Alice and Beatrice


[Illustration:

  The Old Woman showing how Lace is made.—_Page 19._
]

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    _ALICE_

              _AND_

                _BEATRICE._




                             BY GRANDMAMMA.




                 _WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY JOHN ABSOLOM._






[Illustration]




                               NEW YORK:
                          E. P. DUTTON AND Co.
           GRIFFITH & FARRAN, ST. PAUL’S CHURCHYARD, LONDON.


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    (_The rights of translation and of reproduction are reserved._)




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[Illustration]




                               CONTENTS.


                                -------


                                                       PAGE

                               CHAPTER I.

            VISIT TO GRANDMAMMA—WALKS TO THE              7
              SEA-SHORE—BATHING IN THE SEA

                              CHAPTER II.

            EVENING WALK—STEAMER—LACEMAKING              15

                              CHAPTER III.

            A RAINY DAY—STORY OF PRETTY AND THE BEAR     21

                              CHAPTER IV.

            RUSSIA AND THE FROZEN SEA                    29

                               CHAPTER V.

            CELLAR—WALK TO THE SEA-SHORE—RAINBOW,        35
              ETC.

                              CHAPTER VI.

            BEES SWARMING—FABLE OF THE ANT AND           46
              GRASSHOPPER

                              CHAPTER VII.

            SAIL TO BRANSCOMBE—HORSES CARRYING COALS     59

                             CHAPTER VIII.

            WALK ON THE HILLSIDE—TAME AND WILD           73
              RABBITS—RETURN HOME

                              CHAPTER IX.

            THE CHILD BURNT—A NEGRO CHILD CURED BY       83
              COTTON-WOOL

                               CHAPTER X.

            A WINTER’S DRIVE IN RUSSIA                   94

                              CHAPTER XI.

            CIDER-MAKING                                102

                              CHAPTER XII.

            SQUIRRELS                                   113

                             CHAPTER XIII.

            THE SHIPWRECK—THE PARROT                    117

                              CHAPTER XIV.

            THE KITTEN                                  133

                              CHAPTER XV.

            INSTINCT OF ANIMALS                         139

                              CHAPTER XVI.

            LENGTH OF DAY IN RUSSIA AND FINLAND         147

                             CHAPTER XVII.

            PATIENCE AND PERSEVERANCE MAKE ALL          156
              THINGS EASY


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                               CHAPTER I.

     VISIT TO GRANDMAMMA—WALKS TO THE SEA-SHORE—BATHING IN THE SEA.


ALICE and Beatrice were two little girls of about four and six years of
age. They were staying with their grandmamma. Alice and Beatrice were
very glad to be with their grandmamma, for she lived in the country and
near the sea. They liked to see the green fields, full of pretty
flowers, and to play in the nice large garden, and to walk up and down
the high hills that were on all sides of the house, and also they liked
to go to the sea-shore and look on the wide sea.

Grandmamma loved Alice and Beatrice very much, and she liked to have
them with her, and she tried to make them good and happy. Every morning
they said their prayers to her, and every evening before they went to
bed; and they never forgot to thank God, who had taken care of them
during the night, and to beg God to bless and take care of them, and all
those they loved, that day and always. Little Beatrice could not say her
prayers quite so well as Alice, but she said them better and better
every day.

After breakfast grandmamma had to order the dinner, and whilst she went
to the kitchen to speak to the cook, she let the two little girls run up
and down the long verandah which was in front of the house, and which
led to the pretty garden.

Alice read to her grandmamma, learned by heart and said some verses from
her hymnbook, and little Beatrice always learned one verse every day.
Then Alice did some sums, and after she had shown them, and grandmamma
had found them all right, Alice wrote her copy. As soon as Alice began
to write, Beatrice brought her letters and tried to learn to know them.
Grandmamma told her when she knew them all she would give her a book
with large letters and words.

After the lessons were over, the little girls went out for a walk with
Mary.

Mary was a kind person and very fond of the two children, and they liked
Mary very much. Mary went with Alice and Beatrice down the sloping
walks, till they came to a gate, which they opened; they then went
across a little wooden bridge, and down a very steep path and some steps
that led to the sea-shore.

Alice and Beatrice liked to go to the sea-shore very much. Mary sat on
the sand and worked, whilst Alice and Beatrice played about. They had
each of them a pretty wooden basket and a little wooden spade, and they
dug in the sand on the sea-shore, and filled their baskets with sand or
stones. Sometimes they dug large holes for the sea to come in, and they
liked to see the waves come higher and higher, till the large holes were
full of water. Sometimes Alice and Beatrice dug a long ditch down the
sloping shore to the edge of the waves, and the water ran down it into
the sea, and they called it their river. When they were tired of
digging, they asked Mary if they might look for pretty stones, and
shells, and sea-weed.

There were plenty of pretty stones and sea-weed, and even shells, to be
found. Some of the shells were pretty and white and smooth, and the
children took great care of them, and took them home to play with. They
often found sea-weeds of all colours, red and yellow, green and brown,
and some sea-weeds were small and fine, like hair or moss; and
grandmamma helped them to dry them, and put them on paper. There was
another kind of sea-weed that was very long and heavy, and looked like
large black rushes. Mary told them not to take those home, for they were
not nice, and they could not be dried.

One day Alice found a pretty stone, or pebble, as it is called: it was
very clear, not quite so clear as glass; but when she held it towards
the sun, she could see through it.

‘I will take the pretty stone home, Mary,’ said Alice, ‘and give it dear
mamma.’

‘Perhaps,’ said Mary, ‘your mamma will have it cut and polished for a
brooch.’

‘Yes, I am sure she will,’ cried Alice; ‘I am so glad that I have found
it!’ and Alice put it into her pocket.

‘I will try and find a pretty stone too for mamma,’ said Beatrice, and
she ran along the sand, close to the waves: and just when Mary called
her to come away, a large wave came higher up than the others had done
before, and wetted little Beatrice’s shoes and socks.

Beatrice ran back to Mary, and she was a little frightened, and she
said, ‘Mary, I did not hear you call me till that big wave came up to my
feet, and I could not run away quick enough, and my feet are so wet.’

‘We must go home directly, Miss Beatrice,’ said Mary, ‘and make haste
and change your shoes and socks;’ and they went home.

Another day they went to the beach again, and their grandmamma went with
them. As they went through the pretty garden, they stopped to look at
the rose-trees that were beginning to bloom; and grandmamma gave Alice a
white rose and Beatrice a dark-red one. She cut off the thorns from the
stalks, and Beatrice asked her, ‘Why do you cut off those things,
grandmamma?’

‘Those things are called thorns, my dear child; they would prick your
fingers, for they are very sharp.’

The children looked at the thorns, and put their fingers to them, and
said, ‘They prick like needles.’ They thanked her for the roses, and
smelt them, for they were very sweet.

They went on to the gate, and then grandmamma opened it, and gave
Beatrice her hand across the narrow bridge, and down the steep path, and
the many steps.

Alice ran on alone, jumping along, and pulling some wild flowers that
grew in the grass on each side the path, and she came first to the
beach, and then ran back to meet her grandmamma and little sister.

When they came to the sea-shore, they saw that Mary was there waiting
for them with a large basket. They knew that the basket was full of
their bathing dresses; for their grandmamma liked them to bathe in the
sea whenever the weather was warm and the sun shone.

There was a tent at the foot of the cliff, for a steep cliff rose very
high a little way from the sea-shore on each side of the narrow valley
through which they had to come. In this tent the two little girls went
to undress and get ready for bathing. Mary helped them; and when they
had put on their bathing dresses, Mary did the same, and went into the
sea with them.

Alice ran into the water alone, and jumped over the little waves that
came rolling gently on to the shore. Beatrice took hold of Mary’s hand,
but she was not afraid, and she dipped her face and hands into the
waves, and she tried to jump about like Alice.

Then Beatrice asked Mary to let her float; and Mary held Beatrice’s
head, and the little girl lay quite stiff and quiet on the water, and
her feet and body floated, which she liked very much.

‘Please, Mary,’ said Alice, ‘let me try and float too.’ And Mary let
Beatrice stand by her side and floated Alice backwards and forwards.

‘When I am a little older,’ said Alice, ‘grandmamma says that I must
learn to swim.’

‘And I, too,’ said Beatrice.

After the children had jumped about a short time in the waves, and were
quite warm, their grandmamma said—

‘Come out now, you have been in the water long enough;’ and the little
girls came out and ran into the tent, where they were soon dried and
dressed, for their grandmamma helped them too, and they made haste to go
home, up the many steps and steep path, and were glad to have their
dinner, because they were hungry after their bath.




[Illustration]




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[Illustration]




                              CHAPTER II.

                    EVENING WALK—STEAMER—LACEMAKING.


THE weather had been very hot—so hot that the children had had no walk,
but had spent most of the day in the shade under the long verandah, and
in the afternoon they had played under a large tree in the garden. When
the evening came it was much cooler; and after the little girls had had
their tea, grandmamma told them that she would take them over the high
hill at the back of the house to visit a poor woman who had been ill.
Their grandmamma’s house was half-way up the hill—you could see the sea
through a narrow valley; and opposite the house on the other side of the
valley was another high hill, and behind that hill was the town.

Grandmamma walked slowly up the hill, up a zig-zag path, and rested on a
bench half-way up, for it was a very steep hill. The little girls were
not tired, and they ran on before and waited for their grandmamma at
each turn of the path. They went higher and higher, till at last Alice
called out—

‘How much I can see now, grandmamma! I can see all the town, the houses,
and the church!’

‘I can see two churches,’ said Beatrice; ‘and what a lot of ships!’

‘Please, grandmamma,’ said Alice, ‘come up higher. Pray, dear
grandmamma, make haste, there is a great smoke on the sea; it comes from
a ship. Is the ship on fire?’ she asked a little anxiously.

Their grandmamma was soon by the children’s side.

‘That is a steamer or steamship, dear Alice; it has a fire in it that
causes the smoke, but it is not on fire, and you can see that the smoke
comes out of a tall black chimney. You have seen the train come and go
often, and you know how much smoke it makes.’

‘Yes, I know; but the smoke from the train is not black like that, and
why is that?’

‘You are right, dear child, it is not black; but that is because they
burn a different kind of coal, called coke, in trains. Trains and
steamers are made to move by the same means, which is by steam. Some
clever man made steam turn wheels and raise heavy beams up and down, and
thus it is that ships and trains are made to move. Steam is made to
grind corn, and to make biscuits, and to saw wood, and steam helps to
make nearly everything we wear.’

‘Oh! grandmamma, how wonderful! I do not understand how steam can do all
that. The man must have been very clever to have thought of this. Do you
know his name?’

‘James Watt was his name; he made the first good and useful
steam-engine, I believe, about seventy years ago; but he was not the
first man who had found out that steam could be made useful, or who made
the first engine.’

When they came to the top of the hill they saw several cows feeding on
the grass.

‘Will these cows hurt us?’ asked Alice.

‘No, my dear, they will not, unless you tease them.’

‘But why do people run away when they see cows?’

‘It is very foolish of any one to run away. When a poor cow or ox has
been treated ill by naughty boys or cruel men, and frightened and made
angry, it runs about; sometimes people have been tossed and hurt. But if
you will treat a cow kindly, I am sure that it will never hurt you.’

The little girls walked through the green meadow when the cows were
feeding, and the cows did them no harm. They soon came to a nice little
cottage, with a few trees close by, and a little garden.

Their grandmamma spoke to an old woman who was sitting outside the
cottage door, and said to her that she was glad to see her up and
looking better; and the old woman replied that the warm weather had done
her a great deal of good, and that she was very glad to see her and the
little children.

Whilst their grandmamma was talking to the old woman, Alice and Beatrice
looked about them, and examined with wonder a cushion that the old woman
had had on her lap when they came.

They then played with a little kitten that was in the garden till their
grandmamma had finished talking. Then Alice asked, ‘What is this cushion
for, with all those little sticks hanging down on each side of it, and
what was the old woman doing with them?’

‘Mrs. Miller is making lace, dear Alice, and these sticks are called
bobbins, and there is some very fine thread which she braids and twists
together into a pretty pattern.’

The kind old woman came and took her cushion, and sitting down, began to
show Alice and Beatrice how she twisted the little bobbins backwards and
forwards, and threw them from one side the cushion to the other. She did
this at first very slowly, that the little girls might see it more
easily; but when they had looked enough, she threw her bobbins backwards
and forwards so quickly that the children were quite surprised. Mrs.
Miller then told them that all the little girls in the village begin to
learn to make lace when they are seven or eight years old, and learn
soon to make it nicely.

‘How very pretty it is!’ said Alice. ‘I should like to learn to make
lace. May I, grandmamma, when I am older?’

‘Yes, you may, if you wish it; but you must first learn to sew neatly,
for that is more useful than making lace.’

‘But why do all the little girls here learn to make lace, grandmamma?’

‘Because they can help to earn money for their father and mother. Among
the poor people in the village, very young children begin to help to
earn their own bread.’

Before the little girls went home, they ran about on the green meadow,
and gathered a handful of yellow cowslips and other wild flowers; but
when the sun went behind the opposite hill, and the clouds above the sun
were red and bright like gold, and the sea looked nearly the same colour
as the clouds, grandmamma said—

‘We will go back now, for it is time for my little girls to go to bed.’

Then they all returned down the zig-zag path, and were soon home again,
and Alice and Beatrice went to bed, after telling Mary first of all that
they had seen.


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[Illustration]




                              CHAPTER III.

               A RAINY DAY—STORY OF PRETTY AND THE BEAR.


‘WHAT a rainy day!’ said Alice, one morning, when Mary came to call
them, and to help them to dress. ‘We cannot go out at all to-day.’

‘What a pity!’ said her little sister. ‘I am so sorry.’

‘What shall we do all day, if we cannot go out?’ said Alice.

‘The rain will make all your flowers grow, miss,’ said Mary, ‘and make
the weather a little cooler.’

‘But I want to go out and dig in the sand,’ said Alice.

‘And so do I,’ said Beatrice.

Mary took no further notice of the children’s words; but when they were
at breakfast, Alice said, ‘Grandmamma, is it not very tiresome that the
rain is come to-day? We cannot go out. I wish that it would never rain.’

‘Nasty rain,’ said Beatrice; ‘I can’t bear the rain!’

‘You must not say that the rain is nasty, for it does a great deal of
good, dear children. God sends us the rain when we want it, and we thank
God for it.’

‘Why do you thank God, grandmamma,’ asked Alice, ‘for the rain? What
good can the rain do?’

‘It makes the grass grow; and horses, cows, and sheep, and all other
animals that eat grass, live upon it; and the rain makes the corn grow,
and from corn we make our bread; and what would you or I do, or any one
else, if the corn did not grow and we had no bread? The rain makes the
trees and the flowers grow, and all the fruit too, and my little girls
would be sorry if there were no fruit.’

‘Yes, indeed, grandmamma,’ cried both children.

‘But I thought,’ said Alice, ‘that the sun made the fruit ripe.’

‘Yes, so it does; but the sun alone could not make the plants grow, and
the rain alone could not make the flowers open their leaves, or the
fruit or the corn get ripe. We want both sun and rain, and we must thank
God that He gives us enough of each to do good on earth.’

After the two little girls had finished their little lessons, and done
all that their grandmamma wished them to do, she said to them—

‘As you have both been good this morning, and because it rains, I will
tell you a story of my two dogs, when I lived in Russia.

‘It was a hot summer’s day, a long time ago, when my little dog Pretty
came to me yelling and barking. I was busy writing in a little
sitting-room that opened into my bedroom, and my rooms in Russia were
all downstairs, as there was but one floor.

‘When I looked at Pretty, I saw that the dog was trembling all over, and
every hair was standing up, for he was so frightened; and he whined and
ran about, and howled and barked in great distress; and at last he ran
into my bedroom, and crept under the bed, and there he lay trembling and
whining.

‘All the doors stand open in a house in Russia; so I went into the hall
and then out of the open front door, and I soon saw what was the cause
of Pretty’s fear. There was a great brown bear; and though little Pretty
had never seen a bear before, yet his terror was so great.

‘The bear had a leathern strap round his mouth, a small iron chain was
fixed to the strap; and when I looked nearer, I saw that a hole had been
made in the bear’s upper lip, and a ring was put through the hole, and
the chain was fastened to the ring as well as to the leathern strap.

‘A Russian peasant was with the bear, and he wore blue striped linen
trousers, and his trousers were tucked into his boots, but he had
neither stockings nor socks. He had a red and white checked shirt, which
hung loose over his trousers, and funny pieces of blue linen sewed into
the sleeves of his shirt. He had a fur cap on his head, and in his hand
he carried a long stout pole.

‘The Russian peasant called to the bear to get up, for the bear seemed
tired, and had laid down to rest himself. The bear growled, but did not
move at first, though his master shook the chain and pulled him by it;
at last the man gave him a sharp blow with a whip he had, and told him
to begin dancing.

‘The poor tired bear stood up on his hind legs, and took the pole from
the man’s hand, and began to jump over it, but in a very clumsy manner.
The man kept calling to him in a sing-song manner, pulling often with
the chain, and giving him a smart cut with his whip: and the bear jumped
backwards and forwards over the pole, or, as the man called it,
_danced_, and grumbled and growled, for he seemed very cross and angry
that he was obliged to do all this when he was so very hot and tired. I
looked about to see where my good old dog Lion was all this time. Lion
was a splendid dog, something like an English mastiff, and something
like a lioness, and therefore I had named him “Lion.” He went out daily
with the herd of cattle into the fields and woods, and saved many of
them from being killed by the wolves. He was a brave dog, and I was very
fond of him.

‘And where do you think I found Lion now?—not running away and hiding
himself, like Pretty, in “the lady’s chamber,” but trying to make the
bear afraid of him.

‘For Lion walked slowly up close to the bear, then went round him twice,
looking at him well all the time, as if to say, “I am not in the least
afraid of you, Mr. Bear,” and then Lion lay down on the grass in the
shade, a little way off, but so that he should see him still, and went
to sleep, or pretended to do so. I dare say that the bear thought he had
better not go near such a brave dog, though he would have liked to give
Lion a good hug, and eat him up.

‘At last the Russian peasant seemed as hot and as tired as the bear, and
he asked for something to eat, and some spirits to drink. So I told a
servant to bring the man some black bread and some beer and a little
spirits, and I ordered some honey and some bread for the bear.’

‘Why did you give the poor man _black_ bread, grandmamma?’ asked Alice.

‘In Russia, the servants and common people all eat black bread; the
white bread which we eat here is only made for the rich people to eat!’

‘But why is that, grandmamma?’

‘It is because wheat, of which our white bread is made, does not grow
nearly so well as rye in Russia and other cold countries: and rye makes
black bread. It is not so good as wheat bread; but some people like it,
and even prefer it.’

‘Please, Alice, let grandmamma tell us the story of Lion and the Bear,’
said Beatrice.

‘Well, my dear children, you would have been glad to see how the bear
liked the bread dipped in honey, and how he drank the spirits and the
beer; but the man did not give him much of either. Afterwards I gave the
man some money, and the poor tired bear walked after his master, as well
as he could, on his four feet. As soon as the bear was gone, out came
Pretty from my bedroom, and began to bark very furiously, as if he had
been a brave dog, and driven the bear away.’

‘Thank you, dear grandmamma,’ said both the little girls. ‘We like that
story so much, pray tell us some more about your brave dog Lion, and
about silly little Pretty, another day.’

‘But Pretty was not always silly, although he was afraid of a big bear.
He was a knowing little dog, and so fond of us.’

‘I should have been afraid, I think,’ said Alice. ‘I should not like a
bear to come to this house.’

‘There are no bears here, are there, grandmamma?’ asked little Beatrice.

‘And no horrid wolves?’ added Alice.

‘No, dear children, none, I am glad to say. When you read more in your
history of England, you will read when the last wolves were killed in
England: a very long time ago there used to be plenty of wolves here.’

The two little girls looked afraid; but they were very glad when
grandmamma said—

‘That was a very, very long time ago.’


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[Illustration]




                              CHAPTER IV.

                       RUSSIA AND THE FROZEN SEA.


‘NOW, Alice, bring your atlas, and I will show you on the map where
Russia lies.’

Alice brought her book of maps, and soon found the maps of Europe and
Asia; and grandmamma showed her where the large country lay, and pointed
out to her that the greatest part of Russia was in Asia, and reached
across the whole of northern Asia.

‘Oh, how big it is!’ cried Alice; ‘it is much bigger than all the other
countries together. Look at little England, Beatrice,—this little island
is England, where we live; does it not look tiny? And now look at big
Russia. Look, all that yellow is Russia!’ and Alice put her finger on
the line that divided Russia from all the other countries, and showed
her little sister how large it was.

‘Do you see, Alice,’ said grandmamma, ‘how far Russia extends? Even that
smaller part that is in Europe reaches up to the Arctic or Frozen Ocean,
and down to the Black Sea on the south; do you see, Alice?’

‘Why is that sea called the Frozen Ocean?’

‘Because it is frozen for many months in the year, and the greater part
of it is always frozen.’

‘Can the sea really freeze, grandmamma?’ asked both the little girls.
‘How can the waves freeze, and be made quiet?’

‘The sea that lies on the north of Russia freezes every winter, but our
sea here does not freeze; it is too warm.’

‘But how can it freeze, grandmamma? I cannot understand how it can,’
said the little girl.

‘It is difficult to make it clear to you, Alice; but I will try and
explain it. First, from the great cold, little pieces of ice are formed;
these pieces float about, for ice is lighter than water, and are tossed
up and down by the restless waves; and they grow in size, and become
bigger and bigger, till some join and stick together, and go on getting
larger, till by degrees they cover the surface of the water. These
pieces or masses of ice are pushed towards the shore, and there the ice
first begins to make a firm covering over the sea.

‘But the ice on the sea is never smooth or even, like the ice on a pond
or on a river; it is rough, and large pieces are heaped together, and
large cracks are often made in the ice by the wind and the waves moving
it, which makes it dangerous to drive or even walk a long distance over
the Frozen Sea.’

