AMERIOAN AO-RIOULT CJRIST, 
191 
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Tlie SSestless ESIue-bottle IFly ! 
Whiz ! Buzz I Buzz! a groat blue-bottle fly came dash¬ 
ing into the open window, and blundering about the 
room where little Frank was sitting and pouting because 
he did not know what to do with himself. One would 
think he could have found play enough with all the toys 
scattered around him, or pleasure enough in the bright 
picture books that lay on the table, or work enough with 
his little spade, hoc, and wheelbarrow, which stood under 
the window outside, near the garden, to have covered his 
face with smiles and filled his heart and his eyes with 
sunshine. But there he was with a cloudy frown on his 
face, and a rainstorm of tears threatening to gather in his 
eyes, when the big blue-bottle made him forget himself 
by its loud hum and its queer freaks. Away it darted, 
and banged its head against the window pane—its brains 
would have been dashed out,if it had any; it circled 
round and round the room, then went fumbling into 
every corner, as though hunting for something it could 
not find; next it came pounce upon Frank’s nose, mak¬ 
ing him start and strike at it, but it was already away and 
beating its wings violently to brush o(T a cobweb in which 
it had entangled itself; luckily it was an old net, which 
the spider who made it had left., or that would have been 
the end of poor blue-bottle. “What an uneasy fly yon 
are,” said Frank, “whycan’t you be quiet? Wasn't 
there enough to look at out doors, that you must come 
poking in here ? Now you have done it, you silly thing,” 
he continued, as the fly, after breaking loose from the cob¬ 
web, and buzzing about a little, darted straight into a 
cup of dissolved gum with which Frank had been mend¬ 
ing his kite. It struggled to the edge, with its wings 
fastened down, its body besmeared, and in altogether a 
pitiable plight. Frank watched it a few minutes, and 
then threw it out of the window, to help itself as best it 
might. Then his uneasy feelings came on again. “What 
shall I do ?” murmured he. “ I wish I had a willow 
whistle, like Ed. Jones’s.” There was a nice ivory whis¬ 
tle in his pocket, which his cousin had given him a few 
days before, but that was not a willow whistle. After 
thinking a few minutes he slowly sauntered out of the 
house and through the garden. He had a plan, in his 
head now. There was a swamp not far frem the house, 
where willows grew. He had been forbidden to go there, 
for the mud was deep, and the bogs gave a very insecure 
footing; but no harm would come of it, he thought; he 
would take care of himself, he said. He passed safely 
from one bog to another, cut a nice, smooth, willow stick, 
and returned nearly to the firm ground without accident, 
but at the last jump his foot slipped, and down ho went 
floundering in the mud. Fortunately ho was able to 
crawl out, but he was a sorry figure to look at; his nicp 
clothes were plastered with filth, his face smeared, and 
his hair matted together. He had a good washing and 
was put to bed by his mother on his return home, and 
there, he was obliged to lie the remainder of the long day, 
thinking over what had happened. Singularly enough a 
blue-bottle fly, perhaps his old acquaintance, came buzz¬ 
ing into the room to sympathize with him, and perhaps 
this helped to cure him of restlessness, for ho seemed 
to be almost entirely contented with the abundance 
of good things around him for a long time afterward. 
TosBi5My*s» Trembles, 
WRITTEN TOR TIIE AGRICULTURIST BY SARAH E. DONMALL. 
With a scowl upon his face, and tears in his eyes, Tom¬ 
my sat in a chair, rocking to and fro in a very violent 
manner. The old chair creaked and creaked, and seemed 
to have half a mind to throw him backwards. 
Just then Aunt Lottie came into the room, and with 
much surprise asked him what was the matter. “ Oh ! ” 
said Tommy with a groan, “I have so much trouble!” 
“ Trouble 1” repeated Aunt Lottie, “ what in the world 
should trouble you ?” “ Well,” said Tommy, “ in the first 
place, I have lost my knife, and that troubles me. And 
my old Seabright hen that is setting, keeps jumping on 
and off her nest, and I don’t believe she will hatch a 
chicken. Now, I think these are troubles enough for any 
body.” And the old chair creaked, and creaked again, 
while the tears ran down Tommy’s cheeks faster than ever. 
