THE LADIES' FLORAL CABINET. 
359 
cayed, and the cruel murderer now suffers the same 
fate. The pretty Bamboo forms large bouquets; Ban¬ 
anas and Strelitzias spread their fresh green leaves; 
large gay flowers unfold their scented cups; feathery 
Acacias form shady roofs, and prickly Cactus-like 
Euphorbias are woven into thick hedges. Here I saw 
in concrete reality a number of the most remarkable 
and loveliest forms of the tropic flora, of which I had 
read and dreamed for thirty years; and in the sunny 
air sported thousands of the most beautiful butterflies; 
great golden beetles darted through the bushes; hun¬ 
dreds of swift lizards and snakes glided among the 
leaves; noisy flocks of splendidly-feathered birds flew 
from tree to tree—all new forms which I had never 
seen alive, and yet seemed old acquaintances. I 
snatched at everything like a child, and laid my hands 
upon the trunks of the Palms and Bamboos to convince 
myself that all was not a dream of fairy land ! ” 
THANKSGIVING AT ST. BOTOLPH’S. 
St. Botolph's was an old-fashioned Academy for boys 
and girls, such as is scarcely to be found since the era 
of high schools. It was located in a small country 
village, too far from supplies to be agreeable to the girl 
who wanted a fresh ribbon, or to the boy who wanted a 
smart stable team to dash about with on a holiday. But 
the staid teachers, who had left all youthful follies 
behind them, congratulated themselves that there was 
so little to divert the minds of the students from their 
studies ; and perhaps it was not to be wondered at that 
they looked upon Thanksgiving day with unthankful 
hearts, viewing it in the light of a holiday which would 
be likely to demoralize the students in anticipation, 
realization, and retrospection. 
Prof. Fowler, the principal of St. Botolph’s, was a 
man of profound learning, long experience, and great 
tact and ability. The Preceptress was a maiden lady 
of much personal dignity and real worth of character. 
All the teachers were highly educated and thoroughly 
competent, and the school had such a deservedly high 
reputation that pupils came from North, South, East 
and West. But the old saying that a “ prophet is never 
without honor save in his own country,” held go<jd at 
St. Botolph’s, for it was said that the town’s people who 
looked on the students as a disorderly class of young 
people who brought petty tricks and lawless habits to 
an otherwise peaceful community, had dubbed the 
Academy “ Fowler’s Menagerie !” It is to be feared 
that they had some reason for their animosity, for it is 
certain that only in term time did Deacon Jones’ front 
gate rise from its hinges and walk on two feet a mile 
out of the village and then lie down to rest in a cow 
pasture! Or, that Dr. Willis found his silver-plated 
harness adorning a carpenter’s saw-horse and attached 
to a wheelbarrow, and both paraded on his front piazza 
on a Sabbath morning. And it could not have been 
during vacation that an elaborately embroided skirt 
belonging to the Preceptress disappeared from the line 
one washing day and was observed the next morning 
adorning the hitching post in front of Prof. Ryders’s 
house. And when Thanksgiving day was appointed 
and began to draw near, all the farmers within a radius 
of five miles from the Academy, watched then’ turkeys’ 
and their hens’ nests with vigilant care lest eggs and 
fowls should leave the premises by unlawful means. 
The buildings at St. Botolph’s were on a scale greatly 
inferior to the reputation of the school. The chapel and 
recitation-rooms were all in one large brick building 
which boasted of a wooden wing and a belfry with a 
good noisy bell. A long brick building known as “ The 
Block,” was occupied by the lady teachers and most of 
the girls, but the boys were scattered all over the vil¬ 
lage. The hotel accommodated a good number. Some 
of the pi-ofessors who had large houses let a number of 
rooms; and widows and old maids, who abounded at St. 
Botolph’s, added to their narrow incomes by taking 
Rodgers. Boys thus provided for, joined clubs where 
they took their meals. 
A few of the girls, whose parents were in humble cir¬ 
cumstances, had rooms in private houses and cooked 
their own meals. Of this ftumber, Laura Edmonds, a 
bright, attractive girl of nineteen, had a room in the 
house of Miss Chandler, a kind-hearted spinster who 
was very fond of the girl, and as the Thanksgiving- 
day of which we write drew near, she asked Laura to 
dine with her on that occasion. Laura was not particu¬ 
larly delighted with the invitation, as she had other 
friends who were likely to invite her, and to whom she 
would prefer going, but, as they had not yet asked her, 
she had no reasonable excuse to offer, and therefore 
accepted Miss Chandler's invitation. That very after¬ 
noon, as Laura passed Prof. Ryder’s, on her way home 
from recitation, Mrs. Ryder called to her and invited her 
to spend Thanksgiving with her, and meet some young 
relatives who were staying there. “Oh, thank you, dear 
Mrs. Ryder,” exclaimed Laura, “ but I have already 
accepted an invitation from Miss Chandler; I am so 
sorry! I should so like to come.” 
“ So am I,” said Mrs. Ryder; “would not Miss Chand¬ 
ler excuse you in my favor ? ” 
“ I shouldn’t like to ask her,” said Laura, “for I think 
she really wants me ; she would not be likely to cook a 
nice dinner for herself alone; it would not seem like 
Thanksgiving. ” 
“I’ll tell you what to do,” said Mrs. Ryder, after a 
moment’s thought, “Miss Chandler will be sure to have 
dinner at twelve, she would not think she could eat a 
dinner at any other hour ; I shall have mine at three ; 
You can dine with Miss Chandler, stay long enough not 
to seem impolite, and then come to me.” 
“So I can!” cried Laura, delightedly; “but, Mrs. 
Ryder, what an extravagant idea you must have con¬ 
cerning my capacity for eating dinners ! I do assure 
you I am ordinarily satisfied with one per day.” 
“ Oh, as to that, you can eat as lightly as you please. I 
leave that entirely to your own good sense,” replied Mrs. 
Ryder merrily. 
A little more talk followed, and then Laura, having 
promised to be at Mrs. Ryder’s at three o’clock on 
Thanksgiving day, tripped along down the street to Miss 