‘Can people drive over the sea? But if it is frozen hard, why is it
dangerous?’

‘Yes, dear Alice, people can and do drive on the Frozen Sea, and I have
driven short distances myself on it, and I have known many people cross
this gulf,’ showing Alice the Gulf of Finland. ‘You know, dear, what a
gulf is?’

‘Yes,’ said Alice; ‘it is an arm of the sea that runs into the land.’

‘The peasants, or poor country people, used to drive across this gulf,
as soon as the ice was tolerably firm and safe. They drove in small
sledges drawn by little horses, and took over corn and other things to
sell to the inhabitants of rocky Finland, where very little corn grows.
But the getting across the large crevices or cracks was both difficult
and dangerous. The people for that purpose take long boards with them on
their sledges, and laying them across these open places, they drag their
sledges over, walking over the planks themselves, and making their
horses swim through the water; but their horses have often been lost in
these large cracks, for though the horses can always swim, they cannot
always get out of them, as the ice at the edges is brittle, and breaks
under their efforts to scramble up.

‘I remember how some men, belonging to one of our villages, were lost in
a snow-storm out at sea, and their bodies were not found till the
summer, on a small, uninhabited island where they had taken refuge
during the storm, lying on their faces. I believe that they had first
lost their horses.’

‘How did they die, poor men? Were they starved or frozen to death on
that desert island?’

‘I believe that they were frozen to death, and had gone to sleep from
the cold, and never awoke.’

‘How very sad!’ said both the little girls.

‘But did you like Russia, grandmamma,’ asked Alice; ‘so cold and
horrible, with wolves and bears?’

‘The winter in Russia is very long, and where I lived it sometimes
lasted half the year, and we saw no grass all that time.’

‘How did you like to live in Russia, then?’

‘I had kind friends there; but though I liked some people very much, I
did not like the country or the climate. In truth, dear children, there
is no country in the whole world like our dear England; no country where
people love God and pray to God so much as in England; and no country
where everybody tries to do so much good as in England.’

‘Now, Alice, look for the two great capital cities of Russia. The old
capital is called Moscow, and the new one is called St. Petersburg.’

Alice looked carefully at her map, and when grandmamma had told her that
St. Petersburg lies high up in the north and Moscow much lower to the
east, Alice found both places.

‘Please show me, grandmamma, where you lived.’

‘Here,’ said grandmamma, ‘on the shores of the Gulf of Finland, where
the sea freezes in winter.’


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[Illustration]




                               CHAPTER V.

               CELLAR—WALK TO THE SEA-SHORE—RAINBOW, ETC.


THE next morning it rained again, and the little girls could not go out;
but they were not unhappy, because they knew that grandmamma would tell
them some stories, or give them something to amuse them.

After their lessons, grandmamma said, ‘Alice and Beatrice, I am going
down into the cellar, will you come with me?’

‘Yes, please, please,’ cried both the little girls; ‘we shall like to
come with you so much; we have never seen the cellar.’

‘Is it quite dark, grandmamma?’ asked Beatrice.

‘Yes, to be sure,’ said Alice; ‘but Mary has a candle, and will show us
light.’

Mary walked on in front, and went slowly down a long, dark, narrow
staircase. Alice ran after her, and Beatrice, holding grandmamma’s hand,
followed carefully.

The little girls looked about in wonder; they did not know what a large
place the cellar was. There were several rooms, all called cellars,
which Mary showed them. First, to the right hand, without a door, was a
very large and black-looking place, and when Mary lighted it up, the
children saw that it was full of coals.

‘That is our coal cellar, miss,’ said Mary; ‘and this,’ opening a door,
‘is for the beer and cider.’

The children looked in, and saw several tubs of beer and cider placed
side by side. Then grandmamma unlocked another door, and that was the
wine cellar. They all went in; it was much cleaner and drier than the
other cellars, and all the bottles were arranged neatly: and just when
the children were going to ask some questions, grandmamma remembered
that Mary had forgotten to bring down a bottle of wine to exchange for
another bottle; so Mary went back with the candle, and Alice and
Beatrice were left in the dark cellar with their grandmamma.

At first the two children were quite silent, till Beatrice, who held
grandmamma’s hand, said, ‘Grandmamma, can God see us everywhere?’

‘Yes, Beatrice; everywhere and always.’

‘Can God see us in this dark cellar?’

‘Yes, dear children. God sees in the dark as in the light; by night and
by day: God sees everybody and everything. In the Psalms[1] you will
read, “He who planted the ear, shall he not hear? or he who made the
eye, shall he not see?” which means that God who made our ears must be
able to hear everything, and God who made our eyes surely can see
everything.’

Footnote 1:

  Psa. xciv. 9.

Little Beatrice thought a little while, and then she said, ‘But God
cannot tell mamma when I am naughty, can He?’

‘No, my dear little girl; but you must fear God more than you fear
mamma. You can never be naughty without God’s knowing it; and are you
not afraid of God’s being angry with you?’

‘Mamma says that God is very good and very great,’ said Alice, ‘and that
He takes care of us always, and of the whole world; and will God be
angry with such a little girl as Beatrice?’

‘If Beatrice did not know that it was wrong to be naughty, God would not
be angry with her; but Beatrice knows quite well when she is good and
when she is naughty.’

Little Beatrice pressed grandmamma’s hand, and as grandmamma thought she
heard her sob, she took her up in her arms, and Beatrice whispered, as
soon as her tears let her, that she would try and be very good.

‘You must think more about being good, both of you, when you say your
prayers, and when you ask God to help you to be good children.’

Mary now came back with the candle, and grandmamma soon finished all
that she wished to do, and then they all went upstairs again; and it
seemed so light and bright when they were upstairs, that they could
scarcely see, and the sun was shining, and the rain had ceased. The
black clouds had gone away far over the hills, and the blue sky was
there again.

Alice and Beatrice clapped their hands, and were like the sunshine, gay
and bright; all their black clouds had gone away too. They put on their
hats and jackets to run down the steep path to the sea for their usual
bath; but before they went, grandmamma told them to be careful, for it
would be very slippery after the rain.

Alice and Beatrice walked slowly down to the sea-shore with Mary. When
they crossed the wooden bridge they were surprised to see how much water
was in the little brook. They stopped to look at it, for it was very
pretty: there was quite a waterfall just above the bridge, and the water
splashed and made a loud noise in falling. The grass looked more green,
and the flowers smelt more sweet, and Alice said, ‘Mary, I think that
grandmamma is quite right: the rain does a great deal of good. The grass
looks much greener, and the flowers look much prettier, and the little
brook does not murmur now, but it rushes and roars like the river Sid by
the mill. I know some pretty verses about “How welcome is the rain!” but
I never thought before how nice the rain was.’

‘When it is over, Alice; but not while it rains and you cannot go out,’
said Beatrice.

‘But grandmamma tells us nice stories, or shows us something. I do not
think that I mind the rain now,’ said Alice.

‘Oh! Mary, what is that over the sea?’ cried Alice. ‘How beautiful it
is! Look, Beatrice, blue and red and yellow—I cannot count the colours.’

‘It is a rainbow, Miss Alice,’ said Mary.

‘But what is a rainbow, and how does it come there?’

‘You must ask your grandmamma when you go home. I only know that it
comes when the rain is over.’

The sea had been very rough early in the morning. A sailor told the
children that it was then much too rough for them to bathe; but the rain
had come and made the sea smoother, and Alice said, ‘The rain has done
good again.’

The waves, or breakers, as they are called, when they came up on the
shore, were still too rough for the little girls to move about alone in
the water, so Mary let them sit near the edge and held them firmly; and
the white waves dashed over their heads and the froth covered them, and
they liked it very much.

[Illustration:

  Fishermen pushing their Boat off to Sea.—_Page 43._
]

They saw two fishermen afterwards putting a boat into the sea, and they
begged Mary to let them stay and see it go off. Several times the men
pushed the boat off the shore, and each time a big wave came and lifted
it up and threw it back again. Then two other men came to help them, and
pushed the boat with great force from the shore far into the water; and
the boat rocked up and down so much among the great waves, that the two
children were frightened, and Alice began to cry. But Mary told them not
to be afraid, for the men were quite safe, as the sea was much smoother
as soon as the boat had passed the breakers and was farther off the
shore.

When Alice and Beatrice were at home they told grandmamma all that they
had seen, and how high the waves were, and that there was so much white
froth on the shore.

Then Alice asked grandmamma to tell them about the rainbow that they had
seen. ‘It was so beautiful, grandmamma!’

‘I cannot explain to you the reason why the rainbow appears, but I know
that it is caused or made by the sun being _reflected_ on the moist air.
You know, Alice, what “reflected” means; it is as when the light of the
candle is seen again, or reflected in the looking-glass: and the sun
shining on the moist air reflects those bright colours on a cloud. When
you are older you will learn all about it, and why it is always in the
shape of an arch or bow. Every one loves to see a rainbow, because it
reminds us of the promise God made to Noah, and all people, after the
flood, that He would no more destroy all flesh, which means, every
living creature.’

‘I remember all about it, grandmamma,’ said Alice; ‘I have read it in my
Bible stories. May I read it to Beatrice?’ and Alice fetched her book
and read about the flood and the rainbow to Beatrice; and afterwards
grandmamma read to them from the Bible as follows (Gen. ix. 13-15): ‘I
do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant
between me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a
cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: and I
will remember my covenant between me and you and every living creature
of all flesh: and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all
flesh.’

‘So you see, dear children, that God has made a covenant, which means an
agreement or promise, never to destroy the earth again by a flood, and
the rainbow is a sign of His promise, and reminds us of it.’

‘I am very glad to know about the rainbow, and I will think of God’s
promise when I see one again.’


[Illustration]


------------------------------------------------------------------------


[Illustration]




                              CHAPTER VI.

            BEES SWARMING—FABLE OF THE ANT AND GRASSHOPPER.


IT was just after the children’s dinner, one very hot day towards the
end of May, that the gardener came to the verandah where the two little
girls were sitting with their grandmamma, and said—

‘Please, ma’am, the bees are swarming.’

‘Swarming, grandmamma,’ said Alice and Beatrice, ‘what is that? May we
come and see?’

Grandmamma gave leave, and they ran and put on their hats and followed
their grandmamma into the garden, to that part where the bee-house was.
When they came there, the gardener showed them a large black lump, that
looked like a great bag, hanging from a rose-tree, and the rose-tree was
bent down by the weight of it.

Grandmamma explained to the children that the black lump or mass was all
bees; that there had been too many bees in the hive, so that there was
not room enough for all of them to work, and that the hive was too hot
in this very hot weather, and the queen bee wished to seek another home
for herself, and had flown out accompanied by the older bees, leaving
all the young ones and a young queen in the old hive with its store of
honey.

When the queen bee had settled on this rose-tree, all the other bees
that were flying about in the air had come to her, and collected round
her, hanging one over another. Grandmamma told the children, too, that
every bee had provided itself with a quantity of honey, in case they
should not find a shelter that night, and were not able to provide
themselves with food the next day; each bee carried a little bag of
honey.

The children were very much interested in hearing this, and were not
afraid, because grandmamma told them that the bees rarely sting people
when they are swarming; so they went nearer, and liked to see the
gardener take a board and place it on a flower-pot just under the
rose-tree; then he took a hive and turned it up and held it under the
swarm of bees, and he shook the rose-tree very sharply twice, and the
lump of bees fell off into the hive, or at least the greater part of it:
and the gardener turned the hive down with all the bees that were in it
on to the board. A number of bees that had not fallen into the hive,
began to buzz and fly about; but the gardener said—

‘If the queen bee is inside, and I think she is, the others will soon go
to her.’

And he raised the hive a little on one side by putting a pebble under
it, and thus made room enough for the bees to enter the hive.

Alice and Beatrice, seeing so many bees still flying about, thought that
they were all coming out again; but the bees knew better; their queen
was in the hive, and content with her new house, and all the bees went
in by degrees, and soon but very few were seen flying about the hive.

The gardener said that he would leave the hive where it was till the
evening, when he would move it into its proper place.

Whilst the gardener was thus busied, Beatrice cried out, ‘Look! look!
what are those bees doing? Oh, grandmamma, do look at them!’

Grandmamma turned to look, and so did Alice, and they saw some bees
pouring out of another hive, as if they were blown out of it, or shot
from a gun. Out and out they came quicker and quicker, pouring thicker
and thicker; and then they rose in the air, and spread about, and
whirled round and round, flying higher and higher, and it seemed as if
the whole air was filled with bees, and they made quite a noise when
they flew, humming so loud. Grandmamma told the two children that this
was a swarm from another hive, and added, ‘Now we must try and watch
where they will settle, and we must follow them. I hope that they will
not fly away, else we shall lose them.’

Alice and Beatrice looked on in great astonishment, and then followed
their grandmamma, who would not call the gardener or ask him to follow
this swarm, as he was still busy with the other.

‘Are you not afraid, grandmamma, that these bees will fly away, they fly
so high and so far?’

‘No, dear; I think that they will settle soon, as they begin to fly
lower and more together.’ And as she spoke, the cloud of bees came lower
and lower, and soon a black mass was seen on an apple tree, just between
two branches. The black mass grew larger and larger, till at last the
number of flying bees became less, and they grew quiet. They covered the
branch all round, and it looked as if something black had been put round
the branch.

‘How will John get those bees? He cannot reach them, they are so high
up.’

‘John will bring a ladder, and some one must hold the board and the hive
for him.’

Alice ran to call the gardener, and told him of the second swarm.

John said, ‘That is your luck to-day, miss; two swarms on one day are
very lucky. The weather is hot, and our hives are so full of brood, and
so heavy, that I dare say they are glad enough to get rid of some of
their numbers and go into a new hive.’

‘But have you another hive and a board ready, John?’ asked Alice.

‘Yes, miss, to be sure I have. I made ten new hives this winter, when I
had nothing else to do, and I got the carpenter to cut me a dozen
boards; so we have plenty for all the swarms that may come. Perhaps,
miss, your grandmamma will like me to take the new Scotch hive which
came last week, so I will bring that and a straw one, and ask her which
is to be used.’

Alice went with John: and Alice carried the straw hive, and John carried
the Scotch hive, which was an octagon, or eight-sided, wooden one,
painted red, with glass windows and shutters; and he took two boards as
well, and they both hastened to the kitchen garden, where the new swarm
of bees had settled.

‘What luck the little ladies have, ma’am!’ said the gardener. ‘You
promised them the second swarm; and what a fine one it is, much bigger
than the one I have just hived!’

‘Yes, this is the children’s swarm, and I am glad that it is such a
large one. But how will you take it, John? it is in such an awkward
place.’

‘With the ladder, quite easy, ma’am; but,’ added John, looking up at it,
‘I can’t shake them off the branch, and shall have to take them as I
can.’

John ran to fetch the ladder, which was close by against the wall, where
he had been pruning some fruit trees.

The little girls were very impatient, and watched the gardener mount the
ladder; then their grandmamma handed him the Scotch hive; and to their
great astonishment, John said—

‘I must sweep these bees into the hive.’

The gardener fixed the wooden hive between the ladder and his own knee,
and then with one rapid sweep with his hands, he threw the whole lump of
bees into the hive, and turned the hive down on the board.

A great number of the bees flew off and rose again high up into the air,
but John said—

‘Don’t be afraid, ma’am, they never sting when they are swarming.’

Alice and Beatrice began crying out, for the bees were flying all about
their grandmamma; but John was soon down from the ladder, and taking the
board with the hive upon it very gently, he placed them carefully on a
garden bench close by, and raising one side of the hive a little, as he
had done with the first swarm, he left the bees, and they all stood at a
little distance and watched them.

The bees still rose in great numbers high into the air, and whirled
about in great confusion, and John began to fear that the queen bee was
not in the hive; but by degrees they began to cluster round the hive and
cover it. For it seemed that one or two had found out that the queen was
safely housed in the strange-looking box, and had told the news to the
others, for they came lower, flying closer and closer, and crept all
over it until they had found the entrance, and before a quarter of an
hour had passed, there was scarcely a bee to be seen out of the hive.

‘You can leave them safely now, I think, John, till the evening, and
then I shall like these two swarms to be placed in the new bee-house.
And now you know, dear Alice and Beatrice, that the Ayrshire hive is
yours, and all the honey the bees make will be yours too.’

The little girls were much pleased, and thanked their grandmamma well.
Afterwards they returned slowly through the hot garden to the verandah,
and they were very glad of its cool shade.

Their grandmamma told them a great deal about bees: that this immense
family, of often twenty thousand bees, was obedient to one single bee, a
queen bee, who was their mother and their queen, for whom they worked
and gathered stores of honey, and whom they protected from all harm.
Grandmamma told them how busy and industrious the bees were, how early
they were up in the summer, and how many times they flew out and
returned ladened with honey or with pollen which they take from the
flowers, what distances they fly in search of flowers, and it has been
proved that they will fly even several miles to gather honey.

She described to the children how carefully they laid up a store for the
winter; and said that it was cruel of people to kill the bees to get the
honey, instead of being content to take only what the bees can spare,
which is often a great deal.

‘I never kill my bees, you know, and I have plenty of honey—indeed, much
more than I want.’

‘I can say, “How doth the little busy bee!”’ said Beatrice, and her
grandmamma let her repeat the whole of the little hymn, which Beatrice
did very nicely, and grandmamma said, ‘You will soon see through the
little windows of your new hive “how skilfully she builds her cells.” I
will let you read about the cells in a nice book called “Homes without
Hands.”

‘There is another insect,’ grandmamma went on, ‘which is very
industrious, and lays up a large store of food for the winter, and that
is the ant. There is a very pretty fable in French about the ant and the
grasshopper, which, when you are older, I should like you to learn.’

‘But will you tell us about it, grandmamma?’ asked Alice.

‘Well then, my Alice, I will try, but I cannot tell it in the pretty and
clever way it is told in French. It was thus: One cold stormy October, a
grasshopper, who had skipped and chirped in the sun all through the
summer time, came to an ant, and said, “Good Mrs. Ant, you have such a
large store of corn and seed in your hill, will you spare me a little,
for I am very hungry?”’

‘Now, though the ant was very industrious I am afraid that she was not
very charitable, or perhaps she thought it was useless to feed lazy
people who will not work; so she answered and said, “Pray, Mrs.
Grasshopper, what did you do all the summer, while I was working hard,
and laying in a store to keep my children through the winter?”’

‘“Oh, in summer I sang and chirped all the day long,” replied the
grasshopper.

‘“Then I advise you,” said the ant, “to dance now;” and the ant went
into her house in her hill, and left the grasshopper to die.

‘You know, both of you, what an ant-hill is, do not you?’

‘Yes, grandmamma, I remember those little mounds, which I wanted to kick
to pieces to make the ants run about, and you would not let me, and told
me that it was cruel. Now I understand that those ant-hills are the
ants’ houses, where they live and lay up their food for the winter.’

‘You are quite right. Here in England the ant-hills are small, but in
other countries they are as high as you are. When I first saw them in
Russia, I could not believe that they were ant-hills; and the ants are
very little larger than those here, and yet they can collect such
quantities of earth and leaves, and can raise up such pyramids for their
houses.’

‘The ants are not so good as the bees; they do not make anything for us,
like those nice busy bees,’ said Alice. ‘I do not like them; and,
besides, the ant was very cross to the poor grasshopper.’

‘The ant was certainly very uncharitable; but all animals act only in
accordance with God’s laws. This is a fable to show the difference
between industrious and idle people. God has taught all creatures who
are to live through the winter, to labour and lay up stores; but the
grasshopper and butterflies who flutter in the sunshine, and many other
insects, by God’s will are made to live only for a short time, and
therefore do not need to store food like the ant and the bee.

‘The industrious ant serves in the fable to show us that we ought all to
work, and you know from the Bible, that God has ordained that man should
earn his bread in the sweat of his brow, which means by _working_. The
poor man works, or ought to work, with his hands, the gentleman, or the
educated man, with his head; but work is ordered for all—for the queen
in her palace, and for little children at school.’


[Illustration]


------------------------------------------------------------------------


[Illustration]




                              CHAPTER VII.

               SAIL TO BRANSCOMBE—HORSES CARRYING COALS.


‘ALICE and Beatrice,’ said grandmamma one morning, ‘make haste and eat a
good breakfast, for we are going to spend the day at Branscombe.’

‘Branscombe! Oh, how nice, grandmamma! But how are we going? Are we
going to walk?’

‘No, dear children, we are going in a boat. The weather is so fine
to-day, and there is so little wind, and John Bartlett tells me he
thinks that it will remain fine; and therefore we will go in his boat to
Branscombe, and see the beautiful rocks there.’

Alice and Beatrice made haste; they were very much pleased to go in a
boat, for they had never been before on the sea. The little girls would
have eaten no breakfast, unless grandmamma had told them that the sea
air would make them very hungry, and that they must try and eat their
breakfast properly. They were told that they were to have their dinner
at Branscombe, which pleased them much.

The cook had provided a nice dinner, and had packed it into a basket;
and the gardener carried it down the steep path and steps to the
sea-shore.

At last grandmamma said, ‘Now you have been very good children; run
upstairs, and ask Mary to dress you.’

Alice and Beatrice ran upstairs; and whilst Mary was taking out their
hats and jackets, they both sat down on the carpet and pulled off their
shoes, and put on their thick boots, and stood very quiet when Mary
buttoned their little white jackets and tied on their hats.

‘I will put your cloaks with your grandmamma’s,’ said Mary, ‘because it
will be cold when you come back.’

‘Cold!’ cried Alice, ‘this hot day. Oh, Mary, we cannot want our
cloaks!’

‘On the sea it is often cold, Miss Alice; and it may be late when you
return,’ added Mary.

The three cloaks were put together, and the children were glad to see
that Mary was to come with them in the boat.

When they came to the shore, there was John Bartlett waiting for them,
and a very nice large boat, half on the sand and half in the water, and
there was another sailor there, and a little boy.

Little Beatrice said, ‘Grandmamma, that is Jack; I know Jack, he brings
us nice shrimps for our tea; don’t you Jack?’ and the boy smiled. ‘I am
so glad that Jack is going with us.’

