Various

“ Having spent so much of their wealth on the steamer, it was necessary for them to be careful of their money if they expected to get any dinner, and in order that the purchases might be made more judiciously, Jimmy gave his portion of the funds to Johnny, thereby making him responsible for the manner in which the forty remaining cents were spent.
If they did not have quite as much money, they felt of just as much importance as any one on the beach, and they walked along in all the glory of good clothes and a contented mind. ”

“ The only hope of success lay in a sudden, determined attack. The only way to capture the American gun-boats was to row up to them in the face of their fire, climb over their sides, and take them by force in a hand-to-hand fight.
When the flotilla set sail, on the 14th of December, Lieutenant Jones knew what their mode of attack would be quite as well as Captain Lockyer did. If he let them attack him in the open lake he knew very well that the British could overpower him and capture his fleet; but he did not intend to be attacked in the open lake if he could help it. ”

“ Girls can't mend knives."
"Miss Nellie is not a girl, Andrew. You should not speak so of her."
"Well, she's a young lady, and that's pretty much the same. They can't do much."
"Oh, Andrew, how can you speak so?" said Jessie, indignantly. "I should like to know who it was persuaded Mr. Fuller to give you the place in his office, and often gives you shoes and clothes, but Miss Nellie, and who lent us money to help pay the rent the time you were sick, and comes to see me so often, bringing books, papers, and many things, but a young lady, even Miss Nellie. You ought to be ashamed of yourself." ”

“ On reaching the mouth of the little stream the bows of the canoes were run ashore, so that they would not float away, and the boys, hastily undressing, sprang into the water. They had a delightful bath, and it was not until they began to feel chilly that they thought of coming out and dressing. Tom was the first to go ashore, and as he was wading out of the water, he suddenly felt himself sinking in the sand. Harry and Joe attempted to land a few yards from the place where Tom was trying to drag his feet out of the clinging sand, and they too found themselves in the same difficulty. ”

“ He then brought two other canoes to the help of Joe and Harry; and when each of the three unfortunate canoeists was thus furnished with something to cling to, he climbed into his own canoe.
"What are we to do now?" asked Harry.
"Just hold on to your canoes until I can tow them out into the stream. You can't sink while you hang on to them."
"Won't the canoes sink with us?" asked Tom.
"Not a bit of it. You wouldn't sink yourselves if you could lie down flat on the quicksand. I was caught in a quicksand once, and that's the way I saved myself." ”

“ If the Rothschilds were to be bankrupt, and the Hohenzollerns driven into exile, the former could always make a livelihood as business men, and the latter as officers and commanders in an army.
It is not, then, to provide against any possible accidents to their fortunes that they have been taught other work than that which they are called on as princes and bankers to spend their lives in doing. It has been rather to teach them habits of patience and industry in doing work where no hope of gain or fame is present to urge the worker on. ”

“ The Americans fiercely contested every inch of their advance, and the two parties hewed each other down with cutlasses, the Americans being slowly beaten back by superior numbers, but still obstinately fighting until they could fight no more.
One by one all the gun-boats were taken in this way, Lieutenant Jones's vessel holding out longest, and the Lieutenant himself fighting till he was stricken down with a severe wound.
Having thus cleared Lake Borgne, the British were free to begin the work of landing. It was a terrible undertaking, however—scarcely less so than the fight itself. ”

“ The iguana buries them, eighteen or twenty together, in a hole in the sand, and leaves them to be hatched by the sun.
The little ones are left to take care of themselves as best they can. Humboldt, the great traveller and naturalist, found nests of young iguanas which were apparently just hatched. They were not over four inches long, and were very spry little things, and much prettier than later on in their lizard life.
The iguana will never attack an enemy, but when cornered, is a valiant fighter. ”

“ Frank Le Grand having followed Dick's example, there are only three competitors left; and as Murray seems to be taking things pretty comfortably, all eyes are centred on Alec and Harry. The former is exerting every nerve, resolved [Pg 811] not to take second place again, while Clare seems as determined that he shall.
Around and around they fly, their noiseless movements lending an additional interest to the race. They look neither to the right nor left, except that Alec, every time he approaches a certain spot opposite the grand stand, gives a single glance toward one corner of it. ”

“ The iguana is a very large and very ugly-looking lizard, which is found all through the American tropics. It measures fully five feet in length, its body being over two feet, and its long tapering tail nearly three. It is covered with scales, and its usual color is green shaded with brown. Iguanas possess, however, to an extent exceeded only by the chameleon, the power of changing their colors, the brilliant green becoming transformed in an instant, through the influence of fear or anger, into darker hues, or even into black. ”

“ I am a little girl eleven years of age. My sister Fanny gave me Young People for a New-Year's gift, and you can not imagine what an amount of pleasure I get out of it. My sister Mary takes St. Nicholas, and I your paper, and we have such good times reading them. All the boys and girls tell about their pets, and so I thought I would tell you about an old cat that stays here. ”

“ One would think that so large a creature would be slow and clumsy in its movements, but no squirrel or small lizard could be lighter and more active than the iguana. It is as much at home in the water as on the land, and can remain under the surface a long time without coming up to breathe. ”

“ We can all take pains when we want to make money or get some reputation, but very few of us think that whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well and in a workman-like manner, although it is merely a pastime. ”

“ Give a girl a needle and thread, and she amuses herself with a hundred useful things. Give a boy a jackknife, and he first cuts his fingers, and then cuts the school-desks. Even when we have a box of tools given us, we are never made to learn how to use them properly. ”