“ Let me tell you how to get rid of these troubles,” 
Aunt Lottie gently replied. “ In the first place, the loss 
of your knife can bo replaced, although it may take all 
your money to.buy another; yet this will teach you to be 
more careful in future, arid also to remember, that many 
of our troubles come upon us through our own careless¬ 
ness. Now, suppose, by some accident one of your eyes 
had been put out, or you had lost both legs, like the poor 
soldier wo saw in the hospital; then you would be obliged 
to sit in a chair, week after week, and no amount of 
money could replace them.” “Oh dear!” exclaimed 
Tommy, “I would rather lose my knife than my legs 
any day.” “ But how are you going to got over the 
trouble about the old hen ?” asked Tommy, “ Oh very 
easily,” replied Aunt Lottie. “You are not certain the 
hen will leave her nest; perhaps she will mend her ways 
in future and stay at home, and then you will have had all 
this worry for nothing; and if she should not hatch a 
chicken, you cannot help it. She may sc-t again in a few 
weeks, behave like a good, sensible mother, and hatch as 
many chickens as you desire. So never be discouraged; 
but always try to believe that whatever happens is for 
the best. If we could really make ourselves believe this, 
wo should never' be very unhappy about anything.” 
“Ah!” exclaimed Tommy, “ you can never persuade 
me that it will be for the best, if my old Seabright leaves 
her eggs.” “ Perhaps I cannot,” replied Aunt Lottie, 
“ yet it may be for the best, in spite of your unbelief. I 
remember once reading of a lady who had a necklace 
stolen from her, and it was the means of not only making 
her very happy, but many others also; and if you would 
like to hear it I will tell you the story. 
“ Iu an eastern country there lived a king, whoso name 
was Ismail Saminec. lie, with his army, had laid siege 
to and taken the city of Herat. Ismail had promised the 
inhabitants that he would not destroy the city or take 
their money from them, as he was a pious, just man, and 
would not do anything to oppress them, nis soldiers, 
being in very great need of money, clamorously demand¬ 
ed that lie should levy a tax on the city, but Ismail re¬ 
fused, and lest he should be tempted to violate his word, 
ordered his army to march away, and encamp a long 
distance from Herat, One day a vulture, hovering over 
the tents, espied a ruby necklace, that belonged to one of 
Ismail’s ladies. Mistaking the redness of the stones for 
meat, he made a swoop at it, and carried it off. The flight 
of the vulture was watched, and he was seen to deposit 
it in a dry well, and this being searched, the jewel was 
recovered, together with several boxes containing great 
treasures, that had been hidden there by a robber. 
“With this money Ismail satisfied his soldiers, who no 
doubt had thought themselves very ill used, just as you 
feel in not having your own way; and the lady must have 
felt quite as sorry to see the vulture carry off her neck¬ 
lace as you did to lose your knife. But you see it all 
happened for the best, as it was the means of more than 
supplying all the wants of Ismail’s army, and the lady 
gaining more jewels than she supposed she had lost.” 
“ Well! ” said Tommy, rubbing his eyes, “ I think I 
feel better. Aunt Lottie, and when I have any more 
troubles, will try to remember what yon have told me;” 
and the scowl disappeared from his features, and the old 
chair was not heard to creak any more for a long time. 
I’Sie Clain Fever. 
This affection is usually prevalent among boys from 
fifteen to eighteen years old. You don’t know what the 
chin fever is-, perhaps. The first symptoms are a frequent 
inclination to pass the hand over the chin, sometimes 
over the upper lip. The sufferer has an expression as 
though impatiently expecting something, which delayed 
in coming. He will frequently gaze carefully into the 
looking glass, as though it were the mirror of fortune. 
As the trouble increases the afflicted boy may be seen 
stealing away to some retired place and striving to get a 
little ease by applying strong soapsuds to his face ; so 
anxious is he sometimes to get rid of his trouble that he 
has been seen to threaten to cut his throat with his 
father’s razor. As usual, the quack medicine dealers take 
advantage of persons in such trouble, and advertise com¬ 
pounds warranted to cure the worst cases in from three 
to six weeks; but their applications only aggravate the 
symptoms, and cause more frequent turnings to the glass 
and more violent manipulation of the face. It is a relief 
to know that this trouble is not fatal, and disappears 
gradually as the beard grows, though we have known 
cases where some of the symptoms, especially passing the 
hand affectionately over the face, have remained through 
life. The best treatment for the patient, perhaps, is to 
let him alone, as advice in such cases usually aggravates 
the complaint. If any, however, should really wish to 
know what to do with the beard when it first appears, we 
answer, let it alone until it becomes unsightly, then trim 
it. Too early and frequent shaving will make it trouble¬ 
some in after years; if not abused by continuous cut¬ 
ting it will be more likely to remain soft and silky. 
