126 
AMERICAN AGKICULTURIST. 
fAPRIIi, 
DON'T LIKE TO BE 
IVo Hand ]L<lke a Motlier's. 
This picture certainly speaks for itseif; at least the 
little fellow who is vainly struggling to escape his morn- 
ing bath is speaking fur himself most lustily. It looks 
like a little thing tu make such a fuss about, but to him it 
is a serious matter. The water is cold, he dreads the 
shock it will give him, but that is not all ; he is not in the 
hands of his mother. She would [nanage it so gently and 
pleasantly, that it would almost be a frolic for hira ; but 
the servant girl is rough and careless, and seems to enjoy 
his struggles. There is no hand like a mother's. A story 
is t<»ld of a young soldier who lay sick in one of the hos- 
pitals. His mother left her distant home to nurse him, 
and arrived at the hospital at night. Slie was told that 
lier boy was sleeping, that she must not disturb him. "Let 
me only sit by him and watch him," she pleaded. The 
request was granted. The boy lay in a feverish, uneasy 
slumber, and the mother gently passed her hand over his 
forehead. *' Whose hand is that 1" he eagerly exclaimed ; 
"it feels like my mother's." He knew the touch of affec- 
tion that had often before soothed him. It was betterthan 
medicine and aided in bringing back his wonted health. 
A CinLniu;!^ Old Rat. 
A. Connecticut subscriber, *'F.G. H.," sends to the 
American Agriculturist an extended account of the art- 
ful proceedings of a rat. the substance of which we give 
below. He first attracted notice by diving through the 
wall paper -with which an opening had been covered. A 
trap was set at night to capture him. It was of the kind 
In which a stout wire moved by a spring, flies down upon 
the animal and drives him upon sharp spikes. It was 
carefully baited with a kernel of corn, so that a slight 
touch would spring it. The rat. however, succeeded in 
removing the corn, leaving the spring undisturbed. The 
next night several kernels were strung upon strong linen 
twine, and lied to the catch. In the morning, the string 
was cut, the corn gone, and the rat too. A piece of cat- 
gut was substituted for the string, but with the same re- 
sult. Then a bit of copper wire was used, and the shrewd 
E D ! " — Engraved for the American Agriculturist. 
story to illustrate my mean- 
ing." Harry brightened up. 
" Not long since," continued 
his father, " a gentleman 
bought a book, feeling sure 
it would be both interesting 
and useful to his son and 
daughter at home."— Harry- 
moved a little uneasily on 
his seat.—" Carrying it home 
he presented it to them with 
the remark, ' Read this my 
children, and give me your 
opinion of it.' ' O yes father, 
thank you,' they both ex- 
claimed, 'We shall surely 
be delighted with it.* And so 
they were. Now the young 
lady was passionately fond 
of reading ; it was tlierefore 
but a pleasure to her to sit 
down and read the book be- 
fore she slept, and she gave 
her father her opinion of the 
work next morning in glow- 
ing terms.' Harry glanced 
!it his sister and laughed. 
" The son, on the other hand, 
though always pleased to 
listen to reading, was seldom 
ready to take a book and 
master its contents for him- 
self. Isuspecthe was natur- 
ally a little indolent. *But 
now he said to himself ' my 
father has kindly given me 
this nice book, and wishes 
me to read it, and I will— I 
am determined I will.' A 
duty attempted in earnest, 
brings its sure reward, and 
this boy, although he fell 
asleep over the first chapter 
once or twice, soon became 
interested, and actually fin- 
ished the book in a week, 
well pleased with his suc- 
cess. Now my son," contin- 
ued Mr. Nash, *' wherein 
lies the greater virtue, in the 
act of the young lady, who 
swallowed the interesting 
volume at one sitting, or in 
that of the boy who conquer- 
old fellow wouldn't meddle with it at all. Finally the 
trap was baited with a kernel of corn, and a shingle laid 
with one end resting on the catch, so that the rat must step 
upon it to reach the bait, which would let the spring go. 
