378 
boys’ department. 
ignorant a cook, and, alas ! I felt I was little better; 
but I began to arrange matters as I best could. The 
ham was the first to be dished. Imagine my con¬ 
sternation on looking into the pot, where I found 
it had boiled to fragments. It had been put on to 
simmer, according to your directions, early in the 
morning, and had been boiling all day. How shall 
we get it out of the potasked Jane. “ Strain 
it through a colander,” said a saucy boy, who stood 
enjoying our perplexity. It was a good hint, how¬ 
ever, and we followed his advice, both with the ham 
and beans, which otherwise eluded our ladles when 
we attempted to catch them, as if they had been 
things of life. 
At length, all was safely landed on the table, 
much to the amusement of our guests, who, good- 
naturedly, laughed with] not at us, and relieved my 
embarrassment by relating their first experience in 
housekeeping. I had attended to the desert myself, 
and it was really good—all but an unfortunate ap¬ 
ple island, that looked much more like a solid con¬ 
tinent than I could have desired : but thanks to the 
long delay, we were too hungry to be over partic¬ 
ular, and the dinner passed off right merrily. So, 
dear mother, do pray join in the laugh, and don’t 
look so sad; don’t shake your head so reproach¬ 
fully, as if you were going to say, “Ah! Fanny, 
Fanny, I thought this would be the way.” Do, 
dear mother, look up and give me one of your 
bright smiles, and I will promise to give a better 
account of my next. Fanny. 
How to Take Oil from Paper. —Rub gently, 
and press with blotting paper till all the oil on the 
surface is removed; then cover the spots with 
powdered magnesia, French chalk, or any other 
white absorbent—such as Wilmington clay, “ grease 
balls,” &c. Put soft paper over this, and turn the 
other side of the oil spot up, and cover that in like 
manner; lay it under a light press for a few hours, 
and then scrape off’the chalk, which will be satura¬ 
ted with oil; and repeat the process until it has all 
been absorbed; then rub it gently with a cambric 
handkerchief so as to remove the dust and stain. 
Three or four applications will generally be found 
sufficient. 
3o$v department. 
ANECDOTES OF ANIMALS.—No. 4. 
Animal Instinct .—The following curious in¬ 
stance of sagacity in a field mouse occurred on a 
farm near my residence, and displays so much of 
what, in man, would be called reason, that to me it 
seems unfair to deny to animals so acting, a meas¬ 
ure of that noble attribute; if, by reason, as dis¬ 
tinguished from instinct, we mean the power of de¬ 
ducing consequences from premises. Instinct 
teaches one mouse to make her nest, and find her 
food, as all other mice have done, since their habits 
were noticed by reasoning man; but perhaps no 
other mouse ever did, nor ever will, follow the dic¬ 
tates of reason in avoiding danger as this one did. 
Late last summer, a young man, while engaged 
in removing a log in the woods, observed a field 
mouse in her nest, which seemed to be asleep. 
Surprised at seeing her remain so quiet when so 
roughly disturbed, he stopped to look more closely, 
when she started away much frightened and ran up 
a neighboring oak tree. On examining the nest, 
he found five half-grown young ones. Supposing 
the mother would return to take care of them, if 
left unmolested, and feeling sorry for her fright, he 
went to work in another part of the wood, and re¬ 
mained at a distance for a considerable time. When 
he came to the place again, he gave another look 
at the nest, and finding but three little ones, he sup¬ 
posed that he had counted wrong at first. On re¬ 
suming his work, he saw the mother descend a ma¬ 
jestic chestnut not far from the oak he had seen her 
ascend, and go towards her nest. This excited his 
curiosity, and he sat down on a log not far from 
the spot, to watch her motions. She went to her 
nest, took a young one in her mouth as a cat does 
a kitten, and ran up the oak to about half its 
height, crept cautiously and slowly to the end of 
one of the largest branches, from whence she gain¬ 
ed the chestnut, where the boughs interlaced each 
other. The latter tree, which was about sixty feet 
high, she winded up till she came near the top, and 
disappeared in a deserted crow’s nest. Presently 
she came down, took up another young one, and 
repeated this perilous and laborious journey until 
she had deposited the whole five safely in this 
strangely-selected, aerial habitation, where neither 
man nor beast would be likely to disturb them. 
Eutawah. E. S. 
SAGACIOUS HORSE. 
A farmer whose sayings and doings I have of¬ 
ten quoted, though I dare not give his name, had 
some years ago, an old horse, known by the 
name of “ Yellow Ned,” being past work, was turned 
out to enjoy the remainder of his useful life, in the 
best pastures, as his master very justly thought 
some reward was due for his long and faithful ser¬ 
vices. He was a pet with all the children of the 
household, and so docile, that the most timid child 
used to trot about on his back without saddle or 
bridle. Among other odd fancies, he was extrav¬ 
agantly fond of apples; and besides shaking the 
small trees, he would adopt various expedients to 
obtain them. 
Among others, the following was of frequent 
occurrence :—The children often plucked apples 
for him, as they rode through the orchard, which 
no doubt first put the thought into his head : but 
whether so or not, the fact is the same. He would 
come to the horse block, and whinny; if not no¬ 
ticed, he would put his head over the fence, and 
express great impatience. The children loved to 
indulge their old favorite, so one, or sometimes two 
of them would climb upon his back, when he would 
pace off to the nearest apple tree whose fruit he could 
not reach, and wait while they gathered for him as 
many as he chose to eat. Once, when two were 
on his back, they attempted to cheat him, by eat¬ 
ing the fruit, and filling the boy’s pockets, and the 
little girl’s apron. He waited at first, as if to know 
what it meant; then walked quietly to a stream 
that run through the corner of the field, stopped in 
the deepest place, stooped to drink as usual, and 
then gently lay down with his little burden in the 
water. The children shouted with laughter, and 
gave him their ill-gotten treasure : and never tried 
to cheat “ Yellow Ned” again. E. S. 
