Read Ebook: The Boy Patrol on Guard by Ellis Edward Sylvester Prittie Edwin John Illustrator

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Ebook has 96 lines and 5317 words, and 2 pages

"Now what should you say if I told you that you looked to me like a boy that was made especially to help run a candy counter at a circus, and if I offered the place to you?"

Toby made one frantic effort to swallow the very large mouthful, and in a choking voice he answered, quickly, "I should say I'd go with you, an' be mighty glad of the chance."

"Then it's a bargain, my boy, and you shall leave town with me to-night."

SOUTH AFRICAN DIAMONDS.

A recent report from the Cape of Good Hope states that a diamond weighing 225 carats has been found at the Du Toits Pan mine, and a very fine white stone of 115 carats in Jagersfontein mine, in the Free State.

The lucky finders of these stones are vastly richer than they were a few weeks ago, for if these diamonds are of the best quality, they will be worth thousands upon thousands of dollars.

THE HEART OF BRUCE.

BY LILLIE E. BARR.

Beside Dumbarton's castled steep the Bruce lay down to die; Great Highland chiefs and belted earls stood sad and silent nigh. The warm June breezes filled the room, all sweet with flowers and hay, The warm June sunshine flecked the couch on which the monarch lay.

The mailed men like statues stood; under their bated breath The prostrate priests prayed solemnly within the room of death; While through the open casements came the evening song of birds, The distant cries of kye and sheep, the lowing of the herds.

And so they kept their long, last watch till shades of evening fell; Then strong and clear King Robert spoke: "Dear brother knights, farewell! Come to me, Douglas--take my hand. Wilt thou, for my poor sake, Redeem my vow, and fight my fight, lest I my promise break?

"I ne'er shall see Christ's sepulchre, nor tread the Holy Land; I ne'er shall lift my good broadsword against the Paynim band; Yet I was vowed to Palestine: therefore take thou my heart, And with far purer hands than mine play thou the Bruce's part."

Then Douglas, weeping, kissed the King, and said: "While I have breath The vow thou made I will fulfill--yea, even unto death: Where'er I go thy heart shall go; it shall be first in fight. Ten thousand thanks for such a trust! Douglas is Bruce's knight."

They laid the King in Dunfermline--not yet his heart could rest; For it hung within a priceless case upon the Douglas' breast. And many a chief with Douglas stood: it was a noble line Set sail to fight the Infidel in holy Palestine.

Their vessel touched at fair Seville. They heard upon that day How Christian Leon and Castile before the Moslem lay, Then Douglas said, "O heart of Bruce! thy fortune still is great, For, ere half done thy pilgrimage, the foe for thee doth wait."

Dark Osmyn came; the Christians heard his long yell, "Allah hu!" The brave Earl Douglas led the van as they to battle flew; Sir William Sinclair on his left, the Logans on his right, St. Andrew's blood-red cross above upon its field of white.

All day the fiercest battle raged just where that heart did fall, For round it stood the Scottish lords, a fierce and living wall. Douglas was slain, with many a knight; yet died they not in vain, For past that wall of hearts and steel the Moslem never came.

The Bruce's heart and Douglas' corse went back to Scotland's land, Borne by the wounded remnant of that brave and pious band. Fair Melrose Abbey the great heart in quiet rest doth keep, And Douglas in the Douglas' church hath sweet and honored sleep.

In pillared marble Scotland tells her love, and grief, and pride. Vain is the stone: all Scottish hearts the Bruce and Douglas hide. The "gentle Sir James Douglas" and "the Bruce of Bannockburn" Are names forever sweet and fresh for years untold to learn.

FOOTNOTES:

THE KANGAROO.

In the large island of Australia--an island so vast as to be ranked as a continent--nature has produced a singular menagerie.

