1884.J 
AMEEIOAK AGEIOIILTURIST. 
42T 
up to him, and asked him what they could do for 
liim. He pulled his canteen from around his neck, 
and i^ointing to a place where he could see water 
dripping from some stones, asked them in a tone 
scarccl 3 ' above a whisper, if they wouldn’t go and 
1111 it for him. They took it eagerly and went, and 
in a few minutes returned with it lilled with clear, 
cold water. The soldier put it to his jjarched lips 
and took a long draught, which seemed to refresh 
him greatly. Jle then caught Nellie by the hand 
and drew her closely' to him, and told her that he 
was dying, hut for her not to be afraid of him; that 
she reminded him of ids own little girl that he had 
left aw'ay in the North. ‘ She will soon be a little 
orphan,’he said, ‘and I want you to write toiler 
and tell her about finding her dying father on the 
battle-field, and how you carried him water and I'e- 
mained at his side, comforting hi.Ti in the last 
hours of his life.’ He said her name was Nora 
Laywood, and that she lived in Portland, Maine. 
These words tvere scarcely audible, and were the 
last the poor soldier ever uttered, for in a short time 
after he spoke to them he was dead. Then Will 
and Nellie crossed the iiowder-begrimed hands 
over his breast, for they were not afraid of him 
now, but had become much attached to him, placed 
his musket and canteen by his side, and then went 
in search of the road, all the while fearing that 
they would have to remain in the woods during the 
night. Just as it was getting dark they came to a 
road, which they supposed would be the one th.at 
wouldlead them home, and they began theascent in 
a hurry. How ghostly all the stumps and high rocks 
looked, and what a death-like stillness reigned ! 
Not even the accustomed hoot of an owl relieved 
the monotonous sileuce ; no night-roaming animals 
ran across the way, for the noise of battle had 
frightened them all to their hiding places, from 
which they yet feared to venture. Will and Nel¬ 
lie imagined, that eertain trees and turns in the 
road looked familiar, and ran along in hopeful ex¬ 
pectation of soon reaching home, when a gruff 
‘ Halt! who goes there ?’ suddenly filled them with 
terror. They stopped and looked, but as it was 
now real dark, they at first saw no one, but the 
next instant a man with a musket in his hand step¬ 
ped into the middle of the road, and again repeat¬ 
ed the command. They now knew that he was a 
picket, and they had a great dread of piekets, for 
they had heard of persons being shot by them, so 
they sprang in anjong the trees, hoping to escape 
him by going around him ; but the woods were so 
dark and gloomy, that they were afraid to attempt 
it, and so huddled together at the roots of a large 
tree, with the intention of passing when it grew 
darker. By this time the picket had seen that they 
were nothing but little children, and called out to 
them to come to him, but his voice was so loud and 
harsh, that they nestled the closer to each other, 
and trembled all the more. The picket waited a 
while to see if they would answer his summons, 
and as they did not, he walked up the road and 
entered the woods at the exact place where they 
did, and called again, but still there was no reply. 
Then he drew a match from his pocket and lighted 
a piece of bark, which he held up while he looked 
cautiously around. He quickly saw them, and 
walked up to them, although his voice was gruff he 
spoke very kindly, and led them to where his com¬ 
rades were. They told the pickets of their day’s 
experience, and tried to explain to them the loca¬ 
tion of their home. The pickets were deeply in¬ 
terested in all they told them, and when they said 
they were tired and sleepy, they gave them blankets 
in which they wrapped themselves, and lay down 
and slept until morning. They then took break¬ 
fast with the pickets, bade them good-bye, and 
continued on down the mountain. When they ar¬ 
rived at the foot, instead of their own home, 
they were surprised to find themselves in a strange 
community ; but seeing a house they went to it, 
and the family that lived there knew them, and 
had them sent to their home, which was several 
miles awaj’. The next day tidings came telling of 
their father’s death, for he had been shot down in 
the battle, and Will and Nellie never saw him 
afterward, for he was buried in the trenches. 
“And did Nellie ever write to Nora?” inquired 
i: 
Tom. — “Yes, Nellie wrote to Nora, and told about 
her and Will being lost in the mountains during 
a battle, and all about finding her wounded father ; 
and Nora replied, saying how glad she was that 
they escaped being hurt, and how thankful she was 
to them for having been so kind to her poor 
father, and to remain with him until he died. Now 
who do you think Nellie was? Well she is now 
your mother, and Will is your Uncle Edward.” 