This proved too much for his cunning, and the next 
morning he was found caught by the neck, having paid 
the penalty of his numerous offences."— There are other 
recorded instances of intelligence and cunning on the 
part of rats that would almost seem to indicate the pos- 
session of reasoning powers. Our young friends will 
find both interest and instruction in studying the acts and 
habits, not only of rats but of many other familiar animals. 
Harry's lUost Succcssiul i:0brt. 
Contributed to the American A gricuUurist hy 'Lizzie 
Nevins : All through one fine October day, Harry Nash 
had followed the plow up the lot, and down the lot, be- 
hind the old farm horses, and now as the sun was setting 
. he was getting so foot-sore and weary that several times 
he nearly fell asleep in his monotonous walk. " There 
goes the horn at last," he exclaimed, as the welcome 
sound broke the stillness, Hari7 did not wait to listen to 
its echoes, but quickly " turning out " he soon presented 
himself at the supper table, looking tired, it is true, but 
with a cheerful face, made more bright and shining from 
an intimate acquaintance with soap and water, and a 
coarse towel. " You have got over quite a large strip 
to-day, my son," said Mr. N. kindly, as he helped Harry 
to the plain but wholesome fare with which the table was 
spread. The boy looked pleased with this commendation, 
bulsaid ingenuously. " I'm afraid I haven't accomplished 
much for the last hour or two ; I was so tired I could 
scarcely walk." "On the contrary," said his father,"! 
think you acccomplished more in the last two hours, than 
during all the rest of the day." Harry opened his eyes 
in astonishment, as he called to mind the straight, neat 
furrows of which he was so justly proud in the early 
morning hours, and contrasted them silently with the 
shallow and uneven track he was leaving behind him 
when called to supper. Mr. Nash enjoyed his son's per- 
plexity for a while and then said, " I will tell you a short 
ed his natural indolence, and laboriously mastered the 
book recommended by his father?" It was amusing 
to witness the various changes which passed rapidly 
over Harry's face during this recital. At the closing 
question, he looked up quickly and exclaimed " I haven't 
read the book yet." " O !" said Mr. Nash, "Wife, 
where is the milk pail ?" and rising he took the pail 
from that lady's hands, and went to milk the cows. 
I^ook Out lor tlie 'IVealc Point. 
The old fable of Achilles should be remembered by 
every boy and girl of whatever age. The ancients said 
that when he was a babe, his mother held him by one 
heel and plunged him into the river Styx, which made 
him invulnerable, except tlie small place on his heel 
which her liand kept from being wet. He became a noted 
warrior, and as no weapon could wound his body, he 
made great havoc among his enemies ; no one could stand 
before him. But at last one of his foes finding out his 
weak point, shot him in the heel with a poisoned arrow, 
which caused his death. If Achilles had properly 
guarded his heel, he might have escaped such a fate. 
Every person has some w eak point, very few have only 
one. Here are two illustrations. Thomas is a cheerful, 
sprightly, wide-awake boy, ready for any kind of work 
or play, a favorite with all his companions ; but he is 
fond of change. He does not stick to a thing until it is 
finished. He is ready to run after every novelty. This 
is his weak point which w ill prevent him from ever hav- 
ing much success in life. Susan is very pretty, very 
pleasant, neat as a pink, and a great help to het mother ; 
yet she has a very weak place in her character. She is 
vain ; she loves to dis^play her good looks and accom- 
plishments, and is always seeking a compliment. She 
is fond of showy dress and jewelry, and of whatever will 
attract attention to herself. This feeling may prove her 
ruin ; thousands have lost honor and happiness by such 
a weakness. What is your weak point? Impatience? 
Angry passion ? Indolence? Exaggeration? Stub- 
borness ? Negligence? Whatever it may be, give It 
especial attention at once and try to correct the failing. 
