is sensitive and intelligent-breathing, moving, thinking; man with his wonderful body continually reconstructing itself; so infinitely delicate in mechanism that a pin's point of deviation from the proper arrangement gives anguish; so wonderfully constructed that it moves in all its complicated ways without effort and without pain; - who is to put such a creature together?" And the three lads answered, "God." 66 Now, suppose I put this steam-engine together, and make it run smoothly," inquired Great-grandfather Pritchet, eying the bag, "what will you do for your part, Johannes; for the steam-engine is yours?" "I shall thank you very much, sir." Great-grandfather Pritchet stamped his foot with its buckled shoe, and Johannes knew that he had made the right answer. "There are four of us here whom God has put together. All our joints work; all our hearts pump; our lungs take in the air and puff it out; our stomachs take charge of our food and deal it about not a soul of Put on your And Great-grandfather Pritchet stamped hard on the floor with his spry, bebuckled foot, till the boys started for their hats; and the boys whisked about as though trying their joints, and Great-grandfather Pritchet hung the hempen bag on a nail, while he and the three younger Pritchets went to give thanks. SKY-SAILING. BY JOHN VANCE CHENEY. LAZY clouds, so slowly floating, That would be my kind of boating, Riding, gliding, high in air, Bound for- oh, for anywhere! Do you ever sail so far That you steer against a star? And the moon - Who turns you round As the wild-goose quacks it South, Can you see inside his mouth? When the bluebird brings the Spring, Is it pinned beneath his wing? Have you ever seen that town Where the sun stays when he 's down? Is his hair all gold and curly? MANY queer things you must spy, ༦ He said, "O I wish I had silver and gold I'd fill a big house till no more it could hold And my Christmas dollar? O pshaw! don't you see? THE "HORN O' PLENTY" was a fine, big, oldfashioned ship, very high in the bow, very high in the stern, with a quarter-deck always carpeted in fine weather, because her captain could not see why one should not make himself comfortable at sea as well as on land. Covajos Maroots was her captain, and a fine, jolly, old-fashioned, elderly sailor he was. "The Horn o' Plenty" always sailed upon one sea, and always between two ports, one on the west side of the sea, and one on the east. The port on the west was quite a large city, in which Captain Covajos had a married son, and the port on the east was another city in which he had a married daughter. In each family he had several grandchildren; and, consequently, it was a great joy to the jolly old sailor to arrive at either port. The Captain was very particular about his cargo, and the " Horn o' Plenty" was generally laden with good things to eat, or sweet things to smell, or fine things to wear, or beautiful things to look at. Once a merchant brought to him some boxes of bitter aloes, and mustard plasters, but Captain Covajos refused to take them into his ship. "I know," said he, "that such things are very useful and necessary at times, but you'd better send them over in some other vessel. The "Horn o' Plenty" has never carried anything that to look at, to taste, or to smell, did not delight the souls of old and young. I am sure you can not say that of these commodities. If I were to put such things on board my ship, it would break the spell which more than fifty savory voyages have thrown around it." There were sailors who sailed upon that sea who used to say that sometimes, when the weather was hazy and they could not see far, they would know they were about to meet the "Horn o' Plenty" before she came in sight; her planks and timbers, and even her sails and masts had gradually become so filled with the odor of good things that the winds that blew over her were filled with an agreeable fragrance. There was another thing about which Captain Covajos was very particular; he always liked to arrive at one of his ports a few days before Christmas. Never, in the course of his long life, had the old sailor spent a Christmas at sea; and now that he had his fine grandchildren to help make the holidays merry, it would have grieved him very much if he had been unable to reach one of his ports in good season. His jolly old vessel was generally heavily laden, and very slow, and there were many days of calms on that sea when she did not sail at all, so that her voyages were usually very, very long. But the Captain fixed the days of sailing so as to give himself plenty of time to get to the other end of his course before Christmas came around. One spring, however, he started too late, and when he was about the middle of his voyage, he called to him Baragat Bean, his old boatswain. This venerable sailor had been with the Captain ever since he had commanded the "Horn o' Plenty," and on important occasions he was always consulted in preference to the other officers, none of whom had served under Captain Covajos more than fifteen or twenty years. "Baragat," said the Captain, "we have just passed the Isle of Guinea-Hens. You can see its one mountain standing up against the sky to the north." sometimes, when the wind did blow, it came from the wrong direction, and it 's my belief that the ship sailed backward." "That was very bad management," said the Captain. "The chief mate should have seen to it that the sails were turned in such a manner that the ship could not go backward. If that sort of thing happened often, it would become quite a serious affair." "But what is done can't be helped," said the boatswain, "and I don't see how you are ever going to get into port before Christmas." "Nor I either," said the Captain, gazing out over the sea. 66 "It would give me a sad turn, sir," said Baragat, 'to see you spend Christmas at sea; a thing you never