Various

“ Ah, Hadley, these adventurers and politicians with His Excellency are what keep us back. They so fear to see a good man win that they will do all they can to ruin him. Why, do you know, they are trying to throw some of the blame for Sullivan’s blunder, down there at Brandywine creek, upon Anthony Wayne, although he fought with all the stubbornness a man ever displayed, and held off Knyphausen and his Hessians all day—until, in fact, he learned of the defeat in his rear, and that the rest of the army was retreating. ”

“ Without an instant’s hesitation, he bounded over to a large boulder which lay near by, and with the greatest agility leaped lightly to its top, where he stood regarding the Jersey with wide-open jaws.
“Now’s the time,” said Harold, excitedly; “we must hurry and get our guns.” And down we went hustling through the thick limbs of the oak.
It was our first impulse to fire at the tiger from the ground where we stood, but, as the bull kept directly in the way, it was evident that this would not answer; and, besides, our very terror restrained us; it might be easier to fire than to kill. ”

“ Without doubt we all admire bravery, but, while we are honoring those who so willingly exposed themselves to the bullet and bayonet, let us not lose sight of that courage which, though silent, was in reality the strength of the American Revolution—the courage born of conviction. It was this spirit which spoke through Richard Henry Lee when he proposed that the United Colonies, with a few poorly-armed troops, should renounce their allegiance to the most powerful nation in the world. ”

“ Anthony Wayne is an ‘all or nothing’ man—he is never lukewarm, as are some of these fellows who have obtained their commissions from Congress. What if he does brag? Why, Morris, if we’d done what he has, and were masters of the science of war as he is, we’d brag ourselves!”
“But why do they try to drag him into the trouble over the Brandywine defeat?” queried the boy.
“Why? Ask me why a mangy, homeless cur always snarls at the heels of a dog that is well bred. ’Tis always so. Jealousy is at the bottom of all these cabals and plots with which the army is troubled. ”

“ They still continue to hunt for Auk. Watch any of them if you will while on the sea-shore. See how tirelessly Tern is searching as he skims over wave after wave. Will he ever find Auk? At any rate, he will not give up. But then, when we think of the broad expanse of the Great North Ocean, and its many rocky islands, we cannot but feel that Auk is pretty safe after all. He has found a good hiding-place somewhere.
You who have been believing that Auk has been extinct for half a century, now know that it is not so. But where is he? There is only one whom you can ask: that is Black-head. ”

“ You have seen to-day how the troops love him and what they will do for him. This handful of muddy, half-starved creatures would charge the whole of Howe’s army if Anthony Wayne were at their head! Did you get a glimpse of him to-day, Morris?”
“Yes, sir. And I think him a fine figure of a man,” declared the boy, enthusiastically.
“He is that, indeed. A man of more forceful facial expression I never saw, and his dark eyes are always sparkling—either in fun or with earnestness. ”

“ Getting back into the tree with our guns, both of which contained heavy charges of buckshot, we quickly posted ourselves so as to improve the first opening for a fair aim. The tiger still crouched upon his rock of refuge, roaring close in the face of his enemy, yet hesitating to spring upon him; while the strong-necked old Jersey shook his curly head and fairly screamed at the yellow brute he was not quite able to reach.
A bull’s voice in a rage is a strange mixture of frightful sounds, even more so than a tiger’s. ”

“ Wish I was an Indian! Wish, rather, I had my own compass and good outfit that went over in my canoe. Hurrah! There’s a glimmer of water. That’s the thoroughfare. Now a dash for it!”
Adrian was proud of his new skill in finding his way through a trackless forest, but, though he duly reached the stream, he could not for a time see anything of Pierre. He did not wish to shout, lest the moose might be near and take fright, but at last he did give a faint halloo, and an answer came at once. ”

“ On these hot July days, when the sun draws out the richest fragrance and lights up the most brilliant colors, watch the bees and butterflies. The bee seeks the clover on one trip, mignonette on another, lilies on a third. The butterflies have no hive returning to mark their work, but you can count their visits, a dozen or more to flowers of one kind before they investigate the sweets of flowers of some other kind. ”

