56 
[Februahy, 
AMERICAN AG-RICUT.TURIST. 
THE 
SHERMAN’S RETURN.-— Engraved for the American agriculturist. 
Our young friends at the West may not take in all the 
meaning of tliis beautiful picture, at first sight. Tlie 
scene will be familiar to tlie boys and girls in ‘Nantucket, 
Cape Cod. and all along shore' away up to Nova Scotia, 
Cape Breton Island, and Newfoundland, where thousands 
of the Agriculturist family live. Many of their parents 
are fisliermen. Instead of wheat-fields, meadows, pas¬ 
tures and woodlands, rich in grain, cattle and game, they 
love to plow the blue fields of the sea, with schooner and 
sloop, where the cod, mackerel, herring and their finny 
neighbors yield both sport and gain. But it is not all sport. 
No farm labor is harder or more unpleasant than that 
performed by the fisherman. It is no easy task to pull up 
a ten to twenty pound codfish from seventy feet below 
the surface. The rxculement might make it pleasant for 
a few times, but to keep at it all day is harder than chop¬ 
ping wood or hoeing corn : neither is it lery aereeable to 
pull the nets in w hich the snudler fish are caught. .\dd 
to this the frepucnl (hingers fioin storms, fogs and ice¬ 
bergs. and most boys would prefer a life of less hardship. 
Those who are Drought up to the business, grow strong 
and hardy enough to bear the severe exposure and toil 
witliout flinching ; their frames are tough as white oak, 
and the palms of their htinds as liard as sole leather. 
But this does not mtike them hard-hearted. The picture 
shows tliis, and everybody, east. west, nortli or south, can 
understand and enjoy the affection which sparkles in the 
eyes of tlie children, and gives real beauty to the rugged 
face of tlie fatlier. 
TTlae Stain obs tBac Cas’jsct. 
Mai-y, an orphan, was liired by a lady to help do house¬ 
work. “ I pity you ” said a girl whom she met coming 
from the door, as she was going to her new place. “Wliy?” 
asked Mary—“She’s just the most particular body you 
ever saw. She turneil me away only because I spilled a 
little oil; but I wouldn’t stay if I could.” Just then the 
door opened, and (he girls separated, one to look for a 
new situation, the other with many forebodings to com¬ 
mence service. The parlor door was partly open as 
Mary entered (lie hall, and 
she overheard the lady of the 
house exclaim “If it wasn't 
for servant girls I might 
have some comfort, I dc 
believe they are all alike!' 
The poor girl’s heart sunk 
within her, but she immedi¬ 
ately resolved that she would 
try and prove that one at 
least could be faithful. Dur¬ 
ing the morning she was 
sent up stairs to sweep a 
room. In moving tlie furni¬ 
ture she overset a small 
bottle which had been care¬ 
lessly left near the edge of a 
table; it fell to the fiobr, 
broke, and spilled some ink 
on the carpet. She stood a- 
ghast. What could she do ? 
She hastily gathered up ihe 
pieces, Uirew them out ol 
the window, wiped up the 
ink, and tiien stopped to 
think. ‘SI le won’t see it 
very soon, and vvlien she 
does slie may tliiuk it was 
llie Ollier giil,” was the 
nrst tliouglit. “ But you 
•lid it, and you ought to lell 
her of it,” wlii.epered con¬ 
science. “ I'm sure slie’ll 
turn me away, what .■•hall 1 
do ?” “ Go and lell her ; you 
can’t help tlie slain on the 
carpet, but you can keep Ihe 
stain of a lie from your 
soul,” said conscience. 
“ Yes, and I will,” said Slary 
aloud, and w itliout slopping 
to tliiuk furtlier, slie w ent to 
seek the lady whom slie met 
coming up .stairs, and to 
whom she relaled tlie acci¬ 
dent. “I believe I can trust 
you Mary,” was the reply, so 
kindly made, that the girl 
could not keep I'ack her 
tears. “ You are tlie first 
girl I have liad,” continued 
the lady “wlio would con¬ 
fess a fault, and I hate de¬ 
ceit. Try and be careful, but 
above all, be truthful.” Mary 
did not forget the lesson ; she 
kept her place until lier mar¬ 
riage several years after¬ 
ward, and found tliat though 
her employer was strict, yet 
she had no better friend. 
When templed to untnitliful- 
ness to liide a fault, let our 
young readers remember the 
“stain on the soul,” and 
dread that more than any 
bodily punishment feared. 
I^iresitle CSames.— 
A Phonetic Play. —At a 
recent evening gatliering we 
saw an amusing illiistialioi) 
of the effect of a combination 
of sounds. Tlie company of 
some twenty or more was 
To the first section ■was 
divided into three sections, 
given the syllable Isli; to tlie second Ask; and to ttie 
third Osk. At a signal, (the striking together of the 
hands of tlie leader, after counting three,) each division 
pronounced its syllable in a loud voice, so tliat the tliree 
syllables were uttered at the same instant. The result 
was a sound like a tremendous sneeze by one person. 
The Gossip’s Surprise. —This game is best played by 
a large company, but it will afford amusement to eight or 
ten. The leader whispers a short story, in the ear of his 
next neighbor, containing as many different particulars 
as possible. The one who heard llie story now repeats it 
(in a whisper as before,) to his neighboi, aiming to 
tell it correctly, but in different words; and so it Is 
passed around the entire company. The last one who 
heard it llien repeats it aloud, after which the leader 
gives tlie story as he started it. The strange differences 
which sometimes appe.ar, sliow how careful every per¬ 
son should be in reporting what lie lias heai'(.l, particu¬ 
larly if it is calcuiiucd to injure tlie cliAroacter of anothep. 
