form the little foot that must fit such a little 
shoe, lie examined it well, but only to ad¬ 
mire it more arid more. lie went, to the 
stall of the cobbler again, but could learn 
nothing with regard to the owner of the 
shoe. This only increased his eagerness and 
made him more determined to know to 
whom it belonged. Day by day he was dis¬ 
appointed, but he was not discouraged. 
“ At last the little foot needed the little 
shoe, and Thcvcnard met the owner, a poor 
girl whose parents belonged to the humblest 
class. But the ardent actor thought not of 
caste or family. His heart had already pro¬ 
nounced the little one his wife. He married 
the girl, with no question of what people 
would say, and he felt joy enough in bear¬ 
ing the tread of the light, nimble feet 
through his silent rooms to pay him for the 
sacrifice of people’s approval." 
This is the story of Cinderella, that from 
which the Guild romance sprang. 
the main yard, of the French ship. The 
smoke was thick below him, and he was not 
seen, lie seized Hue flag, and quickly re¬ 
turned to the deck of the. English ship. 
Very soon, however, the smoke lifted, 
when it was observed that the French flag 
was gone. The cry of victory instantly 
arose from the British ship, and the French 
thought their officers had surrendered. Con¬ 
fusion followed, and the British went direct¬ 
ly aboard the French admiral’s ship and 
captured her. 
Still, Hobby never dreamed that he had 
done anything in particular. There he 
stood, on the deck of the British ship, with 
the French flag wound round his arm, look¬ 
ing about, and wondering what was to be 
done next. In a few minutes the Admiral 
and several other officers came up to him, 
and lie was promoted on the spot. 
HOBBY remained in the naval service, and 
rose rapidiy in rank, till, after a while, he 
became Admiral IIobson. 
Tin- good people of Niton never heard of 
all this; they always supposed that poor 
Hobby whs drowned. Years passed away, 
and possibly shamefully. A child is a child, 
and no act of a parent can make it other¬ 
wise. Disinheritance, anger, unkiudness and 
abuse only aggravate such matters, and 
what might have been kept a private family 
sorrow, becomes a public scandal, so crush¬ 
ing the helpless victim that not even a whole 
lifetime of remorse and repentance can suc¬ 
ceed in washing out the blot on her reputa¬ 
tion. The friends and relatives of an unfor¬ 
tunate woman invariably act as if they were 
the greatest sufferers in such cases, and that 
the victim herself has nr» feeling in the mat¬ 
ter. It would be well, many times, if she 
had not, for all it is regarded. That she 
does not place the dagger in her heart at 
once, anti remove herself from the scorn of 
men to the mercy of God, is but a proof that, 
she is less cowardly than they, and able to 
bear her sorrow even with the added burden 
of their stinging, Pharisaical insults. 
Life is so short—human happiness, at heat, 
so poor and small—is there anything to be 
gained by making a bad matter worse, or a 
miserable fellow creature still more wretch¬ 
ed? Are truth and virtue so frail and weak 
as to be utterly destroyed by the breath of a 
Must CrausT be again cruei- 
NINE YEARS OLD 
A WINTER SONG, 
BY FANNY M. BAKTON 
BY ALIQUA 
O! golden winter sunshine 
That blesses us to-day ! 
We greet you now with happy smiles 
Enjoy you while wo may; 
The sky is clear ami blue above, 
Tho earth is wrapped in snow, 
And sound of merry bells comes back 
In echoes sweet and low. 
I’M nine years old to-day, 
Almost, grown up, you see; 
And 1 know ounugh to tell 
That nine is three times three. 
And what are three times seven 7 
If you can’t toll I can ; 
It menus six feet and freedom, 
And every Inch a tuan. 
o: winter sonshine ! gleaming 
Across low-lying plains. 
The river’s heart is stirred to break 
Away from Icy chains; 
The lonely trees leach out their hands 
To feel the golden glow. 
Forgetting now to sigh for leaves 
That lie beneath the snow. 
I think t know my tables 
Very perfect, for a boy; 
But learning them, be certain, 
Was not a special joy. 
However, that’s all over, 
And I’m just three times three 
Nearly as tall as mother— 
Almost grown up you see. 
Gleam on. O winter sunshine! 
The heart with pleasure thrills 
And sends a thought to loving friends 
Beyond the snowy hills; 
But memories we put aside 
That In heart chain hers throng, 
We only note the golden light 
And sing our winter song. 
This morning father said 
That years don't make the man— 
That nothing but the heart and mind 
Makes one, or ever can. 
But give me three times seven. 
And f will risk tho rest; 
Though mother says that of one’s life 
The boyhood is the best. 
The “Dot" (•nine, 
A new game, called the " dot" game, has 
been introduced, and is said to afford con¬ 
siderable amusement. Each player must be 
provided with pencil and paper. Let one of 
the party read aloud -distinctly and not 
very fast—ami ns he or she reads, let the rest 
each make a dot for every word read. 
“Easy enough to to that"—is it? Try. 
