The Boys' And Girls' Library Part 21

MASTER.

Out of tune is the way we go; I'll sing, and in Apollo's name, Now try if you can do the same.

SWALLOW.

Oh, were it day, and I on wing, I would teach them how to sing; But this is shocking; even twitter, Twit, twit, twit, were surely better.

CHORUS OF YOUNG SWALLOWS.

Twitter! twitter! twit! twit! twit!

Boys and girls have little wit.

SWALLOW.

Do hear our young ones, how they sing!

They find it quite an easy thing.

They ne'er beat down, up, hither, thither, And never saw the blackboard, neither.

MASTER.

And now you have sung one, two, three, Perhaps you'll say your a b c; Come, say it,--c d e f g,--

BOYS.

H i j k l m n.--

SWALLOWS.

Oh, defend us! what a din?

How hard they try to learn to sing 'Tis really an amusing thing.

MASTER.

Enough! enough! you may sing now "Old Hundred" once, then you may go.

CHORUS OF SWALLOWS.

That's pretty well, but might be better; Not so good as twitter! twitter!

Twitter! twitter! twit! twit! twit!

Boys and girls have little wit.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

THE BALLOON.

"Oh! brother, what is that?" exclaimed little Mary to her brother James.

"What do you mean, sister?"

"Why, that thing, away up in the sky,--what is it?" And Mary pulled her brother by the arm as she looked up at the strange-looking object.

"Oh, that thing so far up in the sky; well, it is an odd looking creature. I wonder if it is a bird; let us ask John the gardener; perhaps _he_ knows."

"John! John!" cried both children at once, "what is that wonderful-looking object, up there?"

John looked up very wise, shook his head, and looked again,--"Oh! it is a _balloon_."

"Well, pray, sir, will you tell us what a balloon is made of," said James, "and how it enables one to go up into the air so great a distance?"

"The balloon is made of oiled silk, or of silk prepared with a solution of India-rubber, made perfectly air tight, and is filled with air, lighter than the common air we breathe."

"But where can this air be obtained?" said James.

"There are many ways of obtaining it, but the easiest is to go to the gaslight company, and purchase as many gallons as may be wanted to make the balloon rise."

"This is, indeed, curious," said Mary; "I never thought air was bought and sold."

"What is the _use_ of a balloon?" asked James, who was very fond of asking questions about everything.

"I don't know that it is of _any_ use, at present," replied John, "but it may possibly be made of use at some future time."

"I should like to go up in it," said James; "it must be so beautiful to sail through the air, and look down on the cities and villages, and green fields, and woods."

"Oh, dear!" cried Mary; "_I_ should not like to go;--only think, we might fall out."

"Well, sister, I don't think there is much chance of our ever trying it, though I should not be afraid. But let us go and inquire further about the matter, for it is certainly a very wonderful affair. I dare say father will be able to tell us a great deal more than John can, and we may meet with some one who has been above the clouds in one of these aerial cars or baskets."

CURIOUS LITTLE PAINTERS.

The next afternoon, when Catherine found her mother at leisure, she came and stood close by her, and looked in her face for some time.

"What are you looking at me for, so steadily?" said Mrs. Nelson.

"I am trying to see the pictures in your eyes, mother; and don't you remember, that you said you would tell me more about these curious little painters, as you call them? Is it only that small dark spot in the middle of your eye that sees?"

"That little place, my dear, is a sort of window, which lets in the light that makes the picture upon the back part of the eye. It is called the _pupil_, and it is what is meant by 'the apple,' which you recollect being puzzled with in the Psalm that you read for your Sunday lesson. Do you remember it?" After a while, Catherine said, "Oh, yes;" and repeated this verse, "Keep me under the apple of thine eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings."

"By this little round window the light enters the eye, and pa.s.ses through to the back part of it, and represents there, upon what is called the retina, everything that we see. So you perceive that if anything happens to the pupil of the eye, no light can enter it, and we should see nothing of all this beautiful and glorious world around us; we should be in perpetual darkness."--"And now, mother, I understand the Psalm; for it is necessary that these two little windows should be kept very safe, as safe as we pray that G.o.d would keep us. But is that a little hole in the eye, mother?"

"No, my dear, this precious part of the eye has a covering over it like the chrystal of a watch; this is properly called the _cornea_, a Latin word that means _like horn_, because it resembles thin horn that the light can shine through,--as you may ascertain by asking the cook to show you a fish's eye, and looking at this part."