ISGT.j 
AMERICAN AOniCULTURIST 
187 
(DDi'umrj^o 
Hoy 'I'ruiiiiii;;'. 
“ There! it ntay lay there, for what I care, and a plagno 
on all jframniani, I nay 1 ” 
These wonls burst out with somethin^ of the same 
force which dashed a well-thuinl>ed l>o<)k across the room. 
Hal believed that his uncomfortable feelings were owing 
entirely to a *' plaguey hard lesson ” for to-morrow, but 
it is possible tliat circumstances may have aggntvated the 
hardship; as for instance, a bright sun, smooth, hartl 
snow, and other signs of a flrst-rate skating time. After 
liH>king out of the window a moment, Hal again bniko 
forth with all the indignation of twelve years : “ It’s a 
real dog’s life to be a boy I—school, school—work, work, 
rn)m one day’s end to another. Stupid books!-and 
what’s the good of it all. I'd like to know ! ”- “ What is 
the giMKl, sure enough?” said a voice behind him.—Hal 
had forgotten the quiet n-ader by the lire. He colored a 
little, but answered: “ I’m sure I can’t see. Cousin Ihilph. 
I’e.adlng and writing are well enough, or learning a trade, 
and all that; but to be studying so much stuff, and shut 
up all the pleasantest days of one’s life—I tell you what. 
I’d rather bo a savage at once. Wlutt a jolly time ! Free 
all day, in the real wild woods, hunting and fishing— 
why, wliat is their work, we call play.” 
*• .Stop a moment, Hal. We are speaking of boys—do 
you think savage boys fiavo nothing to loam?”- 
“ Nothing like Latin grammar. I’ll bc-t my head 1 It is 
only fun to leam to make arrows, to hunt and to fight—I 
would change work with them, any day.” 
” Re not .so sure of that. Hear a si>ecimcn of boy train¬ 
ing I liave just been reatling.-•* All the boys over ten 
years arc chosen to Iks comiianionsof the son of the chief. 
They are taken to some lonely spot in the forest where 
huts arc built for them. The old men go out daily to 
teach them their war dances and their notions of law and 
government. Much beating is uccos.sary to bring them 
up to the requin-(i |>erfi*ction, so that when they return 
from the forest their backs have many scars. When the 
boys have reached the age of fourteen, the great cen-mony 
of their lives takes piaco. They all stand naked, in an 
open space, each with a pair of sandals as a shield on his 
bands. Facing the l>i>ys stand the men of the tribe armed 
with tong wands of tough wood. They put such questions 
to the boys as “ Will you guard the chief well ? Will 
you gnard the cattle well ? ” and white the boys answer 
“ Yes,” rush at them, each aiming a blow at the back of a 
boy, causing the blood to squirt out of a wound often 
eighteen inches long. Thus the boys’ backs are seamed 
with wounds, the scars of which n-main through life. 
This is their initiation into manhood.” 
” Horrible ! ” said Hal, with a sigh, ” wby that is suffer¬ 
ing for worse than nothing.” 
“ Vos, and you may be sure that the demands of ignor¬ 
ance and su|>erstition are harder than any which civiliza¬ 
tion imposes upon us.” 
Hal thought a moment, still unwilling to admit the ex¬ 
pediency of school education, and then ho said, “ But 
to some other kuight, lest the tenderness of the parents 
should spare any of the trials and hardships necessary to 
the after career. So the little Boland, at that early age, 
left the indulgences of his own home to shift for himself 
in a strange household. The first place he was to fill was 
that of page to his new lord, his duty being to accompany 
the knight on excursions, do his errands, serve him at 
the table and pour out his drink, though the boy was of ns 
noble blood ns the man ho served. At the same time 
great care was taken in the training of the boy. Every 
moment not devoted to the scn icc of his lord was given 
to the practice of severe gjnnnastics or horsemanship; 
while the custom of waiting upon visitors, and listening 
to their conversation helped to give the grace of manner 
so neccs.sary to a knight of renown. Meanwhile the 
young page had to encounter the jeers of his companions 
at his awkwardness, and bear with sore and aching limbs 
fW)m his violent exercise, besides the carefully concealed 
pain of home-sickness. Seven years of this hard service 
brought Roland to his fourteenth year, the eagerly ex¬ 
pected time when he was to exchange the short dagger of 
the page for the sword of the ‘squire.’ This was a religions 
cerc'mony and conducted with due solemnity. His exer¬ 
cises now became more severe still, such as springing 
upon horseback armed, turning somersets in heavy 
annor, besides careful instruction in managing his horse 
and arms. As sqnirc he continued to foliow his lord to 
battle; held his stimip, lance, shield, or gauntlets; 
cleaned his armor, and took care of his horse. In battle 
the squire waited at a distance ready to furnish a fresh 
horse or to draw his master from the field if wounded. 
If a noblo squire had done well during his service, the 
honor of knight-hood was conferred at the age of twenty- 
one. Roland prepared for this great occasion by long 
fasts with numerous prayers and masses.” 