Probably at the first irial not one of the 
party of ten hoys or girls will succeed in 
following a moderate reader accurately, even 
for a single page. When the page is read, 
count the words and then let each player 
count his dots, and see who has been accu¬ 
rately “ up to lime.” 
I’m nine year* old to-day— 
Almost grown up you see; 
And, whatever may be lacking, 
There’s no baby about me. 
I mean to study hard, 
Am) leave everything I can; 
So that when I’m three times soven 
I’ll be every inch a man. 
OPPOSING THE MATOK” 
pitiful error? 
fied to teach us tho beauty of charity and 
forgiveness? 
BY MARY A. E. WAGEK. 
Tite lack of good sense and judgment 
flint many fathers and mothers display in re¬ 
gard to tin- matrimonial alliances of their 
children, amounts, in very many instances, 
to rank idiocy. If they wish to “ break off a 
love affair," they employ the very ngent for 
its iutensesl promotion — opposition. The 
stronger the opposition, the stronger grows 
the love, dr whatever it maybe,that, attracts 
the young people. There is such a thing as 
reusable opposition, and such a thing as un¬ 
reasonable opposition. In either case, it can 
be employed with happy results, only by 
skillful and intelligent, use. 
Infatuation, so often mistaken by young 
people for love, is a feebly-rooted plant, that 
will die of itself in lime, if only let alone. 
Parental interference, of a dogmatic kind, 
will very probably drive its roots to a firm 
depth in the soil of'affection. 
It is unquestionably one of the severest 
t rials between the beginning and end of life, 
to rear a child with great care, and then, at 
manhood or womanhood, behold the labor 
worse than lost, as it seeni3 to the parents. 
It seems bitterly ungrateful. A terrible blind¬ 
ness seems to have fallen like a pall upon 
their child’s mental, moral and spiritual 
vision. It would be like abetting the folly, 
not to make an effort to avert it. It tvttrt 
not be, they cry, and violent and decided 
measures are resorted to. 
It is an exceedingly rare thing for a son, 
or daughter, who has been reared in (he con¬ 
fidence of father and mother, to heartlessly 
EARLY MARRIAGES, 
“ Buy your cage before, you catch your 
bird.” On this time-honored adage Mrs. H. 
W. Beeciieh makes some sensible remarks 
in an article in the Christian Union. For 
example, she says: 
“ Tills old proverb sounds very wise, and 
if taken literally, may, for aught we know, 
be correct doctrine; but when used as a 
in the connection which our friend 
THE STORY OF HOBBY, 
One time, long ago — somewhere about 
the year 1090 —a little orphan boy was 
brought to a tailor to become an apprentice. 
warning. 
suggests, we don’t more than half believe in 
it. We are no advocate for very long en¬ 
gagements, or unreasonably early marriages, 
but we do believe that the happiest mar¬ 
riages are of those between whom the love 
was early plighted, and that close observa¬ 
tion wifi prove that such, are the most .nv .y 
to stand the test, of time, and pass through 
the many rough and hazardous paths of 
married life with the most, cheerful forti¬ 
tude. Those who have delayed marriage 
till their habits have become too firmly es- 
| tablished to yield kindly to another’s wishes 
or peculiarities, have not, we think, so sure a 
prospect of a pleasant and harmonious life." 
She does not believe that an engagement 
should he protracted, after the lover has en¬ 
tered upon h 5 * business or profession, until 
he has accumulated sufficient wealth to keep 
his bird in a golden cage. 
“Begin real life together. That is the true 
way, all the sweeter and happier if you be¬ 
gin small. The less style and display there 
is, the more time each will have to study 
the home-character of the one they have 
accepted as a companion for life, and the 
better opportunity to learn easily how to 
MISCELLANEOUS ENIGMA-No. 3. 
I am composed of cloven letters— 
My H, 4,1), 5, 7 is ft bird of prey; 
My 1, 8, 2 and 10, 5, 3 ttre rivers Ol' Europe. 
My 6, 1 signilies holy ; 
My whole is the name of a most admirable 
author whose long Ufa illustrated, in an 
eminent degree, the character he bus 
described—“ Tho meek, who shall inherit 
the earth. 
8 '3f“ Answer In two weeks. Fourteen. 
CROSS-WORD ENIGMA.—No. 4 
My first is in great, but not in high; 
My second’s in hope, but not in try; 
My third is in you, but not in me; 
My fourth is in buzz, but not iu bee; 
My fifth is in Eliza, but not in Ann ; 
My sixth is in lad, but not in man ; 
My seventh is in exclaim, but not in shout; 
My whole is what you are trying to find out, 
I3f~ Answer In two weeks. E. W. B. 
PROBLEM. No. 6 
The outer diameter of the links of a chain is 
Uve inches; the thickness two. Required, the 
solidity of a chain consisting of sixty links, the 
whole length of tho chain and the length of an 
Iron rod of the same thickness, from which tlio 
links can be made; no allowance for welding. 
Brimfield, Noble Co., Ind. II. 
£37“ Answer lit two weeks. 