“ We must hasten on to the grand feature of the programme, the bicycle race, the riders in which presently made their appearance on the track trundling their machines.
There were five entries for the contest—Frank Le Grand, Harry Clare, Dick Summers, Murray Hart, and Alec Barsbey. The latter is pale but determined-looking, and there is that in the ease with which he slides into his seat that causes a by-stander to remark, "That slim young fellow in the blue shirt doesn't make much show, but he has the look of both speed and endurance." ”

“ It is not very pleasant for a person of civilized taste to think of eating a lizard, but the flesh of the iguana is considered a great delicacy. Indians hunt it with bows and arrows, and when brought to market it is sold for a high price. ”

“ I do not fancy that either the kings of men or the kings of money have educated their children in this way under any belief that they might be compelled to get their living by the labor of their hands. ”

“ Never attempt what is known as "hot-pressing"—that is, pressing with a hot flat-iron—unless you wish to sacrifice the delicate tints of the leaves, and turn to an unpleasant brown the masses of heavy and strong color. ”

“ But if the Barsbeys were poor in purse, they were wealthy in a spirit of independence, and it was only after repeated urgings on the part of Murray that Alec could be induced to ride another's property. Yet even with the limited amount of practice he allowed himself, he speedily became an expert "'cyclist," although this fact was not an unmixed pleasure to him, as it only increased his desire to have a machine of his own, which in the present state of the Barsbey finances was quite out of the question. ”

“ The trout, however, belonged to nobody, and the boys, though greatly disappointed about the salmon, would not give up their plan of trout fishing. They hired two carts from a farmer living a short distance from the river, and placing their canoes on the carts, walked beside them over a wretchedly rough road until they reached a place deep in the woods, where a little stream, icy cold, joined the Jacques Cartier. Just before entering the latter the little stream formed a quiet pool, in which the trout could be seen jumping. ”

“ In handicrafts we have to use our brains to guide and direct our hands, and our minds, instead of being continually on the strain, have merely to superintend a mechanical operation. Our thoughts are employed without the trouble of thinking.
THE BATTLE OF LAKE BORGNE. HOW THE BRITISH MADE A LANDING UNDER DIFFICULTIES. BY GEORGE CARY EGGLESTON.
When the British made up their minds, near the end of the year 1814, to take New Orleans, and thus to get control of the Mississippi River, there seemed to be very little difficulty in their way. ”

“ The players draw them, and he or she who draws Adonis is seated on a chair in the middle of the circle (the Auctioneer beside him) , and is put up for sale by auction.
The Auctioneer says: "Here is Adonis, remarkable for his great beauty and love of hunting. What will you bid for him?"
Each player has five bids alternately, but none must bid money.
First Player. I will give a bunch of roses for Adonis.
Auctioneer. A bunch of roses. Who bids for Adonis? Going, going, for a bunch of roses. (He raises his hammer, which may be a pencil.)
Second Player. I will bid a lump of sugar. ”

“ It was evident that Lake Borgne was much too shallow for the large ships, and so the commander called a halt, and transferred the troops to the smaller vessels of the fleet.
When this was done the chase was begun again by the smaller ships, and for a time with every prospect of success; but presently even these ships were hard aground, and the whole British fleet which had been intended to carry the army across the lake was stuck fast in the mud near the entrance, and thirty miles from the point at which the landing was to be made. ”

“ It is the practice in some families to have each child taught some common useful work or handicraft. There are two families which in regard to wealth and social position may be said to stand as high as any in this world where great attention is paid to this kind of training. ”

“ Of course the British could not reply at such a distance, but being under fire, their chief need was to go forward as fast and come to close quarters as quickly as possible. The sailors bent to their oars, and the boats flew over the water. Soon the men at the bows began to fire the carronades in reply to the American cannon. Then, as the boats drew nearer, small-arms came into use, and the battle grew fiercer with every moment. The British boats were with difficulty kept in line, and their advance grew slower. Oarsmen were killed, and time was lost in putting others into their places. ”

“ He was the son of a farmer who seemed never to make more than enough to support his family, minus luxuries, which perhaps may be accounted for by the fact that he ought not to have been a farmer at all, but a lawyer or minister, for he was so extremely fond of books. ”

“ Thousands of "American Autumn Leaves" are sent every year to Europe, where they are highly prized.
Fig. 1.
Among some of the best varieties of leaves as regards color, form, and durability are those of the maples, sweet gum, sumac, dogwood, Virginia creeper, and crane's-bill geranium. The popular idea that an early frost is needed to insure the brilliancy and perfection of autumn foliage is a mistake. A lingering and moist fall is all that is required to produce the most brilliant colors.
When gathering leaves, always select those that are fully matured, and are leathery and fibrous. ”

“ Lieutenant Jones was an officer very much given to hard fighting, and in this case the British saw that they must fight him at a disadvantage. As they could not get to him in their ships, they must make an attack in open boats, which, of course, was a very dangerous thing to do, as the American gun-boats were armed with cannon. ”

“ Handicrafts differ in one peculiar respect from the labors to which most of us will have to give our time. We have in everything we do to use our hands and our brains, but in most cases we shall have to use our hands to carry out the work of our brains. ”

“ These gun-boats were mere mosquitoes in comparison with the great British men-of-war, and when they made their appearance in the track of the invading fleet, the British laughed and wondered at the foolhardiness of the American commander in sending such vessels there.
Lieutenant Thomas Ap Catesby Jones knew what he was about, however, as the British soon found out. He sailed up almost within cannon-shot of the enemy's ships, and they, of course, gave chase to him. Then he nimbly sailed away, with the fleet after him. Very soon a large man-of-war ran aground ”