The sea was very smooth, and the tide was neither high nor low, and
there were no waves.

The children were lifted into the boat, after grandmamma and Mary had
walked along a sloping plank into it, and had seated themselves at the
end, where there were cushions, and Alice and Beatrice sat on the
cushions on each side of their grandmamma.

Bartlett and the little boy jumped into the boat; and the other man
first pushed the boat deeper into the sea, going into the water himself,
and then climbed into the boat; and Bartlett and his boy, each with an
oar, rowed a little till they were away from the shore, and the boat
tossed up and down, and Alice and Beatrice came close to grandmamma and
looked afraid.

Grandmamma then took Beatrice on her lap, and said—

‘A boat always rocks up and down at first; as soon as the sails are up,
it will be much quieter.’

So they did not cry; but Beatrice said, ‘I should like to go back best.’

‘May we go back?’ asked Alice.

‘No, dear children, you must wait a little, and then I think that you
will like the boat very much. Look at little Jack Bartlett, how he helps
his father to unroll the sail and to pull the ropes.’

The children looked, and saw the sailor and his boy unroll a large piece
of cloth; they knew that it was a sail, and they saw the men pull it up
a high pole, which Alice told her sister was called a mast. The sail was
red, and had a little hole in it. The wind blew upon the sail and made
it straight; then the two men put up another sail, and little Jack came
to sit near grandmamma, at her end of the boat.

There was so much to look at, that the children soon forgot their fear,
and Alice asked—

‘What is Jack doing at our end of the boat?’

‘He is steering, miss,’ said Bartlett.

‘But what is steering?’

‘Steering means guiding the boat; and this is done by a piece of wood at
the end, which Jack moves backwards and forwards in the water, and this
makes the boat go to the right or to the left, as his father tells him.’

‘How funny that is! How can a bit of wood make a boat go one way or
another?’ said Alice.

‘I cannot explain it to you now, dear Alice; but when you are older I
will show you how it moves, and what it does. This piece of wood is
called the rudder;’ and Alice watched the rudder some little time.

‘Why is there a hole in the sail, Jack?’ asked little Beatrice. ‘Is the
sail old?’

‘No, little miss,’ said Bartlett, ‘it is quite a new sail; but a lady
let her dog make that hole only last week.’

‘Why did she let her dog make that hole and spoil your new sail?’ asked
Alice.

‘The lady was playing with her dog, as she sat on the beach, and threw
stones for him to fetch; and at last she threw a stone on to the sail,
that was lying next my boat, and the dog jumped upon the sail, and
turned it over the stone, and then he bit and gnawed at the sail to get
it out. The lady did not think what harm she did me in letting her dog
make a hole in my new sail,’ said the boatman.

‘Did she not give you anything for the mischief her dog had done?’ asked
grandmamma.

‘No, ma’am, nothing; and she did not even say that she was sorry, but
took no notice, and walked away.’

‘That was naughty of her,’ said Beatrice; ‘I will not let our good dog
Wolf bite any sail.’

The wind filled the sails, and the boat glided quickly through the
water. The children began to enjoy the pleasant movement, and liked to
watch the mark in the water that the boat left behind it; and asked if
they might put their hands into the clear green water, which grandmamma
allowed them to do.

Alice soon cried out, ‘Oh, grandmamma, how far I can see into the sea!
How deep it is, and how green, and how pretty!’

‘Very pretty,’ repeated Beatrice; and both children looked long over the
side of the boat.

‘What is Jack doing now?’ asked the children suddenly, when they saw the
boy unwind some cord from a piece of wood, and throw the end of it into
the sea; then he threw another piece of cord, and then another, till at
last there were four strings in the sea, two on each side the boat.

‘He is fishing,’ said grandmamma.

‘Fishing!’ cried Alice; ‘please tell me how he is fishing.’

‘Each of these cords has a hook at the end of it,’ said grandmamma, ‘and
on each hook is a little bit of fish or meat. When the fish try to catch
hold of it to eat it, the hook sticks in their throats, and they cannot
get away.’

Just now Bartlett called to his boy, and said, ‘Jack, you have got a
fish on that line;’ so Jack pulled up the line—and it was a very long
piece of string—and at the end hung a fish. The boy took it and put it
into the other end of the boat, and threw his line in again. The fish
jumped at first up and down, but it soon lay still; and soon several
other fishes were caught, and all thrown together into the end of the
boat.

The little girls were sorry, for they did not like seeing the fishes
hurt.

‘Jack,’ said his father, ‘go back to the rudder, for we must try and
land soon. There is Branscombe now, young ladies.’

The children looked and saw that they were coming quite close to the
land again. The rocks were no longer red in colour, as at Salcombe, but
white, and very different in shape; and there was a wide valley between
these rocks and hills, and a very few houses were in the valley, not far
from the sea-shore.

‘What a large ship that is! Shall we go close to it?’ asked Alice.

‘Yes, quite close, miss; it is full of coals, and the people on board
are putting the coals into sacks, and then they let down the sacks into
those big boats.’

Their boat soon came quite near the large ship, which grandmamma told
the children was called a collier, because it always carried coals from
one place to another. The children looked hard at the ship, as they had
never been so close to a ship before. Then they sailed past the collier,
and soon came up to the big black boat, and saw that it was full of
sacks of coals, and they soon passed that. Beatrice thought that the men
who were rowing the boat looked very black and dirty.

‘The coals make the men black, Beatrice,’ aid Alice. ‘If we played with
coals, our hands and our dresses would be quite black too.’

‘But do these men play with the coals?’ asked little Beatrice.

‘No; to be sure they do not. Did you not see how the men put the coals
into the sacks, and how the dust flew about on the ship? That is enough
to make anybody black and dirty.’

The boat now came nearer and nearer to the land, and the little girls
looked eagerly, and asked how they should get on shore.

‘Quite easy, little miss,’ said Bartlett. ‘Now, please sit quite quiet,
and we will run her on shore. But please, ma’am, will you sit in the
middle of the boat?’ which grandmamma and Mary did immediately; and the
two sailors let down the sails, and took the oars and rowed hard, and in
a very few minutes the boat went on to the shore, the one end much
higher than the other end. The men jumped on to the shore; and when the
next wave came and lifted the boat, they pulled it by a rope, and
brought it up much higher on the shore.

‘Please take me out, Bartlett,’ cried Beatrice. ‘And me too,’ said
Alice. ‘May we go, grandmamma?’ asked the children; and as the answer
was ‘Yes,’ the children went to the higher end of the boat, and were
lifted on to the shore, and grandmamma and Mary and Jack followed them.
The great basket that the cook had packed was taken out, and the cloaks
and umbrellas.

‘Take all the things up to the farm-house, please, Bartlett,’ said
grandmamma, ‘and tell Mrs. Wilmot that we shall soon come up.’

The children, in the meantime, were looking at something which amused
them very much.

There were a number of horses—about twenty (for Alice counted
them)—which all walked, one after each other, with no one to guide them,
up to the big black boat that had brought the sacks of coal, and had
just reached the shore. The horses, one after another, went into the
water to the side of the boat; and when the men had laid a sack of coals
across each horse’s back, the horses went away out of the water in a
row, and up the shore, and carried the sacks in front of a large house,
where some men took off the sacks, emptied each sack, and threw them
over the backs of the horses, which then turned round and went back
again to the boat. Thus there were always two rows of horses, one row
going to the sea, and the other returning loaded with sacks of coals.

The little girls were very much pleased to see how clever the horses
were—how regularly they went, never stopping behind, but on and on till
they reached the right place. They liked to see each horse come up to
the edge of the sea, put down its head for an instant, as if to see how
deep the water was, and step in until it reached the boat, then wait
till its turn came, and take the place of the last horse that was
loaded. The horses did not seem to mind the waves that washed up against
them, for the tide was high, and there were more waves than when the
children landed.

After Alice and Beatrice had looked a long time, they turned away from
the sea, and went up the path that led through a green field up the side
of the valley, and followed their grandmamma till they came to an old
farm-house.

They were very hot and tired, for the path was long and very steep, and
the sun shone bright, and they found the weather much warmer on the land
than on the sea.

There was a large tree in front of the house, and it was so shady and
cool there, that grandmamma asked the farmer’s wife if she would let
them have a table and some chairs under the tree, as they would like to
sit in the shade, and eat their dinner out of doors.

Mrs. Wilmot, the farmer’s wife, then ordered a table and some chairs,
and Alice and Beatrice sat down and rested a little, for they were
tired; but very soon they began to run up and down the sloping side of
the hill, and laughed when some sheep that were feeding there began to
run about too; and they chased the sheep about, till at last the sheep
leaped over the hedge at the end of the field, and began to jump from
one rock to another.

Alice and Beatrice followed the sheep; but, on going through the gate,
they saw that they were near the sea, which lay below the steep cliff;
and large pieces of white rock, that sparkled in the sun, lay half-way
down, as if they had fallen down.

‘You must not go so near the edge,’ said Mary, who had followed them.
‘Miss Beatrice, give me your hand, and I will let you look down into the
sea.’

‘I can take care of myself,’ said Alice; ‘please let me, Mary. Oh, I
never saw such beautiful rocks! I wish that grandmamma were here, she
would like so much to see them. What is that large white piece further
on—it goes so far into the sea?’

‘That is Portland, a sort of island; it is a long way off; only to-day
the air is so clear that we can see it easily. But we must go back to
your grandmamma,’ added Mary. ‘Are you not hungry?’

‘Oh yes, so hungry, Mary! Let us go back to the nice farm-house.’ And
they ran quickly back again.

Alice and Beatrice found the table spread with a white table-cloth, and
some nice things on it ready for their dinner. The farmer’s wife had
lent some plates, and had put some milk and some cream on the table, and
some of her own brown bread; and the children drank the milk, and
grandmamma gave them some fruit tart, with a little of the nice cream.

‘It is very good of the farmer’s wife to give us such nice things,’ said
Alice; ‘everything tastes so much better than what we have at home, I
think. But I was very hungry and thirsty; perhaps that’s why I like
everything so much to-day.’

“I think that is one of the reasons, dear Alice,’ was the answer.

‘It is nice to have our dinner under this tree: do you not like it,
grandmamma!’

‘Yes, very much.’

‘And so do I, grandmamma,’ said little Beatrice.


------------------------------------------------------------------------


[Illustration]




                             CHAPTER VIII.

        WALK ON THE HILLSIDE—TAME AND WILD RABBITS—RETURN HOME.


SOON after dinner grandmamma went with the children to the pretty green
field which sloped down to the white rocks.

‘What is that little white thing,’ asked Beatrice, ‘up there,
grandmamma? Look, please—it moves, it runs, it is alive!’

‘And there, too, and there!’ cried Alice; ‘how many little animals! What
can they be?’

Grandmamma looked too, and said, ‘They are rabbits, little white
rabbits.’

‘Rabbits!’ said Alice; ‘I thought that rabbits were brown.’

‘Yes, so they are, my dear, that is the wild rabbits are brown; but tame
rabbits are of different colours, some white, some black, or grey, or
spotted. I do not know how these tame rabbits came here.’

‘May we go nearer and look at them?’ both the children asked; and they
went much nearer, and they saw a great number of white rabbits running
about in a green field higher up the hill than the one they were walking
in. The children liked to look at these rabbits running about and
playing with each other.

‘Why are these white rabbits called tame?’ asked Alice.

‘Tame animals are those that are taken care of and fed. For, as these
pretty white or black rabbits are not so strong as the brown ones, they
are usually kept in little houses, and fed with cabbage leaves and other
food, because the cold in winter might kill them. In Devonshire the
winter is not very cold; so I suppose that these rabbits do not suffer
from it, and that they have learnt to make themselves warm houses in the
earth, as the wild rabbits do.’

‘Will you tell us, grandmamma, how the wild rabbits make themselves
houses in the ground?’

‘They make or burrow holes in the ground, digging out the earth with
their feet, as you must have seen a dog scratching and digging with his
feet. But the rabbits dig long passages under the earth, and often near
or under a tree. I have read that the rabbits first dig down straight
till the hole is deep, and that then they make a passage, and sometimes
turn upwards again, or make it crooked, to prevent dogs finding them and
killing them.

‘Rabbits live together in great numbers, and it is called a warren. They
like a sandy or gravelly soil to burrow in, and make the entrance to the
little house often under a furze bush that it may not be seen. Sometimes
they loosen the roots of trees so much that the trees fall; and where
there are many rabbits in a warren, the ground is very unsafe, for if
any one was riding, the horse’s foot might go through, and he would
fall, and perhaps break his leg and throw his rider. Even in walking you
might stumble, by getting your foot into a rabbit hole, which is not
easily seen. I have heard, too, that rabbits have undermined walls and
buildings, and made them unsafe.’

‘What is undermined, grandmamma?’

‘It means making a hole or mine under the ground; and when these holes
are made in soft sand or gravel beneath a heavy wall, it will fall into
the hole.’

‘Will you tell us what the wild rabbit eats?’

‘It eats nearly everything it can get; but it is very fond of all our
vegetables, and would soon spoil our gardens if it came into them. The
wild rabbit lives in the fields and meadows and woods, and eats the
young buds of the bushes and young trees; it likes especially the tender
roots of the furze bushes, and it nibbles the soft bark of the trees,
and spoils a great number of them. There are also many plants and roots
that it lives on.’

The children then asked to go to the end of the field, and look down on
to the sea beneath; and they all went on walking till they came to the
edge of the field. The two little girls called out with pleasure and
surprise, for they saw beyond and below them a number of large rocks,
which looked like great towers, close to the steep cliff, on the edge of
which they were now standing.

Some of these rocks were slender and pointed, and sharp on the top, and
many were strangely shaped, and lay scattered about; but one tall piece
of rock stood out alone, nearly in the sea, as if it had been cut off
the cliff, and on the top was perched a sea-gull.

‘Oh, grandmamma, look at that sea-gull!’ cried Alice; ‘how can it stand
on the point of that high rock?’

‘The sea-gull need not be afraid of standing there,’ said grandmamma,
‘for if its foot should slip, its wings would keep it from falling; and
should it even fall, which is not likely, it would not be drowned, for
the sea-gull swims well on a stormy sea.’

‘How wonderful it is that it can swim and fly so well!’ said Alice. ‘It
can fly much better than a goose or a duck, and they can swim and fly a
little.’

‘God, in His great mercy, has made the wild bird fly and swim much
better than the tame bird. The sea-gull provides its own food by diving
into the waves and catching fish, and it flies about in stormy weather
and swims on the wild waves. Man, or people, take care of the duck and
goose, and feed it, so it does not want to fly far, or swim on rough
seas.’

‘How very wonderful it is!’ said Alice; and little Beatrice listened
attentively, although she could not understand it all.

‘God’s wisdom is always wonderful, my child, and God’s love is very
great. As God provides for the sea-gull and for all animals, and gives
them all their food, and takes care of them all, so God takes care of us
all, and gives us food and clothes, and everything that we want. God, as
you know, gives us summer and winter, sunshine and snow and rain, and
all for our good. God has made the earth beautiful, the grass green, the
flowers gay, the sea wide, and the heavens high; and we must never
forget to thank God for everything, and for His care of us by day and by
night.’

They sat down on the edge of the cliff and rested, and looked at the
beautiful sight before them; and when they had seen the sea-gull spread
its wide wings and fly over the sea, and they had watched it till they
could see it no longer, they turned back to the farm-house. There they
found Mary had put everything ready, and Bartlett was waiting.

Grandmamma thanked the farmer’s wife, and she and the children bade her
good-bye; and after grandmamma had asked Mary if she had given the
sailors a good dinner, and Mary had answered that she had, they all went
down the side of the hill to the shore, where little Jack and the other
sailor were waiting by the side of the boat.

They all stepped into the boat, and were pushed off, and after a little
rocking to and fro, which no longer frightened the children, two sails
were hoisted, and as there was more wind now, the boat went much
quicker.

Soon the little girls said, ‘How cold it is!’ for the wind blew strong;
and Mary put their cloaks about them, and little Beatrice crept on to
her grandmamma’s lap, and soon fell asleep, for she was very tired.

Alice sat between her grandmamma and Mary, and talked the whole way. She
had so many things to ask about; and she made Bartlett tell her about
his little girls at home, who had no mother.

The sailor told Alice that his eldest girl kept his house clean and
neat, and cooked the dinner, and looked after the little ones.

‘Do your little boys and girls go to school, Bartlett?’ asked Alice.

‘Yes, miss, they all go; and it is a very nice school. They learn to
read and write very nicely, and the little girls learn to sew.’

‘Can Jack swim, Bartlett?’ she asked again.

‘No, not yet, for I have not much time to teach him.’

‘Not yet! Why, Jack is older than I am, and grandmamma says that I must
learn to swim next summer.’

‘But, dear Alice, how can Jack learn to swim if his father has not the
time to teach him?’

‘Bartlett, you will teach Jack to swim when you have time, will you not?
Grandmamma says that if people do not learn to swim, when they fall into
the water by accident, they will be drowned.’

The sailor promised the little girl that he would make Jack swim very
soon.

As the boat sailed past the high red cliffs before they reached home,
Alice spied a man and an ass on a narrow piece of rock some way down the
steep side of the high cliff, and asked the sailor how and why the man
had taken his donkey to such a place.

‘It must be so dangerous. Look, Bartlett how they are going along, they
must fall!’ and Alice looked quite uneasy and frightened.

But Bartlett soon explained to her that some poor people made gardens on
tiny plots of ground among the ledges of the steep cliff, and planted
them with potatoes; and as these little strips of ground slope towards
the noon-day sun, and are protected from the cold north winds by the
rising cliff, these people have potatoes earlier than any one else. He
told her that by setting their potatoes in September or October, the
potatoes were ready in early spring, and were often sent to London and
sold for a great deal of money.

The sailor told the little girl that nothing but a donkey was
sure-footed enough to carry down the baskets of manure for these little
gardens, and to bring up the potatoes; that no horse could tread safe
where these asses walk firmly and steadily, choosing their own paths.
‘As you see, Miss Alice, that donkey is going on alone with his load,
and the man is following him as he best can; and the man knows that it
is safest to walk where his ass has gone already.’

‘How clever donkeys must be, grandmamma!’ said Alice. ‘I thought that
donkeys were always stupid. But how can it know where it is safe to
walk?’

‘By instinct, dear child. Instinct is a knowledge which comes of itself,
and is given to animals by God. Another time I will tell you about it.’

Bartlett began to pull down the sails, and called to Jack to steer for
the land, as they were now close to their own shore. Little Beatrice
woke up in time to see how some very large waves lifted the boat, and
brought it up high on the shingle. The sailors jumped out, and helped
first the children and then grandmamma and Mary out of the boat. Before
they went up the steps from the shore, they thanked Bartlett and bade
him and Jack ‘good-bye.’


------------------------------------------------------------------------


[Illustration]




                              CHAPTER IX.

          THE CHILD BURNT—A NEGRO CHILD CURED BY COTTON-WOOL.


THE next day, at breakfast, Alice asked when they might go in a boat
again. ‘I like it so much, grandmamma. I love to be on the sea.’

‘I like it too, my Alice; but we must not go often; for yesterday you
know we did nothing else but amuse ourselves, and now we will stay at
home and work and do lessons.’

‘Please, ma’am,’ said Mary, entering the room rather hastily, ‘Mrs.
Dunne’s little girl has been scalded with hot water. Will you please go
and see the poor child? The boy says that she is screaming so much.’

‘Yes, indeed I will; but whilst I am putting on my cloak and bonnet, get
me some cotton-wool; you will find some in the lowest drawer.’

Alice and Beatrice were very sorry that the little child was hurt, for
they knew the child quite well, and they sometimes went to the village
to see Mrs. Dunne, who was a washer-woman.

Their grandmamma told Mary to bring the two little girls to meet her in
an hour’s time, and walked very quickly to the village.

When she came near Mrs. Dunne’s cottage she heard the child’s screams;
so she opened the door, and went in. Mrs. Dunne was holding the little
girl on her lap; and the poor child was crying as loud as she could, and
her mother was crying too.

‘Mrs. Dunne,’ said grandmamma, ‘put little Betsy on the bed, and show me
where she is hurt.’

Little Betsy knew the lady, and looked up at her, and left off crying
for one minute; and whilst her mother put her on the bed, grandmamma
made a glass of sugar and water and held it to the child to drink, and
though she still went on crying, she did not scream so loud, and Mrs.
Dunne was able to show the lady where her child was hurt.

The little leg was very red, and was covered with large blisters. The
lady first took off the poor child’s shoe, and then drew off her little
sock so quietly that it did not hurt her, and wrapped the whole leg and
foot in the cotton-wool she had brought, and wound it round and round
with some broad tape.

The little girl soon appeared to have less pain, for her cries were
less; and then Mrs. Dunne told the lady how her poor little Betsy, who
was but four years old, had met with this accident.

‘But I am glad that the boiling water that went on to her leg did not go
into my dear child’s face or neck, for then it would have been much
worse.’

‘You see, Mrs. Dunne, that in everything we have reason to thank God for
His mercy.’

‘Yes, ma’am,’ said Mrs. Dunne, wiping her eyes: ‘I thank God, and you
too, that you have come and helped me so kindly.’

‘I will leave Betsy some medicine,’ said the lady, ‘and I will come
again in the evening and see how the poor child is; but do not move the
cotton-wool on any account.’

Whilst Betsy’s medicine was preparing, Mrs. Dunne was pleased to see
that her little child was much easier; and after the lady had given her
a spoonful of the medicine, she went away, and she met Alice and
Beatrice not far from the cottage.

The two children had their hoops, and were running with them till they
saw grandmamma in the distance; then they stopped their hoops, and came
running to meet her.

‘How is poor little Betsy?’ asked Beatrice.

‘Where is she hurt, grandmamma?’ asked Alice.

Grandmamma told them all about Betsy, and what she had done for her, and
said that the little girl was much easier when she left her.

‘May we take her something nice for her dinner or for her tea?’ asked
Alice: to which Beatrice added, ‘Please let us, grandmamma.’

