house we have a splendid view of the Cascade Range; and of its grand snow peak, Mount Rainier. It is forty miles distant "as the crow flies," yet so clear and pure is the atmosphere (except in our "rainy season") it seems scarcely a third of that distance from the observer looking at it, for the first time. Rainier was no doubt once an active volcano. ”

“ The canvas canoe, of which a description and directions for building have already been given in Young People, is also good for inland waters, is easy to paddle, can carry sail, and being decked over, will keep a cargo dry. The "Racine" and "Nautilus" canoes are the best for both paddling and sailing, and will stand heavy weather. The "Shadow" and "Jersey Blue" canoes are the best for sailing, and are generally preferred for salt-water cruising. ”

“ My papa calls Rainier a great, natural barometer, as when it emits vapor that condenses in clouds about its summit it almost surely indicates "falling weather" within two or three days. The Indian name for Rainier is Tach-hōma, the meaning of which I do not know. Some of the Indians are very superstitious about Rainier—will not hunt the mountain sheep far up the snow-line, and think its summit is the abode of an evil spirit. ”

“ On the preceding page are several spirited pictures illustrating scenes during the annual regatta of the New York Canoe Club, which took place last week in the Upper Bay, off the club-house on Staten Island. The central picture is of the sailing race, with several of the leading canoes passing the light on Robbin's Reef. The tiny craft, none of which is over fifteen feet in length, carry enormous sails for their size, and only the greatest skill and care on the part of their skippers prevent them from upsetting. A few years ago, only leg-of-mutton sails were used on canoes ”

“ Now if canoes can be carried across, the road can't be very hilly. The chances are that we should find nothing worse than a level meadow, and if we could get a team of horses, I believe we could get the Ghost into Peconic Bay."
"It strikes me," interrupted Joe, "that we'd better find out where we are now before we lay plans for what we're going to do next week. We may sail around in this fog [Pg 564] and never find the shore for three or four days. This must be a pretty big bay, for there's a regular long swell here." ”

“ Bicycles can not be used to advantage on rough, hilly streets. To dismount, you wait until the left pedal is down; then imagine it a stirrup, throw the right leg backward over the backbone of the bicycle, and dismount exactly as you would from the back of a horse.
E. A. Hoare.—A good bicycle, such as you want, will cost about $25, to which you must add $1 for a crate and the express charges on a fifty-pound package from New York to your place of residence. ”

“ Although it is a large sail, it is very easily handled, and can be quickly reefed or lowered. It has two battens, or thin strips of wood, sewed into pockets running horizontally across it, and these cause it to set very flat, so that the canoes can sail close into the wind. With these large sails, the racing canoe must, of course, carry heavy ballast, which is usually in the form of several bags of shot of from twenty to fifty pounds weight each, and often the ballast carried weighs as much as the canoe itself. ”

“ All boys who have asked questions concerning the price of bicycles are referred to the advertisements of the Pope Manufacturing Company, of Boston, and E. I. Horsman, of New York, on the last page of the cover of Young People.
R. B. Sweet.—You can buy bicycles with front wheels of from 28 to 42 inches in diameter, with rubber tires and steel spokes, for from $12 to $35.
George L. Hall.—See preceding answer for your first question. Only bicycles with rubber tires and careful finish can be driven up hill. ”

“ We'll sail as close to the wind as we can. If the wind is southwest, and if we keep it on our port bow, we shall be drifting in toward the shore, and if it's blowing from some other direction, we sha'n't be making headway enough to do much harm."
"You know best," said Tom. "We'll do as you say."
"I would give almost anything," continued Charley, "if the fog would only lift. However, the wind must blow it away."
"We must have gone out of the inlet when we were letting her drift with the tide; but why we didn't notice it I can't understand," remarked Harry. ”

“ I am interested in entomology, and I hope that the readers of Young People will organize a Natural History Society. I propose the following plan. Let a number of boys and girls living in the same neighborhood meet together, adopt a constitution, and elect officers. Each society thus formed might send its address to the editor of Harper's Young People, and as he is a very obliging gentleman, I think he would publish them for us.
C. E. P. ”

“ There was public spirit in them, and the thing spread so fast that when two o'clock came, and Mr. Mortis climbed into the wagon, followed by Bill Allen, and as many more of the boys as could get in, every man in Kerim who thought himself at all eloquent envied them the very respectable audience gathered around the elm-tree ash heap and the "celebration."
Mr. Mortis was barely twenty, but he was studying law, and the boys had picked him out because, as Bill Allen said: "He's got more voice than a bull. What we want is noise." ”

“ The little chicks sometimes scampered over the snow-crust in February when wandering from their home in the wood-shed.
I do not know whether Mr. Editor will think my letter worthy a place in the Post-office Box, but I have derived so much pleasure from what I have each week read there that I felt like attempting something for its columns.
Harry S. V. T.
Colchester, Vermont.
I go to school, and we have an exercise of spelling the school down. We also speak pieces. I have been at school four terms, and have not missed a day. I like Young People very much. ”

“ Owners of books about natural history may take them to the club meetings, which ought to be held once a fortnight, at a designated time and place.
The only officers necessary to a good organization shall be a president and a secretary. It is always a good plan to have as few officers as possible in such societies as these. ”

“ The latter is a race in which, at a signal, all competing canoes must be capsized so that they are completely upside down. The owners, who are thus left struggling in deep water, must right their boats, get into them, if possible, and paddle to the float, the one who reaches it first winning the race. This race not only affords much amusement to the spectators, but is excellent practice for the canoeist, who may thus teach himself how to act when accidentally upset while on a cruise. ”

“ Canoeing is a sport which is rapidly increasing in popularity in this country, and early next month the Annual Convention of the American Canoe Association will be held on Canoe Island, in Lake George, where a large number of canoeists will gather. ”

“ Three times did the Oliver boys heap the cart, and three times did little [Pg 567] Dick Ransom fancy he was Dr. Phisterer as he sat perched up on the chips, having the best Fourth of July he had ever known.
As the Oliver family was breakfasting it commenced to rain hard.
"The day is going to be a perfect fizzle," announced Hugh. "It'll be no fun staying out; besides, nothing will go off. Imagine being cooped in the house all day!"
The twins looked disconsolate.
"Cheer up," said Douglas. "We can put off some torpedoes in the attic if it comes to the worst ”

“ D. R. Allen.—Send to G. W. Simmons & Son, Oak Hall, Boston, for samples and price of L. A. W. suit.
Harry N. Nichols.—See advertisements on cover.
Emanuel Senn.—You would doubtless derive much pleasure from a bicycle, and I should advise you to get one if you have friends of your own age who own bicycles, and with whom you could ride.
George A. Richards.—I can not answer the question as to which is the best make, as every style of bicycle has its own peculiar merit. Either the "Columbia" or the "Horsman" is a good bicycle. It is almost impossible to ride a bicycle against a strong wind. ”

“ For convenience' sake, we will imagine that the editor of Young People is in the chair. The chair in this case assumes what is called the appointing power. He will appoint Charles H. Williamson, Brooklyn, E. D., N. Y., who was the original mover in the matter, president of the society.
Branches may be formed in any city, town, or village where there are intelligent boys and girls. ”

“ It beats a house a-fire."
So it did, but there was no insurance on the old elm.
When the good and quiet people around that square, on all sides except the one where the meeting-house and the academy stood, sprang out of bed and rushed to their windows, you could have read print, if it were large enough, anywhere about the middle of the green. And every head out of every window had something special to say about "those boys."
Up shot the flame over the pile of boxes and barrels, and the heap of broken boards and fence rails ”