Our Young Folks at Home and Abroad Part 6

Alice wanted to go with Roy; and Roy, who is very kind to his sister, asked his mother to let her go.

Alice carried the basket,--a pretty large one. Mary, the cook, told them to be sure and get it full of fish, so that she could fry them for dinner.

How proud and happy they were! Their mother could see them from the window all the time.

When they reached the brook Alice sat down on a rock. Roy put a worm on the hook, and dropped the end of the line into the stream. But it was a long time before he got a bite. At last he thought he felt a nibble.

"I've got one, Ally!" he shouted. "O, such a big fellow! You will have to come and help me pull him out!"

They tugged away on the line, and then they both fell over backwards.

[Ill.u.s.tration: {ROY CATCHES SOMETHING UNEXPECTED AND UPSETS ALICE.}]

"There he is!" cried Roy. But when they got up and looked, it was not a trout at all. It was only a piece of a black root that broke off and gave them a tumble.

Roy tried again, and after a good while he felt another nibble. He jerked the line out so quickly that the hook caught in the back of Alice's dress. It p.r.i.c.ked her shoulder so that she had half a mind to cry.

Roy could not get the hook out of her dress, and they went home for their mother to help them.

Mary laughed at Roy a good deal. She told his uncle James, at dinner-time, that Roy caught the biggest trout she ever saw, and he had to come home for his mother to get it off the hook.

L. A. B. C.

[Ill.u.s.tration: {PORTRAIT OF A CHILD, SURROUNDED BY FLOWERS.}]

A BEAR-STORY.

"I know a new bear-story,"

I said to the little folks, Who surely as the twilight falls, Begin to tease and coax.

[Ill.u.s.tration: {A BEAR AT THE ZOO.}]

"And did they live in the forest, In a den all deep and dark?

And were there three?"--"Yes, three," I said, "But they lived in the park.

"Let's see! Old Jack, the grizzly, With great white claws, was there; And a mother bear with thick brown coat, And Betty, the little bear!

"And Silver-Locks went strolling One day, in that pretty wood, With Ninny, the nurse, and all at once They came where the bears' house stood.

"And without so much as knocking To see who was at home, She cried out in a happy voice, 'Old Grizzly, here I come!'

"And thereupon old Grizzly Began to gaze about; And the mother bear sniffed at the bars, And the baby bear peeped out.

"And they thought she must be a fairy, Though, instead of a golden wand, She carried a five-cent paper bag Of peanuts in her hand.

"Old Grizzly his red mouth opened As though they tasted good; And the brown bear opened her red mouth To catch one when she could;

"And Betty, the greedy baby, Followed the big bears' style, And held her little fire-red mouth, Wide open all the while.

"And Silver-Locks laughed delighted, And thought it wondrous fun, And fed them peanuts from the bag Till she hadn't another one.

"And is that all?" sighed Gold-Locks.

"Pshaw, is that all?" cried Ted.

"No--one thing more! 'Tis quite, quite time That little folks were in bed!"

CLARA DOTY BATES.

[Ill.u.s.tration: {A BOY AND A GIRL ON A SWING.}]

HEAR US SING SEE US SWING UP IN THE OLD OAK TREE.

O--oh! O--oh!

Here we go, Now so high, Now so low; Soon, soon, We'll reach the moon; Hear us sing, See us swing, Up in the old oak-tree.

O--oh! O--oh!

To and fro, Like the birds, High and low; See us fly To the sky; Hear us sing, On the wing, Up in the old oak-tree.

L. A. B. C.

[Ill.u.s.tration: {TWO BOATS NEAR THE Sh.o.r.e.}]

SAILOR BABIES.

[Ill.u.s.tration: {A PAIR OF BIRDS.}]

Birds, and birds, and birds! Have you any idea how many kinds of birds there are? I am very sorry you could not count them all. And such queer fellows many of them are! There are butcher-birds and tailor-birds, soldier-birds--the penguins, you know, who stand on the sea-sh.o.r.e like companies of soldiers, "heads up, eyes front, arms (meaning wings) at the sides"--and sailor-birds. It is about one of the sailor-birds and his babies that I am going to tell you now. She is called the Little Grebe, or sometimes, by her intimate friends, the Dabchick. She is a pretty little bird, about nine inches long, with brown head and back, and grayish-white breast. She and her husband are both extremely fond of the water. "We are first cousins to the Divers!" they sometimes say proudly. "The Divers are never happy away from the water, and neither are we. It is very vulgar to live on land all the time. One might almost as well have four legs, and be a creature at once!" (The Divers are a very proud family, and speak of all quadrupeds as "creatures.") Mr. and Mrs. Grebe have very curiously webbed feet, looking more like a horse-chestnut leaf with three lobes than anything else. They are excellent swimmers and divers; indeed, in diving, the Great Northern Diver himself is not so quick and alert. If anything frightens them, pop! they are under the water in the shaking of a feather; and you may sometimes see them in a pond, popping up and down like little absurd Jacks-in-the-box. As they think the land so very vulgar, of course they do not want to bring up their children on it.

[Ill.u.s.tration: {BIRDS ON THE RIVER.}]

Oh, dear, no! They find a pleasant, quiet stream, or pond, where there are plenty of reeds and rushes growing in the water, and where there is no danger of their being disturbed by "creatures." Then they go to work and make a raft, a regular raft, of strong stems of water-plants, reeds, and arrow-heads, plaited and woven together with great care and skill. It is light enough to float, and yet strong enough to bear the weight of the mother-bird.

While she is building it she sits, or stands, on another and more roughly built raft, which is not meant to hold together long. Mr.

Grebe helps her, pulling up the water-plants and cutting off the stems the right length; and so this little couple work away till the raft-nest is quite ready. Then Mrs. Grebe takes her place on it, and proceeds to lay and hatch her eggs. There are five or six eggs, and they are white when she lays them; but they do not keep their whiteness long, for the water-weeds and the leaves that cover the raft soon decay, and stain the pretty white eggs, so that they are muddy brown by the time they are hatched. Well, there little Madame Grebe sits, brooding contentedly over her eggs, and thinking how carefully she will bring up her children, so that they will be a credit to the family of the Divers. Mr. Grebe paddles, and dives and pops up and down about the nest, and brings her all sorts of good things to eat,--worms for dinner, minnows for supper, and for breakfast the most delicate and appetizing of flies and beetles. One day, when he brings his wife's dinner (a fine stickle-back), he finds her in a state of great excitement.

"My dear," she says, "I am going to move. I cannot endure this place another hour. I only waited to tell you about it."

"Why, what is the matter, my love?" asks Mr. Grebe, in amazement.