“ He was so close upon us that it was impossible to secure our guns, and we dropped them at the foot of the tree, where they fell rattling between two small rocks, which fortunately protected them from his trampling hoofs.
Then he besieged us in true form, walking all about our fortress, with a hoarse, frightful bellowing that sometimes grew to a shriek, and tearing up the earth with his horns till his whole body was coated with turf.
“Well,” said Harold, “we are safe enough in this tree, but who wants to be kept here all night? ”

“ A quarrel is like a tumble weed in its capacity for growing in size, and, tossed back and forth by the windy tongues of the Widow Barlow, who gloried in “speaking her mind,” and old Mr. Harding, who cherished his right to the last word as religiously as a woman, the original difference had grown to be a very serious thing, indeed.
“I’ll fix her!” he had exclaimed, after the last tilt of words which occurred between them. “I’ll put up a fence so high she can’t scream over it, and if she comes inside my yard I’ll buy a dog.” ”

“ Finally, let us remember that the pollen of flowers is but seldom spread where it is easy to secure it. The buttercup lavishly expends a golden saucer of pollen; the lily has a wide-open door, near which hangs the antlers, like so many ready bells. ”

“ There is a party of Tories up the road yonder, and they are going to attack Uncle Ephraim’s house and rob him this very night.”
“Tories!” gasped the maids.
“King’s men!” exclaimed Mistress Benson. “And why should they wish to plague Master Morris, Hadley? He is loyal.”
“That Brace Alwood is at their head. They are bent on robbery. Nobody will be safe now, if they overrun the country. Where is Master Benson, I say?”
“He is gone to Trenton,” declared one of the frightened women. “There is no man here but Colonel Knowles’ servant.” ”

“ Wayne is a Pennsylvania man, you know; has been a farmer over near Easton ’most all his life—though they do say he traveled north once, surveying land. He is somewhere about thirty-three years old now.
“He brought his own regiment into the army—the Fourth Pennsylvania,” continued the captain, getting away from the real matter under discussion, but holding Hadley’s attention, nevertheless, “and he has been advanced to brigadier-general for conspicuous gallantry. They call him ‘Mad Anthony’ and claim he is reckless and thoughtless; but it’s a pity we haven’t more such mad men in the army. ”

“ Easter with its spirit of hopefulness, Thanksgiving with its bounty of turkey, or even Christmas with all its cheer and good will, does not, for some reason, reach the same depths of the boy nature as does the boom and sizz of fire crackers. ”

“ Blue Heron, Tern, and a host of others came flying swiftly toward him. In another moment Auk dived headlong into the sea and swam rapidly away, while his enemies stood on the shore crying out in their disappointment.
Years passed and Auk was forgotten. Everyone supposed that he had long ago fallen prey to some enemy. Then, one night, Birdland was astonished. Night-Heron had been to the far north for some time past. Suddenly he came bursting in upon them. His eyes were wide open with wonder. ”

“ What does the flower offer to the insect for its services as pollen distributer? Honey, which is the chief food of flying insects, also wax, and pollen for its private use at home. The miller, we know, takes toll from the flour he grinds.
To secure insect visitants, the flower provides honey; almost all flowers secrete some dainty juices. As shopkeepers set up signs to inform the public of their wares, so the flowers hang forth signs; these are the brilliant corollas, or parts highly colored which take the place of corollas. ”

“ Hadley Morris, our hero, is in the employ of Jonas Benson, the host of the Three Oaks, a well-known inn on the road between Philadelphia and New York. Like most of his neighbors, Hadley is an ardent sympathizer with the American cause. When, therefore, he is intrusted with a message to be forwarded to the American headquarters, the boy gives up, for the time, his duties at the Three Oaks and sets out for the army. Here he remains until after the fateful Battle of Brandywine. ”

“ Scouts brought in the tale that Howe was about to take up his line of march, and so, as the night of the 20th drew near, Wayne determined to attack in any case, reinforcements or not. The watchword that night in the American camp was, “Here we are and there they go!” and the troops were eager to follow their beloved leader into the very heart of the British encampment. It was believed that the night attack was unsuspected by the British, but it proved later that vigilant Tories had wormed the information from somebody on Wayne’s staff and hastened with it to the British camp. ”

“ THE words Brace Alwood uttered were enough to rivet Hadley to the spot, and, almost within a long arm reach of the men lounging about the fire, he crouched and listened to the dialogue which followed. The reason stated by Brace for the presence of the Tories in this place naturally startled and horrified Ephraim Morris’s nephew. When the old man was well-known to be a strong Royalist, why should these fellows be plotting to attack him? At once Hadley was sure that they were after the money which rumor said Miser Morris kept concealed in his house. ”