Hal had flinched at the id<u» of giving up the indulgences 
of home almost before the end of baby-hoo<l, fidgeted at 
services altogether menial in his eyes, and finally wound 
np with a prolonged “ whe-e—w ! ”-There, Hal, 
I think you will never have to bear harder training than 
that, and, whatever of goo<l or of romantic interest, it is 
well to keep from the “ old times,” you may be sure 
that tnie faith, in an “excelsior” ever before us, is the 
best aid to insure a manhood worth having. 
“ niil>y one day saw his father punish 
his older brother ; his tender little heart was much grieved. 
His mother explained to him that Wally was naughty, 
and Papa “ slapped ” him to make him good. The next 
day he came into the dairy as she was “ patting butter ” 
with the ladle. “Ijip but, (slap butter) mama?” asked 
Ned. “ Yes,” said his mother. “ Is tiol but f" (naughty 
butter,) asked the little fellow earnestly. H. 
Xlie Tate of “Wroedy IHclc.” 
All the boys and girls who arc careful to keep clean 
hands and faces, hair combed, clothes brushed, and all 
things about them as neat as their work will allow, and 
who love to share their good things with their compan¬ 
ions. can afford to laugh at the unhappy fate of poor 
rVcw Io l>c Aiisfwei**'*!. 
No. Sfil. Arithmetical TVoWem.—Five hundred dollars* 
at interest at ten per cent, per annum, is to be paid np in 
five equal, annual payments. Required the amount of 
each i)ayment. 
No. 203. Word Square .—With the following letters, Jt, 
Ji, S, S, P, L, A, A, A, A, A', A", A”, A’, /, I, form a word 
square, that is, a square arranged so that the words will 
be the same, whether read across or downward. 
No. 26.3. Must rated Pebus .—Very good advice. 
No. 201 —Geographical Enigma .—By Myron A. Eddy. 
-I am composed of 28 letters. My 1, 7,13, 23, 13, 19, 22, 
27, is a lake in Nevada. My 3, 10, 21, 12, 23, is a lake in 
Russia. My 4, 10, 24, 17, 2, 21, isalake in Canada. My 0, 
11, 11, 15, 20, 27, 12, is a lake in China. My 7, 15, 4, 28, 
12, 11, is a lake in New Y'ork. My 8,11, 24, 3, is a lake in 
Lombardy and Venice. My 9, 22, 4, 4, 20,1, 5, 21, is a 
lake in Florida. ;My 14,12, 23, 24,10, is a lake in Ethiopia. 
My 15, 13, 18, 28, is a lake in California. My 18, 21,11, 
14, is a lake in Nicaragua. !My 20, 25, 12, 10, 14, 2, is a 
lake in Wisconsin. My 24, 19, 4, 9, is a lake in Ireland. 
My whole is the name and location of a lake in the U. S. 
No. 205. Arithmetical Problem, to be solved mentally. 
If 0 cats catch 0 rats in 0 minutes, how' long will it take 
50 cats to catch 100 rats ? 
Io I*i*ol»loiii.s iintl 
The following are answera to the puzzles, etc., in the 
April number, page 147. No. 2.58. Clock Problem .—It will 
strike correctly at 11 o’clock; the number of strokes will 
any way, I wish I hatl lived in old 
times—the real, grand old times, 
you know, when there were 
knights and toumaments.and men 
dhi such brave deeds. There were 
no school b<K>ks then, and a man 
might be brave and true and make 
a gnrat name for himself without 
even learning how to read. Rid¬ 
ing, and fighting and punishing 
all bad p<-oplc. Oh! I could be 
happy while I was a boy with on¬ 
ly thinking of such a life. And 
those men were not savages—they 
lived in ca.«tlcs, and were Christ¬ 
ians—they had to say ever so many 
} )raycrs, and do each man his 1>est 
or Gotl ami his lady—Oh, Ralph I 
was it not easier and pleasanter 
to become a great man then, than 
to study up to it as we have to do 
now?”-“As to the deslmblc- 
ne-s of tliat life, Hal, we will not 
argue just now, we will keep to 
the boys and see wliat their work 
w.is.” And Cousin Ralph, taking 
a bo<A from the shelf, read a.s fol¬ 
lows: “Young Roland i)asscd his 
earliest years with his mother and 
her attendants, who taught him 
the pater nosters, and Avc Marias, 
besides the first ideas of that de¬ 
votion to women which belonged 
to the age of chivalry. But at the 
age of seven years his educjitlon began In earnest, as was 
umal then. Though the father might be capable of con¬ 
ducting the education of his son, it was always intrusted 
Crrcedy Dick. He didn’t do any of these things, and our 
artist traces him at last to a barrel of lanl. Then! we 
leave him, a warning to those who chance to need it 1 
71 _No. 2.59. JUustratea iceovs.—r oai wemuei moijb 
-lin sailine'....No. 200. Mathematical /7r)Wtw.—Diam- 
” - . - . .*109 fei.* 