3®otatoes a. Great JLiaxisry. 
Our friend, Mr. B. K. Bliss, the well-known seedsman, 
relates the following: Last fall a gentleman of Spring- 
field, evidently a man of good taste, described to Mr. 
Bliss some potatoes ho had raised, greatly praised their 
excellent qualities, and told Mr. B. that he ought to try 
and procure a quantity to sell for seed, promising to send 
him some to test. Nothing more was said on the subject, 
however, until this spring, when the gentleman informed 
Mr. B. that the potatoes were so very fine, his family had 
used them all during the winter, and ho regretted not 
being able to furnish any, as he had intended. Shortly 
after this the gentleman received a noto from the man I 
who had at first let him have the seed for his flno pota¬ 
toes, saying he had better keep all he had on hand of that 
kind, as they were the celebrated Early Rose variety, 
which Mr. Bliss, the seedsman, was then selling at one 
dollar per pound. The gentleman, who had not before 
known the name of his favorite potato, felt that he had 
been rather extravagant in indulging in so costly a luxury; 
however, he made the best of it, and enjoyed the practi¬ 
cal joke which had been perpetrated at his own expense. 
Answers to IProMesaass samd IPsazzles. 
The following is the answer to the puzzle in the April 
number, page 140: Truth, honesty, and industry, go 
hand in hand with peace and prosperity_The follow¬ 
ing have sent correct answers to some of the puzzles 
published in previous numbers: L. M. Wright, John 
King, Theodore Ascherfold, F. W. Kisque, J. M. Rodkey, 
A. Langdon Root, George M. Del!, Edward R. Crafts, 
Willie Cundell, F. C. Marion, John Ed, John Austin, E. 
B. Dawson, Henry E. Nelson, Mary C. Woodward, J. H. 
Brush. W. J. Bowman, Chas. B. Kellogg, J. F. Tilling- 
hast, J. D. Odell, Carrie E. Safford, Wm. A. Smith, Wm. 
K. Auraudt, A. J. Tucker. A. J. Underhill, Walter Helms, 
Lizzie Surface, Willie W. Rupert, Airs. C. P. Norton, 
Jennie Flora White, C. Y. Bradley, F. W. Griswold, L. 
F. Irwin. Alfred Woolley, Sarah Aloriet.y, Melliah J. Dog- 
gel, A. N. Daniels, FrancesH. Englebert. N. Jennie Fain, 
“ Hoosier,” Wilson K. Hasbrouck, Oscar W. Baker, 
Alina AI. Walker, Wylie AIcAIorran, George F. Bearsom, 
E. J. Bushnell, James Rose, J. Van Winkle, W. F. Gale, 
Jas. A. Greason, Chas. Hasbrouck, Wm. Brockway, Alary 
Wilkinson, David AIcNeil, Alice Clemens, Elbe Bella 
Ludlow. Daniel W. Leitzel, C. G. Holloway, Addie and 
Frank Ferris, Geo. B. Stocum, Wm. R. Potter, Wm. B. 
Davis, Cornelia E. Hardisty, Ebcnczer J. Bridge, B. G. 
Whittemore, Charles Weber, Lorin Morrison, Bridge- 
water, Wm. Reynolds, II. Nicholay, Sandford Horton, 
Hattie E. Hawley, Horace Cook, J. E. Witteree, J. II. J. 
Bigler, A. K. Percel. H. L. Bailey, Charles A. Nowhall, 
Annie La Fetra, Berteaux Afartincourt, C. G. Osgood, 
Helen AI. R. Anderson, Lizzie Smith, “L.,” Airs. J. 
McCarkey, Robert Boyes, Gilbert L. Johnson, Willard 
C. Cornell, Wm. II. Herbert, W. II. Young, E. W. Par¬ 
sons, “N. P. L.,” F. E. Chadwick. J. P. Clark, J. Henry 
Jones, John Dame, Harvey N. Farley, W. AI. Lucas, “H. 
S., Jr.,” F. W. Downs. 
New IPmzzles to !»e Answered. 
No. 304, Illustrated Rebus ,—For those who talk much. 
No. 303, Puzzle Picture.— A descriptive name which has 
sometimes been given to the people of the United States. 
No. 30G. Picture Conundrum.— What metal is this man ? 