“ Manning was exceedingly fond of flowers, too, and her bay window on the west side was full of choice plants.
There was a Papa Manning, but he went early and came late from his work, too early and late to enter the story as an active factor; one of those busy men who do business in the city and live in suburban towns for the sake of health and purer air for the children; but Mr. Harding did not know this, and supposed his new neighbor to be a widow, and cherished suspicions accordingly which not even her sweet voice could quite allay. ”

“ He is so apt to roar that, even if father or any of the work folks should hear him, they might not come to see what the matter was. Besides, it’s a long distance to the house, and the hill yonder is right in the way.”
So we remained watching our savage jailer, quite forgetting for the moment the sounds we had just heard from the woods. How long would the old fellow continue to bellow and fling up the dirt? I was asking some such question when my cousin uttered a quick exclamation.
“Oh, see! look yonder!” he cried; “there’s the tiger now!” ”

“ But they’re trying to make out that Anthony Wayne could have saved the day with his troops had he wished. They’d not talk so bold had they faced those bloody Hessians as we did.”
“It seems awful that there should be friction in an army of patriots,” Hadley said, thoughtfully. “They are all patriotic—they all desire the freedom of the Colonies.”
“What some of them desire it would be hard to say,” declared Prentice, gloomily. “And we are not patriots until we win. ”

“ I’ll take my old gray shawl and pick me out a good place to sit in the sun, and I’ll knit on Hiram’s socks while you run around and see what you can see. Perhaps you can get up a bouquet to fetch home to Miss Hetty, who knows? And when you feel so minded you can sit on the shawl alongside of me, and read me out a story, maybe. It’s a pity Miss Hetty can’t be with us, but she’s no hand to walk; she hasn’t been overly strong for ten years back, though she can do all that’s required.”
Polly felt disloyal to Miss Pomeroy, because it was a relief to know Arctura would be her only companion. ”

“ Anyone who will send us the names and addresses of twenty-five of his friends, boys or girls, and fifty cents additional, will receive a year’s subscription to Youth. The magazine will be sent to any desired address. This is a very easy way for any person, young or old, to obtain a year’s subscription. We wish the twenty-five names for the sole purpose of distributing sample copies of Youth. They will be put to no other use, so that no one need have any hesitation in sending the list. ”

“ During the month of May the total number of immigrants arriving at New York was between 85,000 and 90,000.
This exceeds any monthly record for the past twenty years. The majority of the new arrivals were from Austria-Hungary, Italy, and Russia. In a count of 51,000 immigrants it was found that 14,000 could neither read nor write.
Although at present this does not promise much for the standard of American citizenship, we can reasonably hope that in time our system of education will convert their descendants, at least, into very useful citizens. ”

“ He was only anxious for his uncle’s safety and enraged at Colonel Knowles for the part he believed the officer had in the plot to rob—and perhaps injure—the farmer.
In an hour, so Brace Alwood said, they would attack the lonely homestead of the man whom the whole countryside believed to be a miser. Hadley had good reason to know that his uncle was possessed of much wealth, whether rightfully or not did not enter into the question now; but the money was no longer in the house—of that he was confident. Enraged at not finding it, the Tories might seriously injure Ephraim Morris. ”

“ Even His Excellency is not free from the arrows of their hate. And, as I tell you, Sullivan has too many political friends. They wish to attract attention from his mistakes to somebody else, and they fall upon General Wayne and call him reckless. Reckless, forsooth! His fighting that day when he faced those Hessians was marvelous.
“Nobody,” pursued Prentice, warmly, “unless it was His Excellency himself, realized how exceedingly well placed my Lord Howe’s troops were for defence on the left bank of the Brandywine. Greene selected our position—the position of the main army. ”

“ Pollen-carriers must be able to secure the dust so jealously kept, and must be afforded a reward for their trouble.
What form of animal life meets all these conditions? But one—the insect. It is generally light and delicate in structure, active, winged; its life is conterminous with that of flowers; they are spring and summer guests. The slender shape and the long, slim mouth organs of the insect can penetrate and gently force open flower tubes and the fast-shut lips of corollas ”