The first discoverers of this country must have stared in amazement at the strange sights which met their eyes. There were wildernesses of luxuriant and curious vegetable growths, inhabited by large quadrupeds which appeared as bipeds; queer little beasts with bills like a duck, ostriches covered with hair instead of feathers, and legions of odd birds, while the whole woods were noisy with the screeching and prating of thousands of paroquets and cockatoos.

The largest and oddest Australian quadruped is the kangaroo, a member of that strange family, the Marsupialia, which are provided with a pouch, or bag, in which they carry their little ones until they are strong enough to scamper about and take care of themselves.

The delicately formed head of this strange creature, and its short fore-legs, are out of all proportion to the lower part of its body, which is furnished with a very long tail, and its hind-legs, which are large and very strong. It stands erect as tall as a man, and moves by a succession of rapid jumps, propelled by its hind-feet, its fore-paws meanwhile being folded across its breast. A large kangaroo will weigh fully two hundred pounds, and will cover as much as sixteen feet at one jump.

The body of this beast is covered with thick, soft, woolly fur of a grayish-brown color. It is very harmless and inoffensive, and it is a very pretty sight to see a little group of kangaroos feeding quietly in a forest clearing. Their diet is entirely vegetable. They nibble grass or leaves, or eat certain kinds of roots, the stout, long claws of their hind-feet serving them as a convenient pickaxe to dig with.

The kangaroo is a very tender and affectionate mother. When the baby is born it is the most helpless creature imaginable, blind, and not much bigger than a new-born kitten. But the mother lifts it carefully with her lips, and gently deposits it in her pocket, where it cuddles down and begins to grow. This pocket is its home for six or seven months, until it becomes strong and wise enough to fight its own battles in the woodland world. While living in its mother's pocket it is very lively. It is very funny to see a little head emerging all of a sudden from the soft fur of the mother's breast, with bright eyes peeping about to see what is going on in the outside world; or perhaps nothing is visible but a little tail wagging contentedly, while its baby owner is hidden from sight.

The largest kangaroos are called menuahs or boomers by the Australian natives, and their flesh is considered a great delicacy, in flavor something like young venison. For this reason these harmless creatures are hunted and killed in large numbers. They are very shy, and not very easy to catch; but the cunning bushmen hide themselves in the thicket, and when their unsuspecting prey approaches, they hurl a lance into its body. The wounded kangaroo springs off with tremendous leaps, but soon becomes exhausted, and falls on the turf.

If brought to bay, this gentle beast will defend itself vigorously. With its back planted firmly against a tree, it has been known to keep off an army of dogs for hours, by dealing them terrible blows with its strong hind-feet, until the arrival of the hunter with his gun put an end to the contest. At other times the kangaroo, being an expert swimmer, will rush into the water, and if a venturesome dog dares to follow, it will seize him, and hold his head under water till he is drowned.

Kangaroos are often brought to zoological gardens, and are contented in captivity, so long as they have plenty of corn, roots, and fresh hay to eat.

DECORATIONS FOR CHRISTMAS.

BY A. W. ROBERTS.

A great variety of material abounds in our woods that can be utilized for Christmas decorations.

All trees, shrubs, mosses, and lichens that are evergreen during the winter months, such as holly, ink-berry, laurels, hemlocks, cedars, spruces, arbor vitae, are used at Christmas-time for in-door ornamentation. Then come the club-mosses , particularly the one known as "bouquet-green," and ground-pine, which are useful for the more delicate and smaller designs. Again, we have the wood mosses and wood lichens, pressed native ferns and autumn leaves; and, if the woods are not accessible, from our own gardens many cultivated evergreens can be obtained, such as box, arbor vitae, rhododendron, ivy, juniper, etc.

Where it is desirable to use bright colors to lighten up the sombreness of some of the greens, our native berries can be used to great advantage. In the woods are to be found the partridge-berries, bitter-sweet, rose-berries, black alder, holly-berries, cedar-berries, cranberries, and sumac. Dried grasses and everlasting-flowers can be pressed into service. For very brilliant effects gold-leaf, gold paper, and frosting are used.