A PROBLEM.—NO ANSWER FURNISHED 
Will somoof the numerous reaUersof Rural 
give a rule for the following problem, which 
has puzzled many. I have a board in the form 
ol' a triangle, whose base A B, Is 12 feet, and P, 
and It C, is 13 inches, containing six foot. At 
what point, between A B must it cut it in order 
to obtain one-half, or three feet? 
A solution In full is requested. F. J. H. 
HOW TO MAKE BRACKETS, 
Perhaps some of the little readers of the 
Rural do not know what pretty little 
brackets can be made of cigar boxes. Al- 
dcaler will give 
ILLUSTRATED REBUS.-No. 8 
LITTLE WOMEN. 
most any grocer or cigar 
you a cigar box that is of no farther use to 
him, and it. will make two brackets. Per¬ 
haps some older brother or sister will help 
you procure patterns or cut some for you ; 
if you have any large brackets yon can take 
patterns from them and cut them smaller. 
Lay the pattern on the wood, mark round 
with a lead pencil, and then cut out with a 
jack knife. Great care must be taken not 
to break off the corners and points. Fasten 
on the shelf, and its support with small 
nails put through the back, or glue, or both. 
When done, rub over with a little linseed 
oil or thin varnish. A Rural Friend. 
Three little girls were playing among 
the poppies and sage-brush of the back yard. 
Two of them were “ making believe” keep 
house, a little way apart, as near neighbors 
might. At last one was overheard saying to 
the youngest of the lot, “ There, now, Nelly, 
you go over to Sarah’s house and stop there 
a little while, and talk as fast as ever you can, 
and then you come back and tell me what 
she says about me, and then I’ll talk about 
her; and then you will go and tell her all I 
say, and then we’ll get as mad as hornets 
and won’t speak when we meet, just as our 
mothers do, yon know ; and that’ll be such 
fun—won’t it ?” Hadn’t these little mis¬ 
chiefs lived to some purpose? and were 
they not close observers and apt scholars, 
charmingly trained for the chief business of 
life in a small neighborhood ? 
IgST* Answer iu two weeks. 
BIBLICAL SQUARE-WORD.—No. 3 
My first was a Jewish month; 
My second’s a Bible bird; 
My third was a plain in Syria; 
My fourth is a Bible name for tare. 
82T* Answer in two weeks. Isola, 
THE STORY OF CINDERELLA. 
Tile story of Cinderella is familiar to every 
one, and there are few that treasure it up as 
in any respect true. But it is said to have 
had a foundation and a reality that really 
need no fairy god-mother, with her pumpkin 
and her rats, to make an entertaining tale. 
It Is as follows! 
“ In about the year 17.30, a French actor 
by the name of Thcvcnard lived in Paris. 
He was rich and talented, hut he had no 
wife, and we may believe lie bad never 
loved any one, but gave all bis affection to 
those ideal characters that he could repre¬ 
sent so finely on the stage. One day, as lie 
was walking leisurely along the streets of 
Paris, lie came upon a cobbler’s stall, and 
his eye was attracted by a dainty little shoe 
which lay there waiting for repairs. 
“ His imagination began immediately to 
PUZZLER ANSWERS, 
How Pretty Girls are Educated is 
thus stated by Mrs. Stowe :—Pretty girls, 
unless they have wise mothers, are more 
educated by the opposite sex than their own. 
Put them where you will, there is always 
some man busying himself in their instruc¬ 
tion ; and the burden of masculine teaching 
is generally about the same, and might be 
stereotyped as follows:—“ You don’t need to 
be or do anything. Your business in life 
is to look pretty and amuse us. You don’t 
need to study ; you know all by nature that 
a woman need to know. The only sense 
you need is lovely nonsense. You are, by 
virtue of being pretty, superior to anything 
but what you are.” 
Problem No. WJ.46.W Inches. 
Double Acrostical enigma No. L- 
N act - E. 
Y anko E- 
O pa L. 
K aveling 8. 
K ohl-Rab I. 
15 oh O. 
r ive R. Or, 
New-Yorker— Excelsior. 1. Nacre; 2, Esox; 3, Wtc; 
i Yankee? 5 , Opul; *5, BaveliuUfl; 7. Kokl-Rabi; 8, 
f note -Vi will the first an<l last arc w and C. These 
letter* us used by tho 1.0. or O. T., (thus, W. C..) 
Htutiil for “ Worthy Chief.” which I think will apply 
well to tho RURAL when considered with other Ag¬ 
ricultural journals. Uowtslti fourteen.] 
bxulb Square-word No. 2.- 
a 111 o 
KINO 
TOGA. 
Illustrated Rebus No. 8.—None but the up¬ 
right in heart are capable of being true friends. 
“ Oh,” said Hobby, "if that’s all, I’ll see 
what I can do.” 
The flag-ships of the two admirals were close 
together; indeed, their yard-arms touched, 
and both vessels were wrapped in a com¬ 
plete cloud of smoke. Instantly Hobby 
climbed up the shrouds, and crossed along 