‘You may take Betsy a little basketful of strawberries, and you may
gather them yourselves.’

‘Thank you, dear grandmamma,’ said the little girls; ‘may we go now for
them?’

‘No, not now, dear children,’ said grandmamma; ‘you must come in and do
your lessons.’

‘Do let us go first and pull some strawberries,’ said they.

‘No; I cannot let you go till after your dinner.’ Upon which, Alice and
Beatrice seemed very much inclined to cry, but they knew that their
grandmamma did not like them to ask again after she had refused; so they
walked on slowly, and did not speak at first.

At last Alice said, ‘Why did you wrap Betsy’s leg up in cotton-wool,
grandmamma?’

‘Because it has been found that cotton-wool lessens the pain of a burn,
and helps to make it get well.’

‘How did people find this out?’

‘There is a pretty story about it, and I will tell it you:—

‘In North America the cotton plant grows—for this white wool grows on a
small plant—and the plant has little pods. You know what a pod is, do
you not?’

‘Yes, grandmamma; a pea has a pod, and the peas are in it.’

‘Well, the cotton plant has a pod which holds its seeds—of a different
shape to the peas-pod, and not so long or so large; but the seeds are
wrapped up in this soft woolly stuff, which the negroes pick and clean
and wash.

‘It happened once that the little child of a poor negro woman was burnt
all over—I do not know how; and as the mother had nothing to put on, she
laid her little screaming child down on a heap of the picked
cotton-wool, and returned to her work. After she had finished her
appointed work she went to her child, and found that in its pain it had
rolled about in the cotton-wool till it was covered with the wool, and
was lying quiet and asleep; and the poor negro woman was very glad.

‘Some one who had seen the accident, and also seen the child asleep,
examined the child, and found that the blisters had gone down, and the
burnt places, which had been quite red, were nearly well.

‘After this, people tried cotton-wool for burns, and found it nearly
always of the greatest service in relieving the pain and healing the
injuries.’


[Illustration:

  Basket of Strawberries for the Burnt Child.—_Page 91._
]


‘Thank you, grandmamma; that is a nice story. How glad that poor woman
must have been to find her little child nearly well!’

Now they were quite close to their own house, their own dog came running
to them, and jumped up at them, and nearly threw little Beatrice down,
which made her laugh, and she said, ‘Down, Wolf, down. Grandmamma, Wolf
will kiss me, he has licked my face.’

‘And he has licked mine too,’ said her sister.

Wolf ran on in front, and then turned back to the children, and played
with them and jumped round them, and they had already forgotten their
disappointment about the strawberries.

When they were in the house again, they both tried to be very good and
obedient, and they were very attentive to everything their grandmamma
said to them.

In the afternoon they were very happy gathering the strawberries for the
poor little burnt child, and each of them had a very pretty little
basket; and the gardener showed them how to put strawberry leaves into
their baskets first, and then to put the ripe strawberries upon the
leaves till the baskets were nearly full. Then they gathered some more
leaves to cover over the strawberries. Alice and Beatrice ran back to
the house and showed their baskets to their grandmamma, and lifted the
leaves a little that she might see the strawberries. She told them that
they were good children, and that she would go with them to Mrs. Dunne’s
cottage, as she wished to see how the poor little child was. They found
little Betsy sitting up on her mother’s bed, looking very happy.

‘I return you many thanks, ma’am, for the nice broth you sent Betsy, and
for the milk. She has just finished eating her broth, for she fell
asleep soon after you went away this morning, and her leg does not seem
to hurt her now.’

‘I am very glad to hear it,’ said the lady; ‘but you must leave the
cotton-wool on her leg and foot for a few days, and then I expect that
the skin will be quite well again.’

‘Look, Betsy!’ cried Beatrice, ‘look at these strawberries!’ And Alice
and Beatrice held their baskets to the little child, who lifted up the
leaves and called out with joy, ‘Strawberries, mammy, pretty
strawberries!’

‘Eat them,’ said Alice, ‘they are for you; we gathered them for you.’

Little Betsy put a large ripe strawberry into her mouth, and Alice and
Beatrice stood next the bed, and were glad that the little girl liked
what they had brought her.

Mrs. Dunne thanked them, and emptied the fruit on to two plates, and
gave the children back their baskets; and then they bade Mrs. Dunne and
Betsy good-bye, and went home.


[Illustration]


------------------------------------------------------------------------


[Illustration]




                               CHAPTER X.

                      A WINTER’S DRIVE IN RUSSIA.


THE summer was not yet over, but the weather had changed; the days were
a little shorter, and the children could no longer bathe regularly, for
it was often very stormy; and the waves were so very high and rough,
that they only went down to the sea-shore to watch the big waves rising
up high, and then, bending their white heads over, come dashing high up
on the shore—often so high that the two little girls had to run away
fast, for fear that the waves should cover their feet.

‘Beatrice!’ said Alice, one day, ‘you ought to learn “Roll on, roll on,
you restless waves.”’

‘I do know it, Alice; only I cannot say all of it.’

‘Then I will teach it you,’ said Alice; and she repeated all four verses
several times, till little Beatrice could say them nicely.

Grandmamma was very pleased when they came home, to hear little Beatrice
say the following pretty verses to her:

                 ‘Roll on, roll on, you restless waves,
                    That toss about and roar;
                  Why do you all run back again
                    When you have reached the shore?

                 ‘Roll on, roll on, you noisy waves,
                    Roll higher up the strand;
                  How is it that you cannot pass
                    That line of yellow sand?’

                 ‘We may not dare,’ the waves reply:
                    ‘That line of yellow sand
                  Is laid along the shore, to bound
                    The waters and the land.

                 ‘And all should keep to time and place,
                    And all should keep to rule—
                  Both waves upon the sandy shore,
                    And little boys at school.’

And grandmamma kissed both the little girls, and said that they were
good children.

One day it was very stormy; the rain fell fast, the wind howled and
whistled, and the children could not go out.

‘I fear that the summer is nearly over; but it is very early,’ said
grandmamma, ‘to have such stormy weather. You have both been very good
and attentive; will you like to hear something more about Russia and the
cold winter there? But, Alice, take that tea-cloth to hem, and,
Beatrice, bring your old dress, I will show you where to unpick it; and
when you are both of you busy and quiet, I will begin.’

Grandmamma took her work, and began thus:—

‘It was in winter, when your dear mamma and aunt were both little
children of about your age; the snow was very deep, and the weather had
been very cold; and all the rivers were frozen so hard that every one
could drive across them. In Russia there are a great many bogs, which in
summer are so wet and soft that no one can go near them; but in winter,
people drive on the frozen bogs when they are covered with snow.’

‘But why do not people drive along the roads in winter?’ asked Alice.

‘Because the roads are often filled with snow-drifts, and also because
it is often much straighter and nearer to drive across the rivers and
the bogs. But it is very difficult, when dark, to find the road on these
wide and lonely moors or bogs, especially when it snows, and the fresh
falling snow covers the track.’

‘Were you not afraid, grandmamma, to drive in those lonely places?’

‘At first I was, my Alice, but I soon became accustomed to it.’

‘Please, Alice, do not talk,’ said little Beatrice.

‘Well, my dear children, I was telling you what a cold winter we had;
but though the weather was very cold and rather stormy, your dear mamma
and aunt drove with me one afternoon in a large sledge drawn by two
black horses, and my good old coachman drove us, and a man servant was
with us. We drove to call on one of our neighbours, and, as is the
custom in that part of the country, we stayed to tea there. The tea was
late and the servants slow, for after I had given the order that our
sledge should come round it was delayed; and I inquired several times,
and grew impatient, for I did not like to keep my two little girls up so
long, or drive home across the lonely moor so late at night, and we had
six or seven miles to drive.

‘At length I was told that my sledge was at the door; and my little
girls were soon dressed in their warm winter cloaks and bonnets, and the
servants covered us well with our rugs lined with fur, and we had some
pillows put in over our feet to keep us warm.

‘When we set off, and I could look about me a little, I found that the
weather was very bad; the snow fell fast, and the wind blew hard, and
drifted the snow in heaps across the road, so I knew at once that our
drive home would be slow and tedious.

‘The horses have bells in winter; and they shook their heads, and the
bells sounded cheerfully; and the horses set off briskly homewards until
we came to the great bog. At first all went well, and I was glad, till
we came to about half-way; the coachman then began driving very slowly,
and at last stopped the horses.

‘“What is the matter, Mart?” I asked; “have you lost the road?”

‘“Yes, ma’am, I have; and the horses sink into the snow so deep that
they can hardly go on.”

‘The footman jumped down, and said that he would go and look for the
road.’

‘Look for the road!’ said Alice, laughing; ‘how funny! How could the
footman find the road if it was quite dark?’

‘It is never quite dark in winter in Russia, because the snow gives some
light.

‘The man, however, walked about, and went so far off, that the coachman
grew impatient, and, thinking that he would find the road quicker
himself, jumped off his seat and left us alone with the horses, who
pawed up the snow and shook their bells and harness; and your aunt and
mamma were sleepy and tired and very cold.

‘I took little mamma on my lap, and wrapped her up in my large fur
cloak, and covered dear little aunty with the pillows, and made her
comfortable and warm in her corner, so that she might go to sleep. But I
myself was very cold, and was very uneasy too; for I did not like my
little girls to be out late at night, and in such bad weather; and my
feet ached with cold. I tried to wait patiently, and was glad that I
could see the figures of the two men in the distance. At length the
coachman came back to us, and began to look at the snow close to us; and
to our great joy he found that the beaten track was close by, only
covered with the fresh fallen snow. He shouted to the footman, and he
was soon back and seated next the coachman: and the horses seemed as
glad as we were to be going home at last, and set off so briskly, that
we were soon safe at home; but it was nearly eleven o’clock, for we had
been just three hours on the road, which we usually drove in one hour.
We were very glad to be home again, and I thanked God in my prayers that
my little girls were safe.’

‘Oh, grandmamma!’ said Beatrice, ‘I should be afraid to drive about in
that way. I should not like to live in Russia.’

‘My darling, you would not be afraid if I were with you, and told you
that God was watching over us, and that God would take care of us and
defend us from all harm there, in cold Russia as in our dear England.’

‘Thank you, dear grandmamma,’ said Alice, ‘I like that story; but still
I should not like to drive in the snow across those large moors in
winter in Russia.

‘But tell me, please, how can people find such snowy roads if there are
no hedges to show them where they are?’

‘The road is easily found by men and horses, because, where the snow has
been trodden down and driven on, it is hard and firm, and all around is
soft and deep; and, therefore, when the horses sink deep into the snow,
the driver knows that they are not on the track or right road.’


[Illustration]


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[Illustration]




                              CHAPTER XI.

                             CIDER-MAKING.


THE two little girls received an invitation from a farmer’s wife, who
lived in a valley not very far off, to come and see the first cider
made.

‘May we go, dear grandmamma, may we go?’ said Alice and Beatrice; ‘we
shall like it so much!’

‘I want very much to know how cider is made,’ said Alice.

‘Then you must try and learn all about it to-morrow; and what you do not
understand, you must ask Mrs. Laurence to tell you.’

The children were very impatient for to-morrow, and were delighted the
next morning to see that it was a fine and sunny day, and very warm.

After their early dinner, the two little girls went with Mary over a low
part of the hill, and down a steep road into the valley where Mrs.
Laurence lived, who was very glad to see them.

Mrs. Laurence took the children first into her kitchen, a large room
where a good fire was burning, although it was so warm out of doors.
Mary took off their cloaks, and put them down on a chair in the corner;
and Mrs. Laurence took the little girls out of another door, and they
walked through her nice little garden, which had a number of beautiful
rose trees in full bloom. The farmer’s wife told Alice and Beatrice that
her boys liked to keep the garden in order after they had done their
farm work, and that they had budded all these roses, and she was very
proud of her flowers.

When they came to the large open yard at the back of the house, they saw
a number of geese come flying down the hill that rose up all round the
yard; and the children stopped to see the geese come one after another
with a great noise, and the sound they made with their wings was very
loud and very strange; and they asked why it was.

‘It is because the geese are so very heavy, and do not fly much—only now
and then, when they want to come quickly to some place,’ said Mrs.
Laurence.

‘It is a sign of stormy weather coming,’ said Ellen, Mrs. Laurence’s
eldest girl, ‘when the geese fly about and scream so: is it not,
mother?’

‘Yes, I have heard so, and I believe that the geese are always right;
and I daresay we shall have some bad storms soon.’

‘How do the geese know that there will be stormy weather soon?’ asked
Alice.

‘God has given them the sense to see it coming,’ said Mary; ‘and dogs
eat grass just before it rains.’

‘But I do not understand,’ said Alice, ‘how the geese see the bad
weather coming.’

‘You had better ask your grandmamma, Miss Alice,’ said Mary; ‘she will
tell you all about it.’

The little girls then followed Ellen across the yard; it was very dirty
and wet, for it had rained the day before; but Ellen took Beatrice in
her arms, and showed Alice how to step on several large stones that were
there, perhaps on purpose that people might step on them, and not go in
the mud or water.

Two pretty dark-red cows, with long slender horns, were standing under
an open shed; and Ellen went up to one of them, after she had first
brought a clean wooden pail and a little stool, and she sat down on the
little stool, and put the pail in front of her knees, and then she
milked two streams of white warm milk into the pail, and it was all
white froth, like the froth upon the waves, and the cow turned round its
head and looked at the children.

They might have been, perhaps, a little afraid; but Ellen said, ‘You may
stroke her, miss, she is such a good cow.’

So Alice put out her hand, and rubbed the cow’s head, and patted her.

‘Will you like to give her an apple?’ said Ellen to Alice; and Alice
took an apple that Ellen gave her, and went to the cow and held out the
apple to her; but when Alice saw the cow’s head come so close to her,
and her long tongue put out to take the apple, Alice jumped back, and
threw the apple at the cow, who stretched out her neck to reach it, but
could not.

‘Why, Alice,’ said little Beatrice, ‘you never gave the cow the apple.
Were you afraid?’

‘I did try to give her the apple; but her tongue was so very long, that
I was afraid that she would get hold of my hand, so I threw her the
apple.’

‘I will pick it up, and give it to the poor cow,’ said Beatrice. ‘Do
cows like apples?’ she asked, after she had picked it up and given it to
the cow, who ate it very quickly.

‘Yes,’ answered Ellen; ‘cows are very fond of apples, and get plenty of
them when they feed in our orchard; and horses and pigs and sheep all
like apples.’

After Ellen had milked four cows, and showed the little girls a pretty
red calf, and given it a pailful of milk and meal to drink, she took
Alice and Beatrice to see the hens and the chickens and the ducks. There
were such a number of chickens; and two hens had each a large brood of
young chickens. The pond was full of ducks; and Ellen told the little
girls that though there were plenty of rats about in the farmyard, and
rats are very fond of eating young chickens and ducklings, they never
lost any of theirs, for they had two cats that always slept and lived in
the hen-house, and the hens were so fond of the cats that sometimes they
laid their eggs in the cats’ basket. The cats liked the chickens and
little ducks, and never let a rat come near them in the night.

The children begged to see the two good cats, but Ellen said, ‘We will
now go to the orchard.’

The orchard was a little way off, up the side of one of the hills, and
the sun always shone on the trees, for the hill lay to the south, and
was warm and sheltered from all cold winds.

‘What lots of apples!’ cried the two children; ‘the trees are quite
full; and why are so many on the ground and in a great heap?’

‘Those are for cider, and are to be taken to our cider press; but will
you not have some apples to eat?’ said Ellen, ‘I will show you where
some very nice eating apples grow, and I will shake the tree for you.’

They walked farther into the orchard, always going higher and higher up
the hill side, and they called out every time when they passed a tree
which they thought looked fuller of apples than the others, till they
came to a tree which was covered with red apples. This tree Ellen began
to shake, and the apples came down in such numbers, and so quickly, that
Alice and Beatrice were afraid that the apples would fall on their
heads.

‘Will you not pick some,’ said Ellen, ‘and put them in your baskets, and
then you can eat what you like?’

Then they went higher still, to the furthest end of the orchard; and
there they had a fine view of the sea and all the hills about them, and
of the town; and when they had rested up there a little time, and eaten
some of their nice apples, they returned with Ellen to the farm-house.

Here they found that a great quantity of apples had been brought, and
had been put into a large trough at the back of the house, and a horse
was harnessed to a long beam of wood, and the horse went round and
round. Ellen showed the two children how the apples slipped down into a
large hole, and were crushed inside in a sort of mill; and she let them
see how the apples came out of this mill down below; but they did not
look like apples, but were brown and soft, and did not look at all nice.

‘Why do they make those nice apples into that nasty mess?’ said Alice.

‘To make cider,’ said Ellen. ‘The apples are crushed to pieces in the
mill, and in a short time that nasty muddy stuff will be nice clear
cider.’

‘Cider!’ cried Alice; ‘how can such horrid stuff ever be cider?’

‘We let them stand a short time till the juice separates from the thick
part, and it ferments, and the juice becomes cider.’

The cider press did not interest the children long; they liked most to
go about the farmyard, and help to feed the chickens, and go to the pond
and look at the snow-white ducks swimming about in the pond; and whilst
they were looking at the ducks putting their heads down deep in the
water, Beatrice heard a great grunting behind her, and turned round and
called out, ‘Alice! look, what a big pig!’

Alice turned, and saw a very large black pig, with a great many little
pigs running after it, all grunting together.

‘How many little pigs are there?’ said Alice, counting them as she
spoke. ‘There are ten little pigs; and is that their mother, Ellen?’

‘Yes, Miss Alice; and she is a very good mother to her little ones.’

Alice and Beatrice laughed at the idea that the old black sow, who was
grunting about in the farmyard, should be called a good mother.

‘But she is a very good mother,’ said Ellen; ‘for she takes her little
pigs into the corn-fields after the harvest, and when she finds some
corn on the ground, she calls her little pigs together, and lets them
eat it up, and does not eat any herself till she thinks that they have
had enough.’

‘I did not think,’ said Alice, ‘that pigs loved their little ones.’

‘Indeed they do, and all animals love their young; and if any one tried
to take away one of her ten pigs, the old sow would fly at them, and try
to bite them.’

‘But will she bite us?’ asked Beatrice.

‘Oh no; she is very good-tempered, and knows that we will not meddle
with her pigs or hurt them.’

After the children had amused themselves in looking at everything, and
at last helped Ellen to feed the chickens, they went into the
farm-house. Mrs. Laurence had a jug of milk on the table and some
glasses, and a loaf of nice brown bread which she told the children she
had made and baked herself, and a pat of butter was on a plate, with the
figure of a cow on it. Mrs. Laurence gave the children each a glass of
milk, and Ellen cut them each a slice of brown bread, and buttered it
with the nice butter; and Alice called out that it was a pity that Ellen
cut through the shape of the cow, and spread it on her bread.

‘You have a piece of the cow on your bread, Beatrice;’ and Beatrice
laughed, and thought it very funny.

Alice and Beatrice thanked Mrs. Laurence and Ellen for the nice bread
and butter and milk; for they were very hungry, and it was their
tea-time.

Mrs. Laurence gave the children a piece of white honey-comb on a plate,
for their grandmamma.

‘Grandmamma has some from her own bees,’ said Alice.

‘I know she has; but my honey has a different taste, for my bees gather
their honey from Mutter’s Moor, where there is so much heath and broom,
and heath honey is reckoned the best.’

‘I will ask grandmamma to give me some of hers, for hers is very good.
Her bees get their honey from her garden flowers, grandmamma says, and
from the lime trees.’

Mary put on their cloaks, and told them that their grandmamma had sent
two donkeys for them to ride home on; for the farm was rather a long way
off their home.

Alice and Beatrice were very glad, because they liked to ride very much,
and besides they began to feel tired.

The little girls shook hands with, and bade Mrs. Laurence and Ellen
good-bye, and were lifted on to their donkeys; and Mary walked by the
side of Beatrice’s donkey, and held her donkey’s bridle, and thus they
reached their own pretty home on the hill, and found grandmamma waiting
for them at the door.

Alice and Beatrice told grandmamma about everything they had seen and
done, and were soon glad to go to bed.


------------------------------------------------------------------------


[Illustration]




                              CHAPTER XII.

                               SQUIRRELS.


‘WE have had such a nice walk, grandmamma!’ said Alice, entering the
room. ‘We went first with Mary to the village, and she bought herself
some needles and pins, and some cotton; and then we left those books,
which you gave us, at the rectory; and we saw Mr. Potter’s beautiful
garden, which goes up that steep hill by the house. There were such a
number of roses in full blossom!

‘We walked a little way into Branscombe parish, and there was a big
stone, and Mary told us that it was there to show where Salcombe and
Branscombe met. It was so funny for Beatrice and me to jump in and out
of Salcombe! How can people divide places?’

‘Places or parishes or countries that cannot be divided by water must be
divided by landmarks. These landmarks are sometimes large stones,
sometimes an old tree, or a line of trees, or a wooden post; but water
divides the best.

‘I remember, when I was young, travelling from Belgium into Prussia, and
only a post painted with each country’s colours served to show us where
Belgium ended and where Prussia began; and my sisters and I thought it
fun to jump with one step from one country into another, as you did
to-day from one parish into another.

‘Because England is an island, and is separated by the sea from other
countries, English people think it strange that nothing more than a
stone or a post can serve as boundary between two strange countries; and
that the people on the one side of the stone or post should speak one
language, and on the other should speak another language. Some countries
are divided by a chain of mountains, as the Pyrenees divide France from
Spain; the Alps, France from Italy. You have learnt about these chains
of mountains, my Alice, and to-morrow you shall show me on the map the
different mountain boundaries.’

‘But we came home by the wood, grandmamma,’ said Beatrice, ‘and we saw
such pretty creatures jumping about in the trees.’

‘Mary called them squirrels,’ said Alice. ‘They were so pretty, and
jumped from one tree to another such long jumps, and swung backwards and
forwards on such little branches that we were afraid that they would
fall down.’

