The  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
1001 
Some  are  gray  and  white  speckled,  others 
are  white  in  large  places  and  gray  and 
white  speckled  in  others,  while  still  oth¬ 
ers  are  snow  white.  When  they  have 
young  they  are  worse  than  an  ugly  dog. 
If  anyone  is  after  them  they  can  scatter 
their  young  like  an  old  partridge.  This 
fowl  does  not  roost  in  the  henhouse  dur¬ 
ing  the  Summer,  but  roosts  on  a  tree 
near  the  house.  millard  sperbeck. 
New  York.  (13  years). 
Black  Beauty 
BY  AXNA  SEWELL 
lTes,  it  was  easy  to  guess  last  month’s 
Book  Puzzle,  though  not  all  knew  the 
author’s  name  and  so  could  not  have 
credit.  But  the  number  of  times  the 
letter  “1”  appears  in  the  list  of  contrib¬ 
utors  shows  that  many  reported  both  title 
and  author  correctly.  And  several  sent 
drawings,  one  of  which  I  have  used,  as 
you  will  see.  Is  there  a  boy  or  girl,  I 
wonder,  who  is  10  years  old  and  has  not 
read  “Black  Beauty”?  Here  is  a  story 
that  has  taken  its  place  among  the  best- 
known  books  of  the  world.  It  becomes  a 
part  of  every  one  of  us  as  we  grow  up. 
In  a  simple  quiet  way  it  pleases  us  and 
leads  us  to  a  greater  understanding  of 
our  dumb  friends  in  this  world,  and  to 
greater  kindness  toward  them.  It  was 
well  worth  living  to  write  such  a  book, 
yet  very  little  is  known  about  the  author. 
But  one  of  our  readers  found  some  points 
of  interest  and  sent  them  in. 
ANNA  SEWELL 
Anna  Sewell  was  the  daughter  of  Mary 
Sewell,  an  English  authoress  of  Quaker 
family.  She  was  born  in  1S20  and  died 
in  187S.  Considering  the  great  fame  of 
her  book,  “Black  Beauty,”  very  little  has 
been  published  in  connection  with  her 
life.  She  was  ill  in  bed  when  she  wrote 
the  book  “Black  Beauty.”  She  is  said 
to  have  been  of  a  retiring  disposition,  and 
to  have  shunned  the  literary  fame  which 
her  charming  story  brought  her.  “Black 
Beauty”  made  its  first  appearance  in 
1877,  and  since  then  has  been  published 
in  countless  editions,  some  very  costly 
and  others  in  extremely  cheap  form.  The 
sale  of  the  book  has  been  enormous,  and 
it  has  been  appropriately  called  _  the 
“Uncle  Tom’s  Cabin  of  Animal  Stories.” 
For  animal  stories  have  been  many,  but 
among  them  “Black  Beauty”  stands 
alone.  Probably  the  secret  is  this — that 
its  author,  by  reason  of  her  love  for  and 
understanding  of  horses,  was  able,  with 
the  aid  of  a  powerful  imagination,  to  as¬ 
sume,  as  well  as  a  human  being  might, 
the  mental  attitude  of  an  intelligent  horse. 
New  York.  rxttii  mead. 
What  Poem  Is  This? 
The  author  ponders  as  the  sun  sets 
with  a  red  glow  and  the  dews  fall,  where 
a  solitary  bird  goes.  He  thinks  as  he 
watches  the  bird  silhouetted  against  the 
sunset  heavens  that  no  hunter  could  do  it 
harm.  Whether  it  looks  for  a  marsh,  a 
weedy  lake  or  the  seashore,  there  is  a 
Power  that  gives  the  bird  instinct  to  find 
its  way  in  the  pathless  desert  of  the  sky. 
As  all  day  long  the  bird  has  flown 
alone,  but  sure  of  its  way,  it.  does  not  stop 
as  night  comes  on.  Soon  it  will  find  a 
home  and  build  a  nest  with  others  of  its 
kind.  Then  as  the  author  ponders,  watch¬ 
ing  the  bird  in  the  distance  growing 
smaller  and  still  smaller  as  it  goes  fur¬ 
ther  away,  the  lesson  taught  by  the  bird 
is  brought  to  his  mind.  He  sees  that 
the  One  who  directs  the  bird  in  its  direct 
and  certain  flight  will  also  as  carefully 
guide  the  feet  of  human  beings  in  the 
path  of  life.  editii  beeman 
Connecticut.  (16yrs). 
Here  we  have  a  Poem  Puzzle  instead  of 
a  Book  Puzzle,  and  it  is  not  so  easy  as 
the  last.  Yet  I  am  sure  that  many  boys 
and  girls  have  read  this  poem  and  will 
recognize  it  from  Edith’s  good  descrip¬ 
tion.  Answer  with  title  and  author’s 
name,  and.  if  you  can,  send  a  drawing  or 
a  write-up  on  the  poet. 
Our  Artists 
The  l’hyme  drawings  seem  as  popular 
as  ever,  and  on  this  page  you  will  see  the 
best  of  the  little  pigs.  In  addition,  Hon¬ 
orable  Mention  is  deserved  by  Alice  Oil¬ 
man  (9)  of  Maine,  Mike  Goldberg  of 
Connecticut,  Clara  Schroeder,  Merriman 
Harsh  (12)  and  Dorothy  Springer  (14) 
of  New  York;  Wilbur  Brower  (12)  of 
New  .Jersey,  Eugene  Moyers  (13)  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  Annie  Caljouw  ( !•> ) 
of  Virginia. 