did before, nor ever shall do, if I can help it. If you 'll take my advice, sir, you 'll turn around, and go back. It's a shorter distance to the port we started from than to the one we are going to, and if we turn back now, I am sure we all shall be on shore before the holidays." "Go back to my son's house -" exclaimed Captain Covajos, "where I was last winter! Why, that would be like spending last Christmas over again! " "But that would be better than having none at all, sir," said the boatswain, "and a Christmas at sea would be about equal to none." 66 Good!" exclaimed the Captain. "I will give up the coming Christmas with my daughter and her children, and go back and spend last Christmas over again with my son and his dear boys and girls. Have the ship turned around immediately, Baragat, and tell the chief mate I do not wish to sail backward if it can possibly be avoided." For a week or more the "Horn o' Plenty" sailed back upon her track toward the city where dwelt the Captain's son. The weather was fine, the carpet was never taken up from the quarter-deck, and everything was going on very well, when a man, who happened to have an errand at one of the topmasts, came down, and reported that, far away to the north, he had seen a little open boat with some people in it. “Ah me!” said Captain Covajos, "it must be some poor fellows who are shipwrecked. It will take us out of our course, but we must not leave "Aye, aye, sir," said old Baragat; "there she them to their fate. Have the ship turned about, stands, the same as usual." so that it will sail northward." "That makes it plain," said the Captain, "that we are not yet half-way across, and I am very much afraid that I shall not be able to reach my dear daughter's house before Christmas." "That would be doleful, indeed," said Baragat, "but I've been afraid of something of the kind, for we've had calms nearly every other day, and It was not very long before they came up with the boat; and, much to the Captain's surprise, he saw that it was filled with boys. "Who are you?" he cried as soon as he was near enough. "And where do you come from?" "We are the First Class in Long Division," said the oldest boy, "and we are cast away. Have you anything to eat that you can spare us? We are almost famished." "We have plenty of everything," said the Captain. "Come on board instantly, and all your wants shall be supplied." Now, the chief mate had not the least idea in the world where Apple Island was, but he did not like to ask, because that would be confessing his ignorance; so he steered his vessel toward a point where he believed he had once seen an island, which, probably, was the one in question. The "Horn o' Plenty " sailed in this direction all night, and when day broke, and there was no island in "We have had nothing to eat since breakfast," sight, she took another course; and so sailed this "How long have you been without food?" he asked, when the boys were on the deck of the vessel. "IT MUST BE SOME POOR FELLOWS WHO ARE SHIPWRECKED!' SAID CAPTAIN COVAJOS." said one of them; "and it is now late in the afternoon. Some of us are nearly dead from starvation." "It is very hard for boys to go so long without eating," said the good Captain. And leading them below, he soon set them to work upon a bountiful meal. Not until their hunger was fully satisfied did he ask them how they came to be cast away. "You see, sir," said the oldest boy, "that we and the Multiplication Class had a holiday to-day, and each class took a boat and determined to have a race, so as to settle, once for all, which was the highest branch of arithmetic, multiplication or long division. Our class rowed so hard that we entirely lost sight of the Multiplicationers, and were out of sight of everything; so that, at last, we did not know which was the way back, and thus we became castaways." "Where is your school?" asked the Captain. "It is on Apple Island," said the boy; "and, although it is a long way off for a small boat with only four oars for nine boys, it can't be very far for a ship." "That is quite likely," said the Captain," and we shall take you home. Baragat, tell the chief mate to have the vessel turned toward Apple Island, that we may restore these boys to their parents and guardians." way and that for six or seven days, without ever seeing a sign of land. All this time, the First Class in Long Division was as happy as it could be, for it was having a perfect holiday; fishing off the sides of the vessel, climbing up the ladders and ropes, and helping the sailors whistle for wind. But the Captain now began to grow a little impatient, for he felt he was losing time; so he sent for the chief mate, and said to him mildly but firmly : "I know it is out of the line of your duty to search for island schools, but, if you really think that you do not know where Apple Island lies, I wish you to say so, frankly and openly." "Frankly and openly," answered the mate, "I don't think I do." "Very well," said the Captain. "Now, that is a basis to work upon, and we know where we stand. You can take a little rest, and let the second mate find the island. But I can only give him three days in which to do it. We really have no time to spare." The second mate was very proud of the responsibility placed upon him, and immediately ordered the vessel to be steered due south. "One is just as likely," he said, "to find a totally unknown place by going straight ahead in a certain direction, as by sailing here, there, and everywhere. In this way, you really get over more water, and there is less wear and tear of the ship and rigging." So he sailed due south for two days, and at the end of that time they came in sight of land. This was quite a large island, and when they approached near enough, they saw upon its shores a very handsome city. "Is this Apple Island?" said Captain Covajos to the oldest boy. |