‘Squirrels are very pretty, interesting little animals,’ said
grandmamma, ‘and live in the woods; and I think that they like fir-trees
most, for I have seen them often in a fir wood, and I know that they eat
the seeds of the spruce fir—you have seen the pretty long cones—and the
squirrel bites the cones asunder and eats the seeds.

‘Did you observe how small and slender they are, with small heads and
pointed noses, and such bright eyes? The colour of their fur is reddish
brown, and they have such a long bushy tail. The squirrel makes two
nests, a summer nest and a winter nest. In the latter, which is very
strongly built, and thick and warm, it rolls itself up and lies asleep
through much of the winter time. The squirrel’s summer nest, on the
contrary, is light and airy, and it is made near the end of a bough, so
that it swings about with the wind, and rocks like “the cradle on the
tree-top,” and there the mother-squirrel has her little ones: but if any
one should try and climb the tree, she takes her little ones, one by
one, in her mouth, and leaps from branch to branch and from tree to
tree, till she is sure they are safe; but when the danger has passed,
she takes them back again to her nest in the same manner.’

‘How clever of the squirrel! I should like to see a squirrel jumping
with a little squirrel in its mouth. May we go again to the wood?
perhaps we may see the pretty squirrels again.’


[Illustration]


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[Illustration]




                             CHAPTER XIII.

                       THE SHIPWRECK—THE PARROT.


ONE evening there was a great storm, although it was not autumn yet,
which is the time for storms. The wind had been very high all the
morning, and had become louder and more stormy as the day went by; and
just before the children were going to bed, their grandmamma told them
that she was very anxious, for such a stormy night would be, without
doubt, dangerous to many ships now at sea.

The noise of the wind was very great, and the doors and windows rattled
and shook, and Alice asked—

‘Is that loud noise the sea that we hear, grandmamma?’ And her
grandmamma told her it was; and when they listened they heard the roar
of the waves as they broke upon the shore, and they thought that they
even heard the shingle rolling back with the heavy waves.

‘Do not forget to add to your prayers to-night, “God bless all those at
sea,” my dear children; for there will be many who may stand in great
need of God’s merciful help to-night,’ said grandmamma, as Alice and
Beatrice bade her ‘good-night.’

The two little girls went to bed, thinking much of their grandmamma’s
words, and did not forget to pray for ‘all those at sea.’ The noise of
the storm at first kept them awake, but sleep came soon, and they forgot
in sleep all their thoughts and fears.

Before breakfast the next morning the news was brought that a large ship
had been thrown on the shore at Sidmouth during the night, but not a
single life was lost.

The news was brought by the gardener, who had been in Sidmouth very
early in the morning, and therefore grandmamma sent for him afterwards
to come and tell her all he knew about the wreck.

‘It is not much of a wreck,’ the man said, ‘for the ship has not had
much damage. It was a special mercy of God that the moon had risen soon
after midnight, so it was light; and the master of the ship knew the
coast well, and knew, too, that unless he kept the schooner straight
upon the town, it would go to bits on either side of it against our
rocks. And so, in spite of the fury of the storm, he managed to steer
her hard on to the shore, which is deep enough, you know, ma’am, at high
water. The south-west wind helped to drive her on; but the men got
frightened at last, and took to the boat as soon as they could see the
Sidmouth lights, for they could not help fearing that the ship would go
aground and break up.

‘The crew, who rowed for their lives, had not reached the shore when
they saw their ship come on past them with mighty force; and with the
high tide she ran high and dry on to the parade, not far from the
coastguard’s station, where she is still.

‘It is quite a wonder; and what a mercy that not a soul has perished!
for the crew were soon thrown on the shore by the breakers; and though,
of course, they were wet to the skin and worn out, yet they were all,
thank God, safe.

‘A number of the fishermen, who had been watching the ship some hours,
and had waited for them, ran down and caught the boat just when a huge
breaker had lifted it up, and would have torn both men and boat away
back into the raging sea.’

The children asked how the fishermen were not afraid that those dreadful
waves would carry them away too.

‘The breakers would have done so, miss,’ said John; ‘but the men all
held on to a stout rope fixed to the shore, and were able to keep their
feet, holding by the boat at the same time, when the big breaker went
clean over them, and thus it could not sweep them away.’

When grandmamma heard this, she told Alice and Beatrice that she should
drive with them to Sidmouth and see the ship, and learn more about this
wonderful coming on shore and merciful escape.

The two little girls were so glad, and talked of nothing but the ship
and what they should see, as they drove over the hill to the town.

The carriage stopped at the hotel on the parade, and from there
grandmamma and Alice and Beatrice walked till they came near the
stranded ship, which looked such a huge monster out of the water.

A great crowd had collected round the ship, but they were allowed to
pass and come much nearer. The sailors were running backwards and
forwards, talking loud and telling everybody what a night they had had,
how terrible the storm had been, and what they had done to save their
lives.

A gentleman, a friend of grandmamma’s, told her a great deal about the
ship, and said that it had come from the eastern coast of Africa, round
by the Cape of Good Hope, and that the sailors had brought with them
numberless animals and curious articles, and they wished to sell them
here; for they must now go by land to London, and could take but very
little with them. The gentleman pointed at the same time to several
small monkeys that were climbing up the ropes and rigging of the ship,
and jumping about, and shrieking and chattering to the people below.
They seemed very happy at being loose, instead of shut up in cages, and
to enjoy being safe and quiet instead of being tossed and thrown about
upon those terrible rough waves.

Alice and Beatrice were lost in wonder, and were quite silent; they had
never before seen so much that was new and strange to them, and here was
so much to see.

Suddenly Alice called out, ‘Grandmamma, do you see that beautiful bird?
Pray look; what bird is it?’

And at the same time a sailor came up to them with a very fine parrot in
a small cage. The parrot was grey and red, but its feathers were ruffled
and wet, and the cage was so small that the poor parrot could hardly
turn round.

‘Will you buy a beautiful talking parrot?’ said the sailor; ‘he can say
anything you like. Please, will you have it, ma’am? I will let you have
it very cheap,’ addressing the lady, as he saw that the two little girls
had turned to her and were asking her to buy his bird.

Grandmamma agreed, and bought the bird for a small price, for the man
told her that he should be so glad to get rid of it, as well as of a
pair of green paroquets which he would fetch from the ship.

[Illustration:

  Grandmamma buys a parrot saved from the wreck.—_Page 125._
]

The sailor then, putting the parrot in its cage into Alice’s hand,
disappeared among the crowd; and before many minutes had passed, the
children saw the same sailor on the deck of the ship, and saw him let
himself down to the ground by a rope, and soon come again towards them
holding a small cage or box. In this were two much smaller birds, of
slender shape, with long tails, and of the most beautiful green colour.
Alice and Beatrice could scarcely express their joy when grandmamma
bought them as well, saying, at the same time—

‘These are love-birds, from Australia.’

The sailor looked, and said, ‘Yes, that is their name, and they came
from Sydney; but the parrot I got off the west coast of Africa.’

‘Will you have a monkey too, ma’am? One of our men has several.’

‘No, thank you,’ said the lady; ‘I have enough now, and am not fond of
monkeys. But now we must go, dear children, first to Brown’s shop, where
I will get two proper cages for our new birds, for the poor creatures
cannot move in these. Can you carry the parrot, Alice? is it not too
heavy for you?’

‘No, not at all,’ said Alice, a little proudly; ‘I like to carry our
parrot. May I hold the cage the whole way home?’

‘Yes, if you like, my dear;’ and they walked on to the shop, where
grandmamma soon found a nice large cage for the parrot. It was of brass
wire all round, and from the top hung inside a large wooden ring, in
which grandmamma told the children parrots like always to sit and swing.

‘What! like the squirrels on the trees, grandmamma?’ said Alice.

‘Yes; I suppose it reminds them of the swinging branches of the trees in
the country where they lived and flew about.’

‘But where is their country?’ asked Alice.

‘In some part of Africa; in that hot country there are plenty of those
gay-coloured birds. You know where Africa is on the map, and that it is
one of the great divisions of the world?’

‘Yes, I know that: Europe, Asia, Africa, America, and Australia.’

‘Quite right, my child. But though it is cruel and wrong to shut birds
up in cages, now that parrots have been brought away from their far
distant home, and because it is much too cold for them to live and fly
about in the woods in England, we must try and make our parrot and those
pretty little love-birds as comfortable and as happy as we can.’

Another cage, a square one, was chosen for the love-birds, and seed was
bought as well, at another shop, and then they drove home with their new
live toys.

Grandmamma showed Alice how to strew sand on the board at the bottom of
each cage, and where to put the seed and water for the birds’ food; and
when the cages were made ready, grandmamma opened the doors of the
parrot’s new and old cages, and putting the two cages quite close
together, the children went a little way off and watched the parrot.
First he looked at his new cage a short while with outstretched neck,
till he saw the seed and water, when he suddenly hopped on to the open
door, and then into the large cage, and began feeding and drinking
eagerly at the seed and water, as if he had been very long without food,
as most likely, during the storm, no one had had time to attend to him,
and the birds had been forgotten.

‘If the ship had gone down our birds would have been drowned, would they
not, grandmamma?’ said Alice.

‘Yes, dear Alice, they would; and, what would have been sadder, the poor
men too, if God had not taken such care of them.’

‘I am so glad,’ said Alice, turning to the bird, ‘that you were not
drowned, you pretty parrot!’

The other cage was then placed next to the little box where the pair of
love-birds were, and though they were more shy than the parrot, they
made a rush into their house, and they seemed quite as hungry, for they
began to eat immediately.

‘We will leave the poor birds now alone a little, and get ready for
dinner; and I dare say that my little girls will be nearly as glad of
their dinners as the poor shipwrecked birds are.’

The children laughed, and said that they were very hungry, and they
hoped that their new birds would soon feel happy in their nice large
cages.

After dinner Alice and Beatrice went to see their birds. The parrot was
swinging in its ring; but though they spoke to it, and called it ‘pretty
Poll,’ it neither spoke, nor moved, nor took notice of the children.
They remained standing next the cage, and watched the bird long, and
were very disappointed that this wonderful talking parrot could not, or
would not, speak a word.

The little green love-birds seemed frightened when the little girls went
near their cage, and flew about and fluttered, till Alice and Beatrice
left them at their grandmamma’s wish.

The next morning their first visit on going downstairs was to the birds.
The parrot was swinging again on his ring, and the love-birds fluttered
about; but Alice observed that they had eaten nearly all the seed, and
that their feathers were dry and smooth and clean, and bright green, and
the children said that they had never seen such beautiful birds before.

Grandmamma said to Alice, ‘This morning you are late, and you must come
to breakfast first; but another morning try and be ready a little
earlier, and then you may give the birds fresh seed and water and clean
sand before breakfast. To-day Mary will show you how to do so.’

Alice ate her breakfast quicker than usual this morning, for she was apt
to be slow, and to talk and to waste her time whilst dressing and whilst
eating.

When both the little girls had finished their breakfast grandmamma told
them to call Mary to feed the birds.

‘May I take two bits of sugar, grandmamma?’ said Beatrice.

‘You may, dear; but be careful, for parrots bite sometimes; and you are
a stranger to our parrot, and he may not like you.’

The parrot would not take any notice of the children, but swung
backwards and forwards in his ring. Grandmamma told the children to ask
Mary to place the two cages in the verandah where the sun was shining,
for it was a fine sunny day, and grandmamma said that all birds except
owls liked the sun.

Soon after the cages had been put in the verandah, and both the children
were picking up and arranging their playthings, with their backs turned
to the birds, they were suddenly startled by hearing a loud ‘Good
morning!’ called out close behind them. Alice and Beatrice looked round
to see who spoke so loud, when ‘Good morning!’ was repeated by the same
voice. Beatrice was a little frightened, till Alice said, ‘It is the
parrot!’

They were so pleased. Beatrice ran to call grandmamma to come and listen
to their talking parrot, and Alice went closer to the cage, but not too
close, for fear that she should frighten the parrot. She answered the
parrot, and said, ‘Good morning, pretty Poll!’ and the parrot spoke
again and again, and said, ‘Good morning, pretty Bob!’ When grandmamma
came, Alice ran to her and told her, ‘Our parrot talks so nicely. I am
so glad. But his name is not Poll, it is Bob; for when I said, “Pretty
Poll,” he answered, “Pretty Bob.”’ And the parrot went on saying ‘Pretty
Bob’ and ‘Good morning’ several times; and afterwards he began whistling
and coughing, and seemed to wish to show the children all he could do
and speak.

Beatrice jumped with joy, she was so happy that the parrot could talk,
and it was a long time before they liked to leave the verandah.

After dinner they took some bits of biscuit to their parrot, which he
ate willingly from their fingers; but grandmamma reminded them to be
careful still, ‘for it may bite you when it snaps at its food.’ Beatrice
drew back her little hand, and was content to let Alice feed the parrot
alone.

Alice tried every morning to be quicker in dressing herself, for she
could now do everything for herself, except fastening her little dress
behind; and when she was ready early, grandmamma let her feed and attend
to the birds; but when she was late, Mary did it.

Alice liked to do it best herself; for the birds began to know her, and
she was seldom late in the morning now. And every morning she gave the
birds fresh seed in the little boxes, and clean water in the glasses,
and put some sand or fine gravel on the board; and little Beatrice tried
to help her as far as she could.


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[Illustration]




                              CHAPTER XIV.

                              THE KITTEN.


ONE Monday morning, Mrs. Dunne, who had come down to fetch the linen for
washing, sent Mary into the breakfast-room to ask if she might speak to
the young ladies; and as grandmamma allowed, Alice and Beatrice went to
speak to her.

Mrs. Dunne had a small basket in her hand, which she held out to little
Beatrice, saying, ‘My little Bessie has sent you a kitten, miss; for
cook tells me that there is no cat in the house, and I hope that you
will take this.’

Beatrice took the basket and lifted the lid, and she and Alice saw such
a pretty little kitten lying curled up, half asleep. It was as white as
snow, and had a blue ribbon round its neck. The kitten got up and stood
in the basket ready to jump out; but Beatrice in her delight seized it,
and was going to run away with it, when Alice said—

‘Wait, Beatrice, let me take it; you will frighten this dear little
kitten.’

‘But I want to show it to grandmamma,’ said the little girl, turning
back very unwillingly; ‘let me take it, please Alice.’

‘You may, only do not squeeze it,’ said Alice.

Mrs. Dunne put the kitten nicely into Beatrice’s arms, and Beatrice
stroked the kitten, and the little creature began to purr and to rub its
nose against Beatrice’s hand.

‘Thank you, Mrs. Dunne,’ said Alice, ‘please thank little Bessie, and
tell her it is the prettiest kitten in the world.’ And Beatrice said
‘Thank you’ too, and then both children went back to their grandmother
to show her the kitten. Grandmamma admired it very much, and told Mary
to bring some milk in a saucer for the kitten, and she did so. The
kitten seemed very hungry, for it lapped the milk up in a very short
time.

‘I hope that pussy will not hurt the love-birds or your parrot,’ said
grandmamma; ‘for cats like to eat birds.’

‘Pussy must not eat our birds,’ said Alice, ‘or else we will send her
back again.’

‘But can we not teach the kitten not to go near the cages?’ said
Beatrice. ‘The love-birds hang too high for her, I think; and if she
goes to the parrot, he will peck Miss Pussy so hard with his sharp beak
that she will not go near him again.’

‘I am glad that we have a cat at last,’ said grandmamma; ‘for there are
several mice in my storeroom, and yesterday I saw one in the
dining-room, eating some of the seed Bobby had dropped on the carpet.’

‘Mary says that there are mice in her pantry too, and cook told Mrs.
Dunne that we wanted a cat very much in the house,’ said Alice.

‘Then it is a very good thing that we have this cat,’ said Beatrice.
‘What name shall we call the kitten, grandmamma?’

‘As I hope that she will catch all our mice, shall we call her Mouser?’

‘Oh yes, grandmamma. Mouser is such a pretty name for her;’ and Beatrice
ran to her kitten, and called her ‘Mouser’ several times.

The kitten was sent into the kitchen during the children’s lessons; but
as soon as these were over, Alice and Beatrice asked leave to go and
fetch it, and after they had played with the cat some time, grandmamma
told them they must go out for a walk.

Alice and Beatrice kissed their dear little puss, and bade her good-bye,
and went out with Mary for their walk; and on their return, Mary went to
her dinner, and the little girls played with Mouser up and down the
gravel walk.

Alice, meanwhile, was running her hoop down some of the sloping walks,
and liked especially to make her hoop hop down the stone steps of each
of the different terraces. Alice was able to keep her hoop from falling,
although she made it jump down every step; and she was very proud of
doing this.

Wolf, the great dog, was chasing round and round the garden, now barking
at some sparrows, and now at Alice’s hoop; then Alice and Wolf had a
race together, and when they both came to the gravel walk where Beatrice
was playing with her kitten, Wolf gave a growl, and was going up to the
cat, which was in Beatrice’s arms; but Pussy was quicker than Wolf, for
with one leap she sprang up a tree close by, and was in the branches in
a minute.

Beatrice gave a cry of fear, for Wolf had startled her by coming up so
suddenly; and then his attack on her dear little kitten made her quite
afraid, and, half crying, Beatrice began to scold Wolf, and to call him
a very naughty dog.

Alice soon came up, and took hold of Wolf by the collar, for he was
barking and jumping up at the tree where the kitten had taken shelter;
but Wolf would not attend to Alice; and Beatrice was more frightened
about her little cat, and began to cry. Grandmamma had heard the noise,
and came running to help the children, and was soon able to make Wolf
leave the tree. As soon as the dog was gone away, grandmamma went to the
tree, and lifted down the trembling kitten, who seemed glad to take
refuge in her arms.

Alice had called Wolf away; and little Beatrice followed grandmamma
through the open window into the house, and was very glad to have her
little Mouser safe indoors again.

‘We must teach Wolf to be kind to pussy,’ said grandmamma to Beatrice,
giving her the kitten to take upstairs.

‘Please do, grandmamma,’ replied Beatrice, ready to cry again; and she
ran upstairs to take off her things, and to tell Mary all that had
happened.

Grandmamma went back to Alice, who was standing quietly on the gravel
walk with her hoop in one hand and holding Wolf by the collar with the
other.

‘You are a brave little girl,’ said grandmamma, ‘and have kept Wolf in
good order.’

Grandmamma then began to scold Wolf, and to talk to him; and the big dog
looked wistfully into his mistress’s face, as if he understood what she
said.

‘But come in now, my Alice; it is late, and dinner is waiting.’ And they
went indoors.


[Illustration]


------------------------------------------------------------------------


[Illustration]




                              CHAPTER XV.

                          INSTINCT OF ANIMALS.


‘GRANDMAMMA, will you tell me,’ asked Alice one day, ‘how the geese can
know when bad weather is coming? Ellen Laurence told me that they knew.’

‘They certainly do know, I believe, my dear Alice,’ replied her
grandmamma. ‘God has given animals the instinct to foresee changes of
weather.’

‘But what is instinct?’ inquired Alice.

‘Instinct is a knowledge that comes of itself. It is a gift natural to
animals, given, as I said before, by God; and thus animals know when
storms and bad weather are coming, and when an earthquake is about to
take place. Even dogs will try and give warning, when the house they
live in is in danger of falling; and it is a well-known fact that rats
will desert a leaky ship, birds will not build their nests in a falling
tree or any other dangerous place. I could tell you several stories of
the instinct of animals.’

‘Will you, then, tell us some stories about it, dear grandmamma?’ said
both the little girls.

Grandmamma thought a little, and then began as follows:—

‘There was an old woman, who lived all alone in a very old cottage; she
had a little dog, who was very fond of her, and always slept at the foot
of her bed. One stormy evening in autumn the old woman was washing her
feet in a tub close to the fire, before going to bed. The little dog ran
out of the house and ran in again; at last he came up to the old woman,
and barked at her, and whined, and then ran out of the house again. The
old woman took no notice of her dog, but continued washing her feet; but
the dog came in again, and looked uneasy and restless, and barked, and
at length he took hold of the woman’s dress with his teeth, and tried to
pull her away. The old woman pushed him away, and gave him a little slap
on his head, and told him to be quiet, and the dog ran out again on to
the road howling and whining; but he came back directly, and seemed
quite furious, for he seized the old woman by her clothes, and pulled
and tore, and looked so wild and strange, that his mistress took her
feet hastily out of the water, put them into her slippers, and followed
her dog through the open cottage door on to the road, to see what could
be the matter. She had hardly reached the road when a dreadful loud
noise made her turn round, and to her terror she saw that the chimney of
her old cottage had fallen in and part of the roof; she looked through
the still open door, and saw that her chair and tub had been crushed by
the falling bricks and mortar, and she knew that she herself had been
thus mercifully saved from being killed, thanks to the fidelity and
instinct of her little dog.’

‘What a nice story, dear grandmamma!’ said Alice; ‘and how clever the
dog was! But will you tell us some more about the cleverness of animals?
Are other animals as clever as dogs?’

‘Yes, dear child, many instances are told of the sagacity or cleverness
of other animals; but I think that dogs are the cleverest, for when
people have been buried in the snow, dogs are sent to find them out.’

‘Pray tell us how, grandmamma,’ begged Alice.

‘There are some very high hills or mountains in other countries, much
higher than our hills here, which are nearly always covered with snow,
and so cold that the snow is seldom melted. These mountains are called
the Alps, and divide France and Switzerland from Italy. (You will
remember, dear Alice, the chain of mountains you looked at in your map
this morning.) Travellers who are obliged to cross these high mountains
often lose their way in the deep snow, and at last get covered with
snow, and they would die, and indeed often do die, in the snow and cold.
On stormy and snowy nights, when travellers are exposed to greater
danger, good men, monks, who live on those mountains, go out with a
number of clever dogs in search of those people who may have lost their
way. These dogs, by dint of scratching and smelling at the snow, are
able to find out where the poor traveller has fallen, and has been
buried by the snow. They bark whenever they find one, and the good monks
come to their help, and dig out the half-frozen traveller, who otherwise
must have died.’

After listening attentively, Alice said—

‘How wonderful it is! I did not know that dogs were so clever and so
useful.’