What are Shrimps? 
I suppose that all the boys and girls old enough 
to read, have, all over the country, seen the ac¬ 
count of the Greely Expedition. You have road 
how this party struggled against cold and starva¬ 
tion, and after a large number had perished, the 
few who remained alive were rescued by the relief 
ships sent out to bring them back. One of the ac¬ 
counts states that at one time the men were kept 
from starving by shrimps, which were so very 
small, that a pint of them contained several thou¬ 
sands. One of my 5 'oung friends wishes to know 
about shrimps. You may be sure that he lives far 
inland, for did he reside near salt water, he would 
know shrimps, and may even have eaten them. 
The kinds of shrimps are very numerous, some as 
large as one’s finger, are much esteemed as food, 
and in their season are offered in the markets. A 
much smaller kind, found all along the coast, is 
the Bait Shrimp, and much used by fishermen as 
bait in angling in both salt and fresh water. Still 
smaller shrimps are known as sand-hoppers, from 
their jumping motions. It is impossible to say 
which of the many shrimps were eaten by the Arctic 
party; it was probably some small kind peculiar 
to the frozen regions. Those who have seen 
lobsters or even the Tittle craw-fish common in 
fresh water streams and ditches, and often called 
“ erabs ” by the youngsters, can have an idea of 
the general appearance of a shrimp, and the en¬ 
graving of the Bait Shrimp here given, will also help 
to show what the creatures were like that helped 
sustain the lives of those brave men. The Doctor. 
Illustrated Rebus Puzzle.— Find a name for 
each of the eleven pictures in the first puzzle, and 
arrange the names so as to give a zig-zag. The zig-zag 
will form the name of the Member of Congress who 
l)roposed George Washington for commander in chief 
of the Continental Army. The second puzzle gives the 
name of the stream on which the American Army 
encamped for a time in 1777. 
The Transposition Rebus.— This is read like 
the ordinary rebus, and the letters enclosed in circles 
when transposed give the snr-name of the author quoted. 
- ♦♦ - 
Do You Know My Boarders? 
My boarders came to me in a little box, as gray¬ 
ish-looking eggs, about the size of common pin¬ 
heads. They vvere jdaced on a long table in the 
sitting-room, and as hatching time approached, the 
tiny eggs, which were thickly strown over pieces of 
pasteboard, became whiter and more transparent, 
and we expected to see snow-white insects come 
from them. Our surprise was great, one morning, 
to find a lot of jet-black specks moving about iu 
the box! Whether they moved serpent-like or 
with tiny legs, ive could not see, but somehow 
they found their way to a few mulberry leaves 
which had been placed near, and went to making 
small holes in them. Indeed, eating seemed to be 
the chief end for which they had left their egg- 
homes, and so long as fresh leaves were abundant, 
the little specks were not disposed to wander from 
the place of their birth. Thus it was for five days; 
then, when fresh leaves were given them, they 
would not eat or crawl! They were not dead, but 
asleep, and changing their coats. The next day 
they awoke one by one, and leaving their small 
black garments on the dry leaves, in neat-fitting, 
lighter-colored coats, they crawled to fresh leaves, 
and began to eat with an apparently added relish. 
They were now a little larger, and small feet could 
be seen as they walked over the leaves. They 
dined often and long, and after a short rest, would 
eat again, making large holes in the leaves. They 
found in the mulberry both food and drink, and 
would crawl from a drop of water on a leaf, as 
though they feared drowning in its depths. 
AYith all their greediness for food, my boarders 
were rather sensitive to the cold, and for their 
comfort the temperatuie of the sitting-room was 
kept at between seventy and eighty degrees. The 
leaves that were not eaten, withered rapidly, there¬ 
fore, five or six times from early morning to late 
in the evening, a fresh supply of food was given. 
My one hundred boarders were fast increasing in 
size, and required more and more room on my 
table. They slept three times more in the course 
of six weeks. They would crawl as high as possi¬ 
ble on the leaves and branches, and raising their 
heads in the air, go to sleep. The last coats were 
really fine white summer suits. The boarders 
were all iu neat fitting buttonless dresses, and 
were ready for dinner at a moment’s warning. 
They were now almost as wide as my little fin¬ 
ger, and three inches in length. These fat worms 
had four pair of legs each, and three pair of false 
legs in front, with which they clung to the branches. 
They develoiied much curiosity, especially when 