Fig. 1 represents a simple wreath of holly leaves and berries, sewn on to a circular piece of pasteboard, which was first coated with calcimine of a delicate light blue, on which, before the glue contained in the calcimine dried, a coating of white frosting was dusted. The monogram XMS is drawn on drawing-paper highly illuminated with gold-leaf and brilliant colors, after which it is cut out, and fastened in position.

Fig. 4 consists of a narrow strip of white muslin, on which is first drawn with a pencil in outline the design to be worked in evergreens. For this purpose only the finer and lighter evergreens can be used, as the intention of this design is to form a bordering for the angle formed by the wall and ceiling. This wall drapery is heavily trimmed with berries, to cause it to hang close to the wall, and at the same time to obtain richer effects of color. The evergreens and berries are fastened to the muslin with thread and needle.

Fig. 5 is composed of a strip of card-board covered with gold paper on which the evergreens are sewed. This style of ornamentation is used for covering the frames of pictures.

Natural flowers formed into groups can be made to produce very beautiful effects for the mantel-piece and corner brackets of a room. The pots should be hidden by covering them with evergreens, or the wood moss that grows on the trunks of trees. For mounting berries fine wire will be found very useful. I have always used, and with good effect, the rich brown cones of evergreens and birches for Christmas decorations.

Very rich and heavy effects of color can be produced by using dry colors for backgrounds in the following manner. On the face of the pasteboard on which you intend to work the evergreen design lay a thin coating of hot glue; before the glue dries or chills dust on dry ultramarine blue, or any of the lakes, or chrome greens. As soon as the glue has set, blow off the remaining loose color, and the result will be a field of rich "dead" color. To make the effect still more brilliant, touch up the blues and lakes with slashings of gold-leaf , fastening the gold-leaf with glue. Don't plaster it down, but put it on loose, so that it stands out from the field of color.

FOOTNOTES:

Jesus Hominum Salvator.

W. HOLMAN HUNT'S "FINDING OF CHRIST IN THE TEMPLE."

Much the same, we are confident, may be said of the picture which is now before us. All our readers must know the story. When the "divine boy" was about twelve years of age he was taken by Joseph and Mary to the Passover feast at Jerusalem. They went up with a company from their own neighborhood, and after the feast was over they had started to return in the same way. But Jesus was not to be found. Still supposing that he was somewhere in their company, they went a day's journey, and "sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance." Their search, however, was fruitless, and so, "sorrowing" and anxious, they returned to Jerusalem, where they ultimately found him in the Temple, "sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions." They were amazed at the sight; and his mother, relieved, and perhaps also a little troubled, said, "Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing." To which he made reply, "How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?" These words are remarkable as the first recorded utterance of conscious Messiahship that came from the lips of our Lord. They indicate that now his human intelligence has come to the perception of his divine dignity and mission; and when he went down to Nazareth, and was subject to Joseph and Mary, it was with the distinct assurance within him that Joseph was not his father, and that there was ultimately a higher business before him than the work of the carpenter. Still, he knew that only through the lower could he reach the higher, and therefore he went down, contented to wait until the day of his manifestation came.

The artist has seized the moment when Jesus made this striking reply to his mother, and everything in the picture is made to turn on that. The scene is the interior of the Temple. The time is high day, for workmen are busily engaged at a stone on the outside, and a beggar is lolling at the gate in the act of asking alms. The Jewish doctors are seated. First in the line is an aged rabbi with flowing beard, and clasping a roll with his right hand. Over his eyes a film is spread, which indicates that he is blind; and so his neighbor, almost as aged as himself, is explaining to him why the boy has ceased to ask his questions, by telling him that his mother has come to claim him. Beside him, and the third in the group, is a younger man, whose face is full of eager thoughtfulness, and whose hands hold an unfolded roll, to which it appears as if he had been referring because of something which had just been said.

The other faces are less marked with seriousness, and seem to be indicative rather of cur

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