‘But are cats as clever?’ asked Beatrice.

‘Cats are very knowing; but I do not think they have done so many clever
deeds as dogs; and people think that cats do not love their masters or
mistresses so much as dogs do.’

‘But how did little Mouser know how to climb up the tree when Wolf came
near her?’

‘That knowledge was natural to her; she knew by instinct that a dog
would hurt her, and therefore sprang up the tree as high as possible to
be out of his reach.

‘Wild animals are often much more knowing than those animals that live
with us. A young horse that has not been driven long will find his way
often much better in the dark than his driver; but an old horse, who has
been used to obey the rein all his life, does not trouble himself about
the road he is going, and goes wherever the rein guides him.’

‘How very odd that is!’ said Alice.

‘I will tell you a little tale of one of my horses in Russia. It was
about the end of April, I think, when the spring was beginning, and the
winter just over. The snow was gone, and so was the ice on the rivers,
except in some snug ditches, where ice was still to be found. You
remember that I have told you that the winter in Russia lasts nearly six
months.

‘The grass was beginning to grow, the birds beginning to sing and to
build their nests; but the roads were in a very bad state with soft mud
and deep pools of water. Well, one evening about six o’clock, the
bailiff’s wife came to me, and told me that her brother-in-law, who
lived in the valley close to the sea-coast, was very ill; and there were
no doctors near, and I was accustomed to go and visit the sick, and give
them medicine. So the woman begged me to go with her that evening to see
the sick man.

‘I asked her how we could go with such roads, and she said that if I
would let her, she could drive one of my horses in her own little light
cart, for no carriage would be safe.

‘A good horse was soon put to the cart, and I mounted the cart and let
the woman drive me. We had six good miles to drive—down hill at first
from very high ground (for I lived on a cliff that overlooked the sea),
and then through a very wild forest and some wilder bush-land. The light
cart and my willing horse took us safely there. I saw my patient and
gave him the medicines he required, and then we began our drive home.

‘But the daylight had faded, and it was nearly dark; we could not
distinguish our road from several others that went in many directions
across the wood. The bailiff’s wife was frightened, and soon owned to me
that she could not see to drive. But I was not uneasy, for I knew my
horse; so I told her to leave the reins quite loose, and to let the
horse take us home. She obeyed my order very unwillingly; and the horse,
feeling his head quite free, made a sudden turn into the right road, for
we were already on a wrong one, and from that moment we went safely on.

‘We had to go through a small brook where the water was rather deep; the
horse chose the safest road through the water, where the banks were the
lowest; he took us over a rather dangerous ditch, where the boards that
had served as a sort of bridge had been broken down in the winter, and
were partly supported by some frozen earth and ice; and then, when we
reached the firmer, better road, leading up the hill, my good horse
trotted steadily till he brought us safe to my own house door.

‘You may easily think that I ordered my horse a good supper of oats.’

‘Oh, grandmamma, why did you not bring that nice horse here? We should
have so liked to have him here.’

Grandmamma smiled and said, ‘Dear Alice, that is so long ago, he cannot
be alive.’

‘Tea is ready, ma’am,’ said Mary, opening the door.

‘Tea!’ said Alice; ‘we have only just had dinner. How quickly the
afternoon has gone! I do so like to listen to your stories, grandmamma;
and look, I have finished hemming my tea-cloth. I thought before that it
never would be done.’


------------------------------------------------------------------------


[Illustration]




                              CHAPTER XVI.

                  LENGTH OF DAY IN RUSSIA AND FINLAND.


THE autumn had come, and with it bad weather; storms and rain had come
too; but Alice and Beatrice found the days pass always happily.

They were rarely prevented going out, at least for a short time, every
day; for the broad terrace of the sunny garden was always dry; and there
they played with their favourite dog and kitten, and ran up and down
with them.

Wolf and Mouser had become good friends, and played together. When Wolf
pretended to go to sleep, Mouser would creep up softly and slyly to him,
and, putting out a soft paw, would lift one of the dog’s ears; whereupon
Wolf suddenly awoke, shaking his ears with a friendly bark; then Mouser
scampered away and hid behind a bush till Wolf passed, then she rushed
out and leaped upon the dog’s back, to Beatrice’s great delight.

Wolf seemed fond of the playful kitten, and let her play with him, and
even eat from the same plate.

Alice and Beatrice still ran races with their hoops up and down the
broad gravel walk, down the sloping paths, and round the garden, and up
again to the wide terrace.

Grandmamma was either walking in the garden or sitting at one of the
windows overlooking it.

Indoors their pretty parrot was a never-failing source of pleasure to
both the children.

The love-birds they did not care for much, and left them to their
grandmamma.

The parrot now answered them when they spoke, and repeated all that the
children had taught him. He imitated every sound he heard: he barked
like Wolf, he mewed like the cat, he called ‘cuckoo’ like the clock; for
in the dining-room there was a pretty German clock carved in black wood,
where a little cuckoo came out of a little door in the clock, and called
‘cuckoo’ as many times as the hour. One day he startled Beatrice by
coughing like grandmamma, for she could not find out for a long time who
it was that had coughed. Mary told her how frightened she had been one
morning, on going into the dining-room, in the dark, to hear ‘Who is
there?’ whispered so low, but so like some one speaking, that she was at
first quite afraid. Sometimes the parrot tried to whistle a tune, which
he had heard on board ship, no doubt, and he really did it very well.

The parrot liked the little girls to come and talk to him, and was very
tame to them. He always greeted them when they came down to breakfast
with a loud ‘Good morning;’ and he waited patiently for a piece of
biscuit or sugar, which Beatrice never forgot to give him.

Whilst Alice attended to his food and cleaned out the cage, Beatrice
opened the cage door, and the parrot came out, and hopped outside, and
let Beatrice smooth down his pretty grey feathers, and he put his beak
against her hand, but he never bit her little fingers.

‘Grandmamma,’ said Alice, ‘you told me once that the days in Russia were
so very long in summer and so very short in winter. How much longer and
shorter are they than our days here?’

‘The longest day here in England, which is June the 21st, is reckoned to
be sixteen hours and thirty-four minutes long. Now, can you reckon how
much remains out of twenty-four hours for the night?’

‘Oh, grandmamma, that is very difficult.’

‘Well, then, I will tell you, seven hours and twenty-six minutes. Now in
Russia, or I should better say in that part of Russia where I lived, the
longest day was about nineteen or twenty hours long; and as there is a
long twilight, which comes before the rising of the sun, and follows its
setting, there is scarcely any darkness, and everybody can go to bed
without a candle.’

‘What is twilight, grandmamma?’

‘Twilight is an uncertain second light, or a light that is something
between sunlight and night.

‘The peasants, or poor people, who work in the fields, rise with the sun
in summer, and go to bed with it; but as the night is too short to rest
them enough after their many hours of labour, they divide the day into
three parts for their work, making a long rest from eight till ten for
their breakfast, and from one to four or five in the afternoon for their
dinner, and then work till quite late at night. They sleep generally
once in the day, which is very necessary for them.

‘One beautiful summer day, in the month of June, I crossed the Gulf of
Finland, from Helsingfors to Revel, in a steamboat belonging to the
Crown, which was much slower than a common passenger steamer, as all
things belonging to the Russian Crown are very ill managed.

‘Look at the map, my Alice, and you will see that Helsingfors lies more
to the north of Revel; and thus the days there in summer are longer
still, and the days in winter shorter, for the more north we go, the
longer are the days in summer and shorter in winter.

‘Helsingfors is a strange town, with narrow arms of the sea running into
it and partly round it, so that the largest ships can come close to the
quay or landing-place and to the streets. It is nothing but rock, not
cliffs like ours here, but immense rounded lumps of granite, piled like
monster stones one upon the other. No grass—nothing, in short, but moss
can grow in the crevices; but the people are very industrious, and they
have brought earth in their little boats, and have made gardens on the
rocks, and planted flowers and shrubs. The spring is very late there,
the winter very long; for the autumn comes early, so that the summer is
very short. No corn can grow on that rocky coast; but stunted fir-trees
manage to spring up in sheltered cracks and crevices, and force their
roots between the rocks.

‘Farther inland there is more earth and less rock: but little corn is
grown in this cold country, and most of the corn for bread is brought
over the sea to Finland, and in exchange the Finns sell salted fish and
wood from the forests in the interior of the country; and splendid
blocks and pillars of granite are sent to St. Petersburg from Finland.

‘You would be amused if you could see the loaves of bread the Finns make
during the summer for the whole year. These loaves are large flat rings,
which are baked as hard as ships’ biscuit. They are strung on poles, and
in summer hang up outside the house in the sun, and in winter across the
ceiling in the kitchen, and are used as they want them.’

‘But how do the people eat this hard bread?’

‘These rings are broken into small pieces, with a hammer, I believe, and
are soaked in the soup or milk that they have.

‘But I have forgotten that I was telling you about my crossing the gulf.
Well, we left Helsingfors about six o’clock in the evening, and instead
of reaching Revel at ten, we did not arrive there till between one and
two in the morning. All the passengers remained sitting on deck the
whole time; it was not dark any part of the time, but there was a
strange soft light in the sky, which was delightful. As we approached
Revel, which looks beautiful from the sea, and stands high, above a fine
bay, the sun rose, which made it still more beautiful. There were but
few passengers on board; and when we had landed, they dispersed quickly
to their different homes near the harbour. I alone had to cross the
whole length of the little old town to reach my home on the high hill or
cliff which forms part of the town, and overlooks the sea.

‘A young Russian sailor shouldered my bag: my box was left at the
custom-house to be examined, for no one beside the guard was awake
there; and, followed by this man, I walked through the deserted silent
streets, where cats and jackdaws and pigeons were enjoying their freedom
undisturbed.

‘It was a strange walk at that early hour of the morning, and pleased me
much. I could not help thinking how little real care was taken of the
sleeping town—not that it seemed necessary, spite of all the orders of
its jealous, suspicious Emperor; for, only when I reached the square at
the end of my long walk, I found two sentinels pacing up and down in
front of the governor’s house, and they were the first and only sign of
that strict Russian care which the Emperor thinks he enforces throughout
his large empire.

‘How easily could any enemy have entered the sleeping town! and any one
could have opened the unfastened doors and shutterless windows of each
silent house; but there is one comfort in that part of the country,
robberies and housebreaking are not known, and my doors and windows were
never fastened even in the long dark nights.’

‘But there are no robbers here?’ asked Alice, anxiously.

‘No, my dear child; in beautiful Devonshire, at least in this part of
it, we are as safe as in the Baltic provinces, where Revel lies.’


[Illustration]


------------------------------------------------------------------------


[Illustration]




                             CHAPTER XVII.

            PATIENCE AND PERSEVERANCE MAKE ALL THINGS EASY.


‘WHEN will Christmas come?’ asked Alice one morning, instead of
attending to her sum.

‘Christmas will come very soon, Alice, but you must think of your sum
now,’ said grandmamma. ‘I cannot talk to you about anything till your
lessons are over.’

‘Please, grandmamma, tell me first how many weeks there are till
Christmas?’ asked Alice.

‘Attend to your sum, Alice,’ repeated her grandmamma. But Alice instead
of obeying began to cry, and said—

‘I cannot do this sum, it is so difficult.’

‘Bring your slate here;’ and Alice did so, and grandmamma said, ‘What is
difficult?—show me.’

‘I do not know what nine times seven are?’

‘Not know what nine times seven are? Think a little, dear child; you
know it well, because you said your multiplication of nine to me only
yesterday. What is seven times nine?’

‘Seven times nine are sixty-three; but I want to know what nine times
seven are?’

‘The same thing—sixty-three!’

‘So it is;’ and Alice laughed, but soon began to cry again; and when
grandmamma asked her what was the matter now, she only sobbed the more,
and could not speak at first. At last she said with many a sob,’ I
cannot learn this long piece of poetry, and do these three sums, and
learn my spelling, in time to go out with you this morning.’

‘Why not, my little girl?’ said grandmamma, gently. ‘I have never seen
you shed a tear over your lessons before.’

‘Because—because—’ and Alice began to cry again.

‘Crying will not help you, Alice; wipe away those naughty tears and
listen to me.

‘I know that you did not begin your lessons when I told you, for you
remained talking to your parrot, and lost some time. But if you make
haste and begin, and if you do not cry, you will do them easily. Look at
the clock; you see that you have two hours, for I am not going out till
twelve; now try and waste no more time.

‘But you must not try to do all at once, or even to think of all at
once; begin and do each in its turn. Learn your piece of poetry first,
and think only of that; and when you know it, look at the clock, but not
before, and see how long you have been, then take your two other sums,
and do them without looking off your slate. Your spelling will not take
you long.

‘Try and do exactly as I tell you, and let no tears fall on your book or
slate.’

Alice smiled, and giving grandmamma a kiss, sat down with her book in
hand, and in less than half an hour she had learnt three verses of her
piece of poetry by heart. She then took her slate, saying to herself, ‘I
like to do sums, and so does grandmamma,’ and one by one she did them,
then proved them right, all but one figure in the last, it was always
wrong. ‘I shall never be ready,’ said the little girl again; but on
second thoughts she resolved to _try_, and in a few minutes she found
out her mistake, and now all the sums were right.

Her spelling was quite easy; she had only to read the words over twice,
and she knew them all. And when she looked at the clock, Alice saw that
she had been but little more than one hour; and taking her books and
slate, she ran full of joy to her grandmamma.

‘I am ready, grandmamma; I have finished everything. I know my lessons;
may I say them to you now? I am so glad I did as you told me.’

‘I too am very glad, my dear child,’ said her grandmamma, kissing her
tenderly.

Alice then said her lessons extremely well, and her sums were praised.
Then her grandmamma said, ‘You must never think of _how_ much you have
to do, without remembering how much time you have to do it in.’

From this time little occurred to tell of; but the little girls were
very happy, and liked to stay with their grandmamma in the country
still, although the storms of autumn had stripped the trees of their
leaves, and the winter was coming on, and the garden had no flowers or
fruit.

The sun, however, still shone bright, and the weather still was very
mild; and they were able, nearly daily, to take longer walks than in the
summer, and go much farther among the pretty valleys and high hills of
Devonshire, and they learned to love their grandmamma’s pretty home more
and more.

The two little girls looked forward to Christmas with great delight, for
it was to bring their dear mamma to them.

Alice and Beatrice bid their little readers now good-bye, wishing them
as happy a Christmas as they hope to have themselves.


[Illustration]




        UNWIN BROTHERS, THE GRESHAM PRESS, CHILWORTH AND LONDON.


------------------------------------------------------------------------




                            _A CATALOGUE OF

                         NEW & POPULAR WORKS_,


                              AND OF BOOKS

                             FOR CHILDREN,

      SUITABLE FOR PRESENTS, SUNDAY SCHOOL LIBRARIES, AND PRIZES.


[Illustration]


                               NEW YORK:
                          E. P. DUTTON & CO.,
                             713, BROADWAY.
           GRIFFITH & FARRAN, ST. PAUL’S CHURCHYARD, LONDON.
    45M.3 81. _Cancelling all previous Editions of this Catalogue._


------------------------------------------------------------------------


                               CONTENTS.

                                                       PAGE
            New Books and New Editions                    3
            Poetry                                        5
            Fashionable Work for Ladies                   6
            Handbooks for Every Household                 6
            New Fiction                                   6
            Stanesby’s Illuminated Gift Books             7
            Birthday Books                                8
            Manuals on Confirmation, &c.                  9
            New Books and New Editions for Children       9
            Three Dollar Fifty Cent Books                10
            Two Dollar Fifty Cent Books                  10
            Two Dollar Books                             10
            One Dollar Fifty Cent Books                  11
            One Dollar Twenty-five Cent Books            13
            Seventy-five Cent Books                      18
            One Dollar Books                             19
            Sixty Cent Books                             22
            Fifty Cent Books                             22
            Forty Cent Books                             23
            The Favourite Library                        24
            Durable Nursery Books                        25
            Works for Distribution                       26
            Tiny Natural History Series                  26
            Taking Tales                                 27
            Our Boy’s Little Library                     27
            Our Girl’s Little Library                    27
            Educational Works                            28


------------------------------------------------------------------------


                      NEW BOOKS AND NEW EDITIONS.


AFGHANISTAN: a Short Account of Afghanistan, its history and our
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THE CLASSICS FOR THE MILLION; being an Epitome in English of the Works
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THE OTHER SIDE: How it Struck Us. Being Sketches of a Winter Visit to
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HEROES OF HISTORY AND LEGEND. Translated by JOHN LANCELOT SHADWELL from
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                  *       *       *       *       *

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                  *       *       *       *       *

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                  *       *       *       *       *


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                  *       *       *       *       *


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                  *       *       *       *       *

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                  *       *       *       *       *


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                  *       *       *       *       *

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=My Mother’s Diamonds.= By MARIA J. GREER. With a Frontispiece by A.
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                  *       *       *       *       *

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                  *       *       *       *       *

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                  *       *       *       *       *

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                  *       *       *       *       *

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                  *       *       *       *       *


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=Journey to the Centre of the Earth.= Authorized Translation. From the
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                  *       *       *       *       *


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=Gentleman Cadet (The)=: HIS CAREER AND ADVENTURES AT THE ROYAL ACADEMY,
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=Hair-Breadth Escapes=, or THE ADVENTURES OF THREE BOYS IN SOUTH AFRICA.
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=Heroes of the Crusades.= By BARBARA HUTTON.

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=Household Stories from the land of Hofer=, or POPULAR MYTHS OF TIROL,
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=Swift and Sure=, or THE CAREER OF TWO BROTHERS. By A. ELWES.

=Tales of the Saracens.= By BARBARA HUTTON.

=Tales of the White Cockade.= By BARBARA HUTTON.

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   _One Dollar and Fifty Cents each, cloth, Illustrated, gilt edges._

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            _Two Dollars each, cloth elegant, Illustrated._

=Extraordinary Nursery Rhymes=; New, yet Old. Translated from the
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=Little Gipsy (The).= By ELIE SAUVAGE. Translated by ANNA BLACKWELL.
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=Norstone=; or, RIFTS IN THE CLOUDS. By M. E. HATTERSLEY.

=Merry Songs for Little Voices.= Words by Mrs. BRODERIP. Music by THOMAS
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=Stories from the Old and New Testaments.= By the Rev. B. H. DRAPER.
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 _One Dollar and Fifty Cents each, cloth elegant, with Illustrations._

=Alda Graham; and her Brother Philip.= By E. MARRYAT NORRIS.

“=Buttons.=“ THE TRIALS AND TRAVELS OF A YOUNG GENTLEMAN. By ASCOTT R.
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=Casimir, the Little Exile.= By CAROLINE PEACHEY.

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=Mandarin’s Daughter (The)=: A STORY OF THE GREAT TAEPING REBELLION. By
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=Modern British Plutarch (The)=, or LIVES OF MEN DISTINGUISHED IN THE
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=Oak Staircase, (The)= or THE STORIES OF LORD AND LADY DESMOND; a
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=Royal Umbrella (The).= By MAJOR A. F. P. HARCOURT, Author of “The
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=Tales and Legends of Saxony and Lusatia.= By W. WESTALL.

=Theodora=: a Tale for Girls. By EMILIA MARRYAT NORRIS.

=Zipporah, the Jewish Maiden.= By M. E. BEWSHER.

                  *       *       *       *       *


  _One Dollar and Twenty-five Cents plain; or coloured plates and gilt
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                     elegant, with Illustrations._

=Aunt Jenny’s American Pets.= By CATHERINE C. HOPLEY.

=Broderip (Mrs.) Crosspatch=, the Cricket, and the Counterpane.

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=Broderip (Mrs.) Crosspatch=, =Tiny Tadpole=, and other Tales.

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=Cosmorama=: THE MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF ALL NATIONS OF THE WORLD
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=Distant Homes=, or THE GRAHAM FAMILY IN NEW ZEALAND. By Mrs. T. E.
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=Early Days of English Princes.= By Mrs. RUSSELL GRAY.

=Echoes of an Old Bell.= By the Hon. AUGUSTA BETHELL.

=Facts to Correct Fancies=, or SHORT NARRATIVES OF REMARKABLE WOMEN.

=Fairy Land=, or RECREATION FOR THE RISING GENERATION, in Prose and
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=Feathers and Fairies=, or STORIES FROM THE REALMS OF FANCY. By the Hon.
    AUGUSTA BETHELL.

=Garden (The)=, or FREDERICK’S MONTHLY INSTRUCTION FOR THE MANAGEMENT
    AND FORMATION OF A FLOWER GARDEN. With Illustrations by SOWERBY.
    ($1.75 _coloured_.)

=Hacco the Dwarf=, or THE TOWER ON THE MOUNTAIN, and other Tales. By
    LADY LUSHINGTON.

=Happy Home (The)=, or THE CHILDREN AT THE RED HOUSE. By LADY
    LUSHINGTON.

=Helen in Switzerland.= By the Hon. AUGUSTA BETHELL.

=Lightsome and the Little Golden Lady.= Written and Illustrated by C. H.
    BENNETT. Twenty-four Engravings.

=Nursery Times=, or STORIES ABOUT THE LITTLE ONES. By an Old Nurse.

=Peep at the Pixies (A)=, or LEGENDS OF THE WEST. By Mrs. BRAY.

=Seven Birthdays (The)=, or THE CHILDREN OF FORTUNE. By KATHLEEN KNOX.

=Starlight Stories=, TOLD TO BRIGHT EYES AND LISTENING EARS. By FANNY
    LABLACHE.

=Stories of Edward=, AND HIS LITTLE FRIENDS.

=Tales of Magic and Meaning.= Written and Illustrated by ALFRED
    CROWQUILL.


      _One Dollar and Twenty-five Cents each, cloth elegant, with
                   Illustrations by eminent Artists._

=Cast Adrift=, the Story of a Waif. By Mrs. HERBERT MARTIN.

=Castles and their Heroes.= By BARBARA HUTTON.

=Clement’s Trial and Victory=, or SOWING AND REAPING. By M. E. B. (Mrs.
    GELLIE). Third Thousand.

=College Days at Oxford.= By the Rev. C. H. ADAMS.

=Faggots for the Fireside=, or TALES OF FACT AND FANCY. By PETER PARLEY.

=Great and Small=; SCENES IN THE LIFE OF CHILDREN. Translated from the
    French by Miss HARRIET POOLE. 61 Illustrations.

=Grey Towers=; or AUNT HETTY’S WILL. By M. M. POLLARD.

=Isabel’s Difficulties=, or LIGHT ON THE DAILY PATH. By M. R. CAREY.

=Joachim’s Spectacles=: A LEGEND OF FLORENTHAL. By M. & C. LEE.

=Kingston’s (W. H. G.) Fred Markham in Russia=, or, THE BOY TRAVELLERS
    IN THE LAND OF THE CZAR.

=Kingston’s (W. H. G.) Manco the Peruvian Chief.=

=Kingston’s (W. H. G.) Mark Seaworth; a Tale of the Indian Ocean.=

=Kingston’s (W. H. G.) Peter the Whaler=; HIS EARLY LIFE AND ADVENTURES
    IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS.

=Kingston’s (W. H. G.) Salt Water=, or NEIL D’ARCY’S SEA LIFE AND
    ADVENTURES.

=Lee (Mrs.) Anecdotes of the Habits and Instincts of Animale.=

=Lee (Mrs.) Anecdotes of the Habits and Instincts of Birds, Reptiles,
    and Fishes.=

=Lee (Mrs.) Adventures in Australia=, or THE WANDERINGS OF CAPTAIN
    SPENCER IN THE BUSH AND THE WILDS.

=Lee (Mrs.) The African Wanderers=, or CARLOS AND ANTONIO.

=Little May’s Friends=, or COUNTRY PETS AND PASTIMES. By ANNIE WHITTEM.

=Millicent and Her Cousins.= By the Hon. AUGUSTA BETHELL.

=Mudge and Her Chicks=: A Story of Children’s Home Doings. By a BROTHER
    AND SISTER.

=New Girl (The)=, or THE RIVALS; a Tale of School Life. By M. E. B.
    (Mrs. GELLIE).

=Nimpo’s Troubles.= By OLIVE THORNE MILLER, Author of “Little Folks in
    Feather and Fur.”

=North Pole (The)=; AND HOW CHARLIE WILSON DISCOVERED IT. By the Author
    of “Realms of the Ice King,” &c.

=Our Old Uncle’s Home=; AND WHAT THE BOYS DID THERE. By Mother CAREY.

=Queen Dora=: THE LIFE AND LESSONS OF A LITTLE GIRL. By KATHLEEN KNOX.

=Rosamond Fane=, or THE PRISONERS OF ST. JAMES. By M. and C. LEE.

=Talent in Tatters=, or SOME VICISSITUDES IN THE LIFE OF AN ENGLISH BOY.
    By HOPE WRAYTHE.

=The Triumphs of Steam=, or STORIES FROM THE LIVES OF WATT, ARKWRIGHT,
    AND STEPHENSON.

=The Whispers of a Shell=, or STORIES OF THE SEA. By FRANCES FREELING
    BRODERIP.


  _One Dollar and Twenty-five Cents each, cloth elegant, Illustrated._

=Among the Zulus.= By LIEUT-COL. DRAYSON. Cloth, gilt edges.

=Attractive Picture Book (The).= A New Gift Book from the Old Corner,
    containing numerous Illustrations by eminent Artists.

    _Bound in Elegant Paper Boards, Royal 4to, price $1·25 each plain;
    $2·00 coloured; $3·00 mounted on cloth and coloured._

=Berries and Blossoms=: a Verse Book for Young People. By T. WESTWOOD.

=Bible Illustrations=, or A DESCRIPTION OF MANNERS AND CUSTOMS PECULIAR
    TO THE EAST. By the Rev. B. H. DRAPER. Revised by Dr. KITTO.

=The Bird and Insects’ Post Office.= By ROBERT BLOOMFIELD, Author of
    “Rural Tales,” &c. Illustrated with Thirty-five Wood Engravings.
    Crown 4to., paper boards, with Chromo side. (or cloth elegant,
    $1·75.)

=British History Briefly Told (The), and a description of the Ancient
    Customs, Sports, and Pastimes of the English.=

=Four Seasons (The)=; A Short Account of the Structure of Plants, being
    Four Lectures written for the Working Men’s Institute, Paris. With
    Illustrations. Imperial 16mo.

=Family Bible Newly Opened (The)=; WITH UNCLE GOODWIN’S ACCOUNT OF IT.
    By JEFFREYS TAYLOR. Fcap. 8vo.

=Glimpses of Nature=, AND OBJECTS OF INTEREST DESCRIBED DURING A VISIT
    TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. By Mrs. LOUDON. Forty-one Illustrations.

=History of the Robins (The).= By Mrs. TRIMMER. In Words of One
    Syllable. Edited by the Rev. CHARLES SWETE, M.A.

=Historical Acting Charades=, or AMUSEMENTS FOR WINTER EVENINGS. By the
    Author of “Cat and Dog,” etc. Fcap. 8vo.

=Infant Amusements=, or HOW TO MAKE A NURSERY HAPPY. With Practical
    Hints on the Moral and Physical Training of Children. By W. H. G.
    KINGSTON.

=Little Margaret’s Ride to the Isle of Wight=; or, THE WONDERFUL ROCKING
    HORSE. By Mrs. FREDERICK BROWN. With Eight Illustrations in
    chromo-lithography, by HELEN S. TATHAM. Crown 4to., cloth.

=Man’s Boot (The)=, AND OTHER STORIES IN WORDS OF ONE SYLLABLE.
    Illustrations by HARRISON WEIR. 4to., gilt edges.

=The Mine=, or SUBTERRANEAN WONDERS. An Account of the Operations of the
    Miner and the Products of his Labours.

=Modern Sphinx (The).= A Collection of ENIGMAS, CHARADES, REBUSES,
    DOUBLE AND TRIPLE ACROSTICS, ANAGRAMS, LOGOGRIPHS, METAGRAMS, VERBAL
    PUZZLES, CONUNDRUMS, etc. Fcap. 8vo.

=Sunbeam=: a Fairy Tale. By Mrs. PIETZKER.

=Sylvia’s New Home=, a Story for the Young. By Mrs. J. F. B. FIRTH.

=Taking Tales.= Edited by W. H. G. KINGSTON. In Plain Language and Large
    Type. New Edition. Two vols.

    May also be had in 4 vols, 50c. each; and 12 parts, 25c. and 20c.
    each.


               _One Dollar and Twenty-five Cents, plain._

=Bear King (The)=: a Narrative confided to the Marines by JAMES
    GREENWOOD. With Illustrations by ERNEST GRISET. Small 4to.

=Familiar Natural History.= By Mrs. R. LEE. With 42 Illustrations by
    HARRISON WEIR.

    ⁂ Also, in Two Vols., entitled “British Animals and Birds,” “Foreign
    Animals and Birds.” 75c. each, plain; $1.00 coloured.

=Old Nurse’s Book of Rhymes, Jingles, and Ditties.= Illustrated by C. H.
    BENNETT. Ninety Engravings.

=Our Soldiers=, or ANECDOTES OF THE CAMPAIGNS AND GALLANT DEEDS OF THE
    BRITISH ARMY DURING THE REIGN OF HER MAJESTY QUEEN VICTORIA. By W.
    H. G. KINGSTON. With Frontispiece. New and Revised Edition. Eighth
    Thousand.

=Our Sailors=, or ANECDOTES OF THE ENGAGEMENTS AND GALLANT DEEDS OF THE
    BRITISH NAVY. With Frontispiece. New and Revised Edition. Eighth
    Thousand.

=The Favourite Picture Book and Nursery Companion.= Compiled anew by
    UNCLE CHARLIE. With 450 Illustrations by eminent artists. In Two
    Vols., Cloth elegant.

    May also be had in the following styles. One Vol., Cloth, $2.00, or
    coloured Illustrations, gilt, $4.00. Four Parts, paper covers, 75c.
    each, or coloured Illustrations, $1.25 each.

=Fruits of Enterprise=, EXHIBITED IN THE TRAVELS OF BELZONI IN EGYPT AND
    NUBIA. With Six Engravings by BIRKET FOSTER.


 _Seventy-five Cents each plain, Super Royal 16mo, cloth elegant, with
              Illustrations by Harrison Weir and others._

=Adventures and Experiences of Biddy Dorking and of the Fat Frog.=
    Edited by Mrs. S. C. HALL.

=Amy’s Wish, and What Came of It.= By Mrs. TYLEE.

=Animals and their Social Powers.= By MARY TURNER-ANDREWES.

=Cat and Dog=, or MEMOIRS OF PUSS AND THE CAPTAIN.

=Crib and Fly=: a Tale of Two Terriers.

=Doll and Her Friends (The)=, or MEMOIRS OF THE LADY SERAPHINA. By the
    Author of “Cat and Dog.”

=Early Dawn (The)=, or STORIES TO THINK ABOUT.

=Every Inch a King=, or THE STORY OF REX AND HIS FRIENDS. By Mrs. J.
    WORTHINGTON BLISS.

=Fairy Gifts=, or A WALLET OF WONDERS. By KATHLEEN KNOX.

=Funny Fables for Little Folks.=

=Fun and Earnest=, or RHYMES WITH REASON. By D’ARCY W. THOMPSON.
    Illustrated by C. H. BENNETT. Imperial 16mo.

=Gerty and May.= Eighth Thousand.


                         _By the same Author._

=Granny’s Story Box.= New Edition. With 20 Engravings.

=Children of the Parsonage.=

=Our White Violet.=

=Sunny Days, OR A MONTH AT THE GREAT STOWE.=

=The New Baby.=


=Jack Frost and Betty Snow=; with other Tales for Wintry Nights and
    Rainy Days.

=Lost in the Jungle=; A TALE OF THE INDIAN MUTINY. By AUGUSTA MARRYAT.

=Madelon.= By ESTHER CARR.

=Neptune=: or THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A NEWFOUNDLAND DOG.

=Norris (Emilia Marryat.)= A Week by Themselves.


                         _By the same Author._

=Adrift on the Sea.=

=Geoffry’s Great Fault.=

=Seaside Home.=

=Snowed Up.=

=Stolen Cherries.=

=What became of Tommy.=

=Odd Stories about Animals=: told in Short and Easy Words.

=Our Home in the Marsh Land=, or DAYS OF AULD LANG SYNE. By E. L. F.

=Scripture Histories for Little Children.= With Sixteen Illustrations by
    JOHN GILBERT.

    CONTENTS:—The History of Joseph—History of Moses—History of our
    Saviour—The Miracles of Christ.

=Secret of Wrexford (The)=, or STELLA DESMOND’S SECRET. By ESTHER CARR.

=Tales from Catland.= Dedicated to the Young Kittens of England. By an
    OLD TABBY. Seventh Thousand.

=Talking Bird (The)=, or THE LITTLE GIRL WHO KNEW WHAT WAS GOING TO
    HAPPEN. By M. and E. KIRBY.

=Ten of Them=, or THE CHILDREN OF DANEHURST. By Mrs. R. M. BRAY.

“=Those Unlucky Twins!=“ By A. LYSTER.

=Tiny Stories for Tiny Readers in Tiny Words.=

=Tittle Tattle=; and other Stories for Children. By the Author of
    “Little Tales for Tiny Tots,” etc.

=Trottie’s Story Book=: True Tales in Short Words and Large Type.

=Tuppy=, or THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A DONKEY.

=Wandering Blindfold=, or A BOY’S TROUBLES. By MARY ALBERT.

                  *       *       *       *       *


         _One Dollar each, with Illustrations, cloth elegant._

=Adventures of Kwei, the Chinese Girl.= By M.E.B. (Mrs. GELLIE).

=Davenport’s (Mrs.) Our Birthdays=, AND HOW TO IMPROVE THEM.

    =Davenport’s (Mrs.) The Holidays Abroad=, or RIGHT AT LAST.

=William Allair=, or RUNNING AWAY TO SEA. By Mrs. H. WOOD.

=Among the Zulus=: the Adventures of Hans Sterk, South African Hunter
    and Pioneer. By LIEUT.-COLONEL A. W. DRAYSON, R.A.

=Boy’s Own Toy Maker (The)=: a Practical Illustrated Guide to the useful
    employment of Leisure Hours. By E. LANDELLS. 200 Illustrations.

=The Cruise of Ulysses and his Men=; or, Tales and Adventures from the
    Odyssey, for Boys and Girls. By C. M. BELL. With Seven Illustrations
    by P. PRIOLO. Fcap. 8vo.

=Girl’s Own Toy Maker (The)=, AND BOOK OF RECREATION. By E. and A.
    LANDELLS. With 200 Illustrations.

=The Guests of Flowers=: A Botanical Sketch. By Mrs. MEETKERKE. With
    Prefatory Letter By Dr. THEODORE KERNER. Cloth, small 4to.

=Little Child’s Fable Book.= Arranged Progressively in One, Two and
    Three Syllables. 16 Page Illus. ($1·50 _coloured, gilt edges_.)

=Little Pilgrim (The).= Revised and Illustrated by HELEN PETRIE.

=Model Yachts, and Model Yacht Sailing=: HOW TO BUILD, RIG, AND SAIL A
    SELF-ACTING MODEL YACHT. By JAS. E. WALTON, V.M.Y.C. Fcap. 4to.,
    with 58 Woodcuts.

=Silly Peter=: A QUEER STORY OF A DAFT BOY, A PRINCE, AND A MILLER’S
    DAUGHTER. By W. NORRIS.

=Spring Time=; or, Words in Season. A Book for Girls. By SIDNEY COX.
    Third Edition.

                  *       *       *       *       *

               A NEW UNIFORM SERIES OF ONE DOLLAR WORKS.
                  _Cloth elegant, fully Illustrated._

=African Pets=: or, CHATS ABOUT OUR ANIMAL FRIENDS IN NATAL, WITH A
    SKETCH OF KAFFIR LIFE. By F. CLINTON PARRY.

=Bunchy=: or, THE CHILDREN OF SCARSBROOK FARM. By Miss E. C. PHILLIPS,
    Author of “The Orphans,” &c.

=A Daring Voyage across the Atlantic=, by Two Americans, the Brothers
    ANDREWS, in a small Boat, the _Nautilus_. The Log of the Voyage by
    Captain WILLIAM A. ANDREWS, with Introduction and Notes by Dr.
    MACAULAY. Editor of the _Boy’s Own Paper_.

=Hilda and her Doll.= By E. C. PHILLIPS, Author of “Bunchy,” &c.

=The House on the Bridge=, and other Tales. By C. E. BOWEN, Author of
    “Among the Brigands,” &c.

=Kitty and Bo=: or, THE STORY OF A VERY LITTLE GIRL AND BOY. By A. T.
    With Frontispiece.

=On the Leads=: or, WHAT THE PLANETS SAW. By Mrs. A. A. STRANGE BUTSON.

=Two Rose Trees=: The Adventures of Twin Sisters. By Mrs. MINNIE
    DOUGLAS.

=Ways and Tricks of Animals=, WITH STORIES ABOUT AUNT MARY’S PETS. By
    MARY HOOPER.

                  *       *       *       *       *


                         COMICAL PICTURE BOOKS.
           _One Dollar each, Coloured Plates, fancy boards._

=English Struwweipeter (The)=: or PRETTY STORIES AND FUNNY PICTURES FOR
    LITTLE CHILDREN. After the celebrated German Work, Dr. HEINRICH
    HOFFMANN. Twenty-sixth Edition. Twenty-four pages of Illustrations.

=Funny Picture Book (The)=; or, 25 FUNNY LITTLE LESSONS. A free
    translation from the German of “DER KLEINE A.B.C. SCHÜTZ.”

=Loves of Tom Tucker and Little Bo-Peep.= Written and Illustrated by
    THOMAS HOOD.

=Spectropia=, or SURPRISING SPECTRAL ILLUSIONS, showing Ghosts
    everywhere, and of any Colour. By J. H. BROWN.

=Upside Down=: a Series of Amusing Pictures from Sketches by the late W.
    MCCONNELL, with Verses by THOMAS HOOD.

                  *       *       *       *       *

         _One Dollar each, cloth elegant, with Illustrations._

=Fanny and Her Mamma=, or EASY LESSONS FOR CHILDREN.

=Good in Everything=, or THE EARLY HISTORY OF GILBERT HARLAND. By Mrs.
    BARWELL.

=Little Lessons for Little Learners=, in Words of One Syllable. By Mrs.
    BARWELL.

=Mamma’s Bible Stories=, FOR HER LITTLE BOYS AND GIRLS.

=Mamma’s Bible Stories (A Sequel to).=

=Mamma’s Lessons=, FOR HER LITTLE BOYS AND GIRLS.

=Silver Swan (The)=: a Fairy Tale. By MADAME DE CHATELAIN.

=Tales of School Life.= By AGNES LOUDON.

=Wonders of Home, in Eleven Stories (The).= By GRANDFATHER GREY.

                  *       *       *       *       *


                           _One Dollar each._

=Confessions of a Lost Dog (The).= Reported by her Mistress, FRANCES
    POWER COBBE. With a Photograph of the Dog from Life, by FRANK HAES.

=Home Amusements=: a Choice Collection of Riddles, Charades, Conundrums,
    Parlour Games, and Forfeits.

=How to Make Dolls’ Furniture= AND TO FURNISH A DOLL’S HOUSE. With 70
    Illustrations. Small 4to.

=Illustrated Paper Model Maker.= By E. LANDELLS.

=Scenes of Animal Life and Character=, FROM NATURE AND RECOLLECTION. In
    Twenty Plates. By J. B. 4to, fancy boards.

=Surprising Adventures of the Clumsy Boy Crusoe (The).= By CHARLES H.
    ROSS. With Twenty-three Coloured Illustrations.

                  *       *       *       *       *


                       UNIFORM IN SIZE AND STYLE.

         _Sixty Cents each, cloth elegant, fully Illustrated._

=Angelo=; or, THE PINE FOREST IN THE ALPS. By GERALDINE E. JEWSBURY. 5th
    Thousand.

=Aunt Annette’s Stories to Ada.= By ANNETTE A. SALAMAN.

=Brave Nelly=; or, WEAK HANDS AND A WILLING HEART. By M.E.B. (Mrs.
    GELLIE). Fifth Thousand.

=Featherland=; or, HOW THE BIRDS LIVED AT GREENLAWN. By G. M. FENN. 4th
    Thousand.

=Humble Life=: a Tale of HUMBLE HOMES. By the Author of “Gerty and May,”
    &c.

=Kingston’s (W. H. G.) Child of the Wreck=: or, THE LOSS OF THE ROYAL
    GEORGE.

=Lee’s (Mrs. R.) Playing at Settlers=; or, THE FAGGOT HOUSE.

=Lee’s (Mrs. R.) Twelve Stories of the Sayings and Doings of Animals.=

=Little Lisette=, THE ORPHAN OF ALSACE. By M.E.B. (Mrs. GELLIE).

=Live Toys=; OR, ANECDOTES OF OUR FOUR-LEGGED AND OTHER PETS. By EMMA
    DAVENPORT.

=Long Evenings=; or, STORIES FOR MY LITTLE FRIENDS. By EMILIA MARRYATT.

=Three Wishes (The).= By M.E.B. (Mrs. GELLIE).

                  *       *       *       *       *

             NEW SERIES OF UNIFORM BOOKS AT 50 CENTS EACH.
  _All Illustrated. Attractively bound in cloth, printed in silver and
                                 gold._

=Adventures in Fanti-Land.= By Mrs. R. LEE, Author of “The African
    Wanderers,” &c.

=Always Happy=, or, ANECDOTES OF FELIX AND HIS SISTER SERENA. By a
    Mother. Twentieth Thousand.

=Child’s Influence (A)=, or KATHLEEN AND HER GREAT UNCLE. By LISA
    LOCKYER.

=Constance and Nellie=; or THE LOST WILL. By EMMA DAVENPORT.

=Corner Cottage, and Its Inmates.= By FRANCES OSBORNE.

=Father Time’s Story Book for the Little Ones.= By KATHLEEN KNOX.

=From Peasant to Prince=, or THE LIFE OF ALEXANDER MENSCHIKOFF. By Mrs.
    PIETZKER.

=Granny’s Wonderful Chair.= By B. F. BROWNE.

=Happy Holidays=: or, BROTHERS AND SISTERS AT HOME. By EMMA DAVENPORT.

=Kingston (W. H. G.) The Heroic Wife=; or, THE ADVENTURES OF A FAMILY ON
    THE BANKS OF THE AMAZON.

=Lucy’s Campaign=: a Story of Adventure. By MARY AND CATHERINE LEE.

=My Grandmother’s Budget= OF STORIES AND VERSES. By Mrs. BRODERIP.

=Every-Day Things=, or USEFUL KNOWLEDGE RESPECTING THE PRINCIPAL ANIMAL,
    VEGETABLE, AND MINERAL SUBSTANCES IN COMMON USE.

=Little Roebuck (The)=, from the German. Illustrated by LOSSON. Fancy
    boards.

=Taking Tales.= Edited by W. H. G. KINGSTON. In Plain Language and Large
    Type. Four vols.

=Trimmer’s (Mrs.) New Testament Lessons.= With 40 Engravings.

                  *       *       *       *       *


            A NEW UNIFORM SERIES OF BOOKS AT 40 CENTS EACH.

  _All Illustrated. Attractively bound in cloth, printed in silver and
                                 gold._

=Alice and Beatrice.= By GRANDMAMMA.

=Among the Brigands=, and other Tales of Adventure. Fourth Thousand.

=Children’s Picnic (The)=: AND WHAT CAME OF IT. By E. MARRYAT NORRIS.

=Christian Elliott=: or, MRS. DANVER’S PRIZE. By L. N. COMYN. Fourth
    Thousand.

=Discontented Children (The)=, AND HOW THEY WERE CURED. By M. and E.
    KIRBY.

=Grandmamma’s Relics=, AND HER STORIES ABOUT THEM. By C. E. BOWEN.

=Harry at School.= A Story for Boys. By E. MARRYAT NORRIS.

=Holiday Tales.= By FLORENCE WILFORD.

=Holidays among the Mountains=, or SCENES AND STORIES OF WALES. By M.
    BETHAM-EDWARDS.

=Julia Maitland=, or, PRIDE GOES BEFORE A FALL. BY M. & E. KIRBY.

=Paul Howard’s Captivity=, AND WHY HE ESCAPED. By E. MARRYAT NORRIS.

=Wrecked, Not Lost=; or THE PILOT AND HIS COMPANION. By the Hon. Mrs.
    DUNDAS. Fifth Thousand.

                  *       *       *       *       *


                         THE FAVOURITE LIBRARY.

 New Editions of the Volumes in this Series are being issued, and other
               Volumes by Popular Authors will be added.

 _Cloth elegant, with coloured frontispiece and title-page, Fifty Cents
                                 each._

     1. =The Eskdale Herd Boy.= BY LADY STODDART.
     2. =Mrs. Leicester’s School.= BY CHARLES AND MARY LAMB.
     3. =The History of The Robins.= BY MRS. TRIMMER.
     4. =Memoir of Bob, The Spotted Terrier.=
     5. =Keeper’s Travels in Search of His Master.=
     6. =The Scottish Orphans.= BY LADY STODDART.
     7. =Never Wrong; or, the Young Disputant; & It was only in Fun.=
     8. =The Life and Perambulations of a Mouse.=
     9. =The Son of a Genius.= BY MRS. HOFLAND.
    10. =The Daughter of a Genius.= BY MRS. HOFLAND.
    11. =Ellen, the Teacher.= BY MRS. HOFLAND.
    12. =Theodore: or, The Crusaders.= BY MRS. HOFLAND.
    13. =Right and Wrong.= BY the Author of “ALWAYS HAPPY.”
    14. =Harry’s Holiday.= BY JEFFERYS TAYLOR.
    15. =Short Poems and Hymns for Children.=

                  *       *       *       *       *

                       _Seventy-five Cents each._

    =The Picturesque Primer.= Paper boards.
    =Fragments of Knowledge for Little Folk.= Paper boards.
    =Easy Reading for Little Readers.= Paper boards.
    =The Nursery Companion.= Paper boards.

                  *       *       *       *       *

=Australian Babes in the Wood (The):= a True Story told in Rhyme for the
    Young. 50c.

=Cowslip (The).= Fully Illustrated cloth, 40c.

=Daisy (The).= Fully Illustrated cloth, 40c.

=Dame Partlett’s Farm.= AN ACCOUNT OF THE RICHES SHE OBTAINED BY
    INDUSTRY, &C. Coloured Illustrations, sewed.

=Female Christian Names=, AND THEIR TEACHINGS. A Gift Book for Girls. By
    MARY E. BROMFIELD. Cloth, gilt edges.

=Golden Words for Children=, FROM THE BOOK OF LIFE. In English, French,
    and German. A set of Illuminated Cards in Packet, Or bound in cloth
    interleaved, price $1·00 gilt edges.

=Goody Two Shoes=: or THE HISTORY OF LITTLE MARGERY MEANWELL IN RHYME.
    Fully Illustrated, cloth.

=Hand Shadows=, to be thrown upon the Wall. Novel and amusing figures
    formed by the hand. By HENRY BURSILL. New and cheaper Edition.
    Twelfth Thousand. Two Series in one.

=Headlong Career (The) and Woeful Ending of Precocious Piggy.= By THOMAS
    HOOD. Illustrated by his Son. Printed in colours. Fancy wrapper,
    4to.

=Johnny Miller=; OR TRUTH AND PERSEVERANCE. By FELIX WEISS.

=Nine Lives of a Cat (The)=: a Tale of Wonder. Written and Illustrated
    by C. H. BENNETT. 24 Coloured Engravings, sewed.

=Peter Piper.= PRACTICAL PRINCIPLES OF PLAIN AND PERFECT PRONUNCIATION.
    Coloured Illustrations, sewed.

=Plaiting Pictures.= A NOVEL PASTIME BY WHICH CHILDREN CAN CONSTRUCT AND
    RECONSTRUCT PICTURES FOR THEMSELVES. Four Series in Fancy Coloured
    Wrappers. Oblong 4to.

    _First Series._—Juvenile Party—Zoological Gardens—The Gleaner.

    _Second Series._—Birds’ Pic-nic—Cats’ Concert—Three Bears.

    _Third Series._—Blind Man’s Buff—Children in the Wood—Snow Man.

    _Fourth Series._—Grandfather’s Birthday—Gymnasium—Playroom.

=Primrose Pilgrimage (The)=: a Woodland Story. By M. BETHAM EDWARDS.
    Illustrated by MACQUOID. Sewed.

=Rhymes and Pictures= ABOUT BREAD, TEA, SUGAR, COTTON, COALS, AND GOLD.
    By WILLIAM NEWMAN. Seventy-two Illustrations.

=Short and Simple Prayers, with Hymns for the Use of Children.= By the
    Author of “Mamma’s Bible Stories.” Sixteenth Thousand. Cloth.

=Whittington and his Cat.= Coloured Illustrations, sewed.

=Young Vocalist (The).= A Collection of Twelve Songs, each with an
    Accompaniment for the Pianoforte. By Mrs. MOUNSEY BARTHOLOMEW. New
    and Cheaper Edition.

                  *       *       *       *       *


                         DURABLE NURSERY BOOKS.

       _Mounted on cloth with coloured plates, Forty Cents each._

    =1. COCK ROBIN.
    2. COURTSHIP OF JENNY WREN.
    3. DAME TROT AND HER CAT.
    4. HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT.
    5. PUSS IN BOOTS.=

                  *       *       *       *       *

         _Twenty-five Cents each, Plain; Fifty Cents coloured._

             ILLUSTRATED BY HARRISON WEIR AND JOHN GILBERT.

     1. =British Animals.= 1st Series.
     2. =British Animals.= 2nd Series.
     3. =British Birds.=
     4. =Foreign Animals.= 1st Series.
     5. =Foreign Animals.= 2nd Series.
     6. =Foreign Birds.=
     7. =The Farm and its Scenes.=
     8. =The diverting History of John Gilpin.=
     9. =The Peacock’s Home and Butterfly’s Ball.=
    10. =History of Joseph.=
    11. =History of Moses.=
    12. =Life of our Saviour.=
    13. =Miracles of Christ.=

                  *       *       *       *       *

=His Name was Hero.=


                          By the same Author.

    =How I became a Governess.= 3rd Edit.
    =My Pretty Puss.= With Frontispiece.
    =The Grateful Sparrow=: a True Story. Fifth Edition.
    =The Adventures of a Butterfly.=
    =The Hare that Found his Way Home.=

                  *       *       *       *       *


                        WORKS FOR DISTRIBUTION.

=A Woman’s Secret=; or, HOW TO MAKE HOME HAPPY. Thirty-third Thousand.
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               By the same Author, uniform in size and price.

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=Pay To-day, Trust To-morrow=; illustrating the Evils of the Tally
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=Nursery Work=; or, HANNAH BAKER’S FIRST PLACE. Fifth Thousand.

                  *       *       *       *       *

=The Cook and the Doctor=; or, CHEAP RECIPES AND USEFUL REMEDIES.
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=Home Difficulties.= A Few Words on the Servant Question. 5c.

=Family Prayers for Cottage Homes.= Price 5c.


  _Twenty-Five Cents each, elegantly bound in Paper Boards, with Covers
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 THE TINY NATURAL HISTORY SERIES OF STORY BOOKS ABOUT ANIMALS FOR LITTLE
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    Especially adapted for Sunday School Prizes and Rewards. In one way
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=Little Nellie’s Bird Cage.= By Mrs. R. LEE, Author of “The African
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=The Tiny Menagerie.= By Mrs. R. LEE, Author of “The African Wanderers,”
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=The Dog Postman.= By the Author of “Odd Stories.”

=The Mischievous Monkey.= By the Author of “Odd Stories.”

=Lily’s Letters from the Farm.= By MARY HOOPER, Author of “Ways and
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=Our Dog Prin.= By MARY HOOPER, Author of “Ways and Tricks of Animals.”

=Little Neddie’s Menagerie.= By Mrs. R. LEE, Author of “The African
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    Book.”

=Wise Birds and Clever Dogs.= By the Author of “Tuppy,” “Tiny Stories,”
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=Artful Pussy.= By the Author of “Odd Stories,” &c.

=The Pet Pony.= By the Author of “Trottie’s Story Book.”

=Bow Wow Bobby.= By the Author of “Tuppy,” “Odd Stories,” &c.

   The above 12 vols. in Cardboard Box with Picture Top, price $3·60.

                  *       *       *       *       *

     _In 12 Parts, cloth limp, fancy binding, with Chromo on side.
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                             TAKING TALES.

            Edited by W. H. G. KINGSTON. Fully illustrated.

        _N.B.—Each Tale is Illustrated and complete in itself._

     1. =The Miller of Hillbrook=: A RURAL TALE.
     2. =Tom Trueman=, A SAILOR IN A MERCHANTMAN.
     3. =Michael Hale and his Family in Canada.=
     4. =John Armstrong=, THE SOLDIER.
     5. =Joseph Rudge=, THE AUSTRALIAN SHEPHERD.
     6. =Life Underground=; OR DICK, THE COLLIERY BOY.
     7. =Life on the Coast=: OR THE LITTLE FISHER GIRL.
     8. =Adventures of Two Orphans in London.=
     9. =Early Days on Board a Man-of-War.=
    10. =Walter, the Foundling=: A TALE OF OLDEN TIMES.
    11. =The Tenants of Sunnyside Farm.=
    12. =Holmwood=; OR, THE NEW ZEALAND SETTLER.


                       OUR BOY’S LITTLE LIBRARY.

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and $2·40. Every page is Illustrated._

    They are especially suited for Sunday School Prizes and Rewards.

     1. =Papa’s Pretty Gift Book.=
     2. =Mamma’s Pretty Gift Book.=
     3. =Neddy’s Picture Story Book.=
     4. =Stories for Play Time.=
     5. =The Christmas Gift Book.=
     6. =The Prize Picture Book.=
     7. =Little Tommy’s Story Book.=
     8. =Bright Picture Pages.=
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    10. =What Santa Claus gave me.=
    11. =Tiny Stories for Tiny Boys.=
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                       OUR GIRL’S LITTLE LIBRARY.

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    They are especially suited for Sunday School Prizes and Rewards.

     1. =Nellie’s Picture Stories.=
     2. =Stories and Pictures for Little Troublesome.=
     3. =Little Trotabout’s Picture Stories.=
     4. =Birdie’s Scrap Book.=
     5. =Stories for Little Curly Locks.=
     6. =Bright Pictures for Roguish Eyes.=
     7. =Daisy’s Picture Album.=
     8. =Wee-Wee Stories for Wee-Wee Girls.=
     9. =May’s Little Story Book.=
    10. =Gipsy’s Favourite Companion.=
    11. =My Own Story Book.=
    12. =Pretty Pet’s Gift Book.=


                      Educational Works.—HISTORY.

                     SPECIAL SUBJECT READING BOOKS.

                      HISTORY AS A CLASS SUBJECT.

=History Reader.= Part I. British History from B.C. 55 to A.D. 1066.
    Arranged in Forty Sections. By H. MAJOR, B.A., B.Sc. For Standard
    II. in Elementary Schools, and Juniors in Public and Private
    Schools. Uniform with Mr. BLAKISTON’S “Glimpses of the Globe.”
    Cloth, price $4·00.

=Britannia=: a Collection of the Principal Passages in Latin Authors
    that refer to this Island, with Vocabulary and Notes. By T. S.
    CAYZER. Illustrated with a Map and 29 Woodcuts. Crown 8vo. Price
    $1·25.

=True Stories from Ancient History=, chronologically arranged from the
    Creation of the World to the Death of Charlemagne. 12mo. $1·50.

=Mrs. Trimmer’s Concise History of England=, revised and brought down to
    the present Time. By Mrs. MILNER. With Portraits of the Sovereigns.
    $1·50.

=Rhymes of Royalty=: the History of England in Verse, from the Norman
    Conquest to the reign of VICTORIA; with a summary of the leading
    events in each reign. Fcap. 8vo, 75c. cloth.

                  *       *       *       *       *

                               GEOGRAPHY.

=Pictorial Geography, for the Instruction of Young Children.= Price
    60c.; mounted on rollers, $1·25.

=Gaultier’s Familiar Geography.= With a concise Treatise on the
    Artificial Sphere, and two coloured Maps, illustrative of the
    principal Geographical Terms. 16mo, $1·00. cloth.

=Butler’s Outline Maps, and Key=, or GEOGRAPHICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL
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    Author’s Son, J. O. BUTLER. Revised, $1·75.

                  *       *       *       *       *

                            SPECIAL NOTICE.

              J. R. BLAKISTON’S GEOGRAPHICAL READING BOOKS
   have, after a careful examination by experts, been accepted by the
       School Boards for Birmingham, Leicester, Leeds, Derby, &c.

=Glimpses of the Globe=, for Standard I. By J. R. BLAKISTON, M.A. New,
    Enlarged, and Revised Editions. A First Geographical Reading Book,
    in 40 Chapters, suited for 80 Lessons. 156 pp., 40c.

=Glimpses of England=, for Standard II. By J. R. BLAKISTON, M.A. New,
    Enlarged, and Revised Editions. A Geographical Reading Book, in 40
    Chapters, suited for 80 Lessons. 156 pp., cloth, 40c.

=Glimpses of the British Empire=, for Standards IV., V., and VI. By J.
    R. BLAKISTON, M.A. A First Geographical Reading Book, in 66
    Sections. Cloth, 60c.

                          To follow in due course,

=Glimpses of the World.= For the Second and Third Years’ Reading
    Lessons.

                  *       *       *       *       *


                              GRAMMAR, &c.

=A Compendious Grammar=, AND PHILOLOGICAL HAND-BOOK OF THE ENGLISH
    LANGUAGE, for the use of Schools and Candidates for the Army and
    Civil Service Examinations. By J. G. COLQUHOUN, Esq.,
    Barrister-at-Law. Fcap. 8vo. Cloth $1·00.

=Darnell, G. Grammar made Intelligible to Children.= Being a Series of
    short and simple Rules, with ample Explanations of Every Difficulty,
    and copious Exercises for Parsing; in Language adapted to the
    comprehension of very Young Students. New and Revised Edition.
    Cloth, 40c.

=Darnell, G. Introduction to English Grammar.= Price 10c. Being the
    first 32 pages of “Grammar made Intelligible.”

=Darnell, T. Parsing Simplified=: an Introduction and Companion to all
    Grammars; consisting of Short and Easy Rules, with Parsing Lessons
    to each. Price 40c.

=Lovechilds, Mrs. The Child’s Grammar.= 50th Edition. 15c. cloth.

=A Word to the Wise=, OR HINTS ON THE CURRENT IMPROPRIETIES OF
    EXPRESSION IN WRITING AND SPEAKING. By PARRY GWYNNE. 16th Thousand.
    20c. sewed; or 40c. cloth, gilt edges.

=Harry Hawkins’s H-Book=; showing how he learned to aspirate his H’s.
    Eighth Thousand. Sewed, price 20c.

=The Letter H, Past, Present, and Future.= Rules for the Silent H, based
    on Contemporary Usage, and an Appeal in behalf of WH. By ALFRED
    LEACH. Cloth limp, fcap. 8vo, 40c.

=Prince of Wales’s Primer (The).= With 340 Illustrations by J. GILBERT.
    Price 20c.

=Tropical Reading Books.= Intended for use in the West Indies and
    elsewhere; written at the request of the Right Rev. BISHOP
    COURTENAY, late Bishop of Kingston, Jamaica. By E. C. PHILLIPS.
    Profusely Illustrated. In Paper Boards, with attractive Wrapper.
    Book I., price 15c. Book II., price 40c.; Book III., price 40c.

=Darnell, G. Short and Certain Road to Reading.= Being a Series of EASY
    LESSONS in which the Alphabet is so divided as to enable the Child
    to read many pages of Familiar Phrases before he has learned half
    the letters. Cloth, 20c.; or in Four parts, paper covers, 5c. each.

=Sheet Lessons.= Being Extracts from the above, printed in very large,
    bold type. Price, for the Set of Six Sheets. 20c.; or, neatly
    mounted on boards, $1·00.

                  *       *       *       *       *

                        ARITHMETIC and ALGEBRA.

=Darnell, G. Arithmetic made Intelligible to Children.= Being a Series
    of GRADUALLY ADVANCING EXERCISES, intended to employ the Reason
    rather than the Memory of the Pupil; with ample Explanations of
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    young Students. Cloth, 60c.

=Cayzer, T. S. One Thousand Arithmetical Tests=, or THE EXAMINER’S
    ASSISTANT. Specially adapted, by a novel arrangement of the subject,
    for Examination Purposes, but also suited for general use in
    Schools. With a complete set of Examples and Models of Work. Price
    60c.

=Key with Solutions of all the Examples in the One Thousand Arithmetical
    Tests.= $2·00 cloth. (The Answers only 60c.)

=One Thousand Algebraical Tests=; on the same plan. 8vo, price $1·00
    cloth.

    ANSWERS to the Algebraical Tests, price $1·00 cloth.

=Theory and Practice of the Metric System of Weights and Measures.= By
    Prof. LEONE LEVI, F.S.A., F.S.S. Sewed, 40c.

=Essentials of Geometry, Plane and Solid (The)=, as taught in Germany
    and France. By J. R. MORELL. Numerous Diagrams. 75c. cloth.

                  *       *       *       *       *

=Artizan Cookery and How to Teach it.= By a Pupil of the National
    Training School for Cookery, South Kensington. Sewed, price 20c.

                  *       *       *       *       *

                              NEEDLEWORK.

  By the Senior Examiner of Needlework to the School Board for London.

=Plain Hints for those who have to Examine Needlework=, whether for
    Government Grants, Prize Associations, or Local Managers, to which
    is added Skeleton Demonstration Lessons to be used with the
    Demonstration Frames, and a glossary of terms used in the Needlework
    required from the scholars in public elementary schools. Price 90c.


                    NEEDLEWORK DEMONSTRATION SHEETS

  Exhibit, by Diagrams and Descriptions, the formation of Stitches in
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     Price 40c. each; or, mounted on rollers and varnished, $1·00.


                                                  =Sheets=

              =Whip Stitch for Frills, and   Fern     =1=
                or Coral Stitch=

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              =Button Hole=                           =1=

              =Fisherman’s Stitch for Braiding        =1=
                Nets=

              =Herring Bone=                          =1=

              =Grafting Stocking Material=            =1=

              =Stocking Web Stitch=                   =1=

              =True Marking Stitch=                   =1=

              =Alphabets for Marking=                 =6=

              =Setting in Gathers or “Stocking”       =1=
                Knotting or Seeding (English
                Method)=

              =Knots, Shortening Knots, Slip          =1=
                Knots & Joining Knots=

              =Stocking Sheet=                        =1=

=The Demonstration Frame= for Class Teaching, with Special Needle and
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=Plain Needlework arranged in Six Standards=, with Hints for the
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=Plain Knitting and Mending arranged in Six Standards, with 20
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=Plain Cutting Out for Standards IV., V., and VI.=, as now required by
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=A set of the Diagrams= referred to in the book may be had separately,
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    ⁂ _These works are recommended in the published Code of the
    Educational Department._

                  *       *       *       *       *

=Needlework, Schedule III Exemplified and Illustrated.= Intended for the
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    6th Thousand, price 40c.

                               DARNELL’S
                               COPY-BOOKS

                     FOR PRIVATE & PUBLIC SCHOOLS,

          _Adapted to the Grades of the New Educational Code_.

                    DARNELL’S LARGE POST COPY-BOOKS,
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The first ten of which have, on every alternate line, appropriate and
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over and then imitated, the remaining numbers having Black Head-lines
for imitation only, THE WHOLE GRADUALLY ADVANCING FROM A SIMPLE STROKE
TO A SUPERIOR SMALL HAND.

                     DARNELL’S FOOLSCAP COPY-BOOKS,
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                    DARNELL’S UNIVERSAL COPY-BOOKS,
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                  *       *       *       *       *

                  ELEMENTARY FRENCH AND GERMAN WORKS.

=L’Abécédaire of French Pronunciation=: A Manual for Teachers and
    Students. By G. LEPRÉVOST, of Paris, Professor of Languages. Crown
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=Le Babillard=: an Amusing Introduction to the French Language, By a
    FRENCH LADY. Ninth Edition. 16 Plates. 90c. cloth.

=Les Jeunes Narrateurs=, ou PETITS CONTES MORAUX. With a Key to the
    difficult Words and Phrases. 3rd Edition. 90c. cloth.

=Pictorial French Grammar (The).= For the use of Children. By MARIN DE
    LA VOYE. With 80 Illus. Royal 16mo, 60c. cloth.

=Rowbotham’s New and Easy Method of Learning the French Genders.= New
    Edition. 20c.

=Bellenger’s French Word and Phrase Book=; containing a select
    Vocabulary and Dialogues. New Edition. Price 40c.

                  *       *       *       *       *

=Der Schwätzer=, or THE PRATTLER. An Amusing Introduction to the German
    Language. Sixteen Illustrations. Price 90c. cloth.

                  *       *       *       *       *

                          _GRIFFITH & FARRAN_,
             WEST CORNER OF ST. PAUL’S CHURCHYARD, LONDON.
                  _Sole Agents for the United States_—
                         E. P. DUTTON AND CO.,
                        713, BROADWAY, NEW YORK.


------------------------------------------------------------------------




 ● Transcriber’s Notes:
    ○ Missing or obscured punctuation was silently corrected.
    ○ Typographical errors were silently corrected.
    ○ Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were made consistent only
      when a predominant form was found in this book.
    ○ Text that:
      was in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_);
      was in bold by is enclosed by “equal” signs (=bold=).