Much  greater  variety  in  the  drawing 
work  is  coming  now  than  ever  before, 
and  your  editor  finds  plenty  to  choose 
from  when  it  comes  time  to  make  up  a 
page.  Special  mention  should  be  made 
of  the  July  heading  drawings  by  E.  Red¬ 
mond  and  Margarethe  Schroeder  (12)  of 
New  York,  Frederick  Hunziker  of  New 
Jersey,  and  Ruth  Hawkins  of  Tennessee, 
and  of  the  “Black  Beauty”  drawings  of 
Edith  Rathore  (11),  Pauline  Williams 
Back  of  the  barn,  out  in  a  pen, 
Lives  a  mother  pig  and  her  babies,  ten  ; 
The  babies  are  getting  their  dinner  now, 
So  draw  them  as  well  as  you  know  how. 
Neio  York 
Drawn  by  Helen  Upson  (10  years), 
Connecticut 
Drawn  in  Pencil  by  Hilda  Meyer  (15 
years),  Missouri 
(14),  Alice  Phair  (15),  and  Carlotta 
Baker  (16)  of  New  York,  which  were  all 
very  well  done.  It  seems  to  me  that 
nothing  we  do  is  more  fun  or  better 
training  than  these  little  original  draw 
ings,  and  how  attractive  and  interesting 
they  make  Our  Page,  don’t  they? 
It  is  suggested  that  some  one  make  up 
a  rhyme  about  rabbits,  which  ought  to 
be  a  fine  subject  for  drawing,  and  in  the 
meantime  we  have  one  for  this  month 
that  should  bring  forth  some  good  work 
from  our  artists,  who  include  any  boy 
or  girl  who  will  send  a  drawing.  Here 
it  is: 
On  the  limb  of  an  oak  sat  a  jolly  old 
crow. 
And  chattered  away  with  glee. 
Drawn  by  Gladys  Redmond  (Ilf  years). 
New  York 
Drawn  by  Roberta  Duffy  (15  years), 
Louisiana 
Drawn  in  Pencil  by  Arthur  Noren, 
Rhode  Island 
As  he  saw  the  old  farmer  go  out  to  sow. 
And  he  cried,  “It’s  all  for  me!” 
— By  a  Massachusetts  Reader. 
Echo 
The  very  pretty  little  riddle  that  we 
had  last  month  was  solved  by  many  as 
an  echo,  that  curious  way,  in  some  places, 
that  our  words  come  back  to  us.  Of 
course  when  we  study  the  science  of 
physics  and  the  behavior  of  sound  waves 
we  understand  the  real  reason  for  the 
echo,  but  in  olden  times  people  had  no 
such  knowledge  and  so  they  explained 
it  in  quite  a  different  way.  A  West 
Virginia  reader  has  sent  the  stcry  which 
will  be  of  interest  to  all. 
THE  ECHO 
A  long  time  ago  in  ancient  Greece  peo¬ 
ple  had  different  beliefs  than  they  do 
now.  They  worshipped  gods,  goddesses 
and  nymphs.  They  wrote  books  about 
the  deeds  the  gods  had  done  which  were 
called  mythology. 
In  mythology  Echo  was  a  very  pretty 
nymph  who  had  one  very  bad  fault,  and 
that  was  that  she  was  too  fond  of  talk¬ 
ing  and  always  wanted  to  say  the  last 
word.  One  day  Juno,  a  goddess,  went 
to  see  Jove,  her  husband,  a  god,  and  Echo 
met  her  on  the  way  and  talked  so  long 
that  she  did  not  get  to  see  Jove.  This 
made  Juno  so  very  angry  that  she  said 
to  Echo,  "I  will  punish  you  for  this  of¬ 
fense.  You  shall  always  have  the  lasc 
word,  but  from  this  time  on  you  shall 
have  no  power  to  speak  first  and  must 
always  repeat  the  words  you  hear  last.” 
Echo  was  very  sorry  but  it  was  too  late. 
Soon  after  a  beautiful  youth  named 
Narcissus  came  into  the  woods  to  hunt. 
Echo  saw  him  and  wished  to  speak  to 
him,  but  she  could  not.  She  followed 
him  and  waited  for  him  to  speak.  At 
last  Narcissus  wanted  to  find  his  friends 
and  he  called  out,  ‘HVlio’s  here?”  Echo 
replied,  “Who’s  here?”  Narcissus  could 
see  no  one  so  shouted,  “Come !”  and  Echo 
called  out,  “Come !”  As  no  one  came  he 
called  out,  “Come  to  me!”  “Come  la 
me!”  Echo  replied.  They  soon  met,  but 
Narcissus  was  so  much  surprised  to  see 
her  that  he  started  back.  Echo  then  hid 
herself  in  a  deep  place  in  the  rocks,  and 
from  that  time  on  she  has  always  lived  in 
the  woods  and  lonely  caves. 
—EVERETT  ALLENPEK,  (11  yi'S.) 
A  Puzzle 
This  is  called  the  Hidden  Animals 
Puzzle.  In  each  of  the  following  sen¬ 
tences  the  names  of  some  animal  is  hid¬ 
den.  Credit  will  be  given  in  the  next  list 
of  contributors  to  those  who  send  the  six 
names  correct. 
1.  We  gave  the  babe  a  rose. 
2.  I  lost  a  pearl  handled  knife. 
3.  She  made  errors  in  her  composition. 
4.  The  sailors  swam  on  Keystone  reef. 
5.  You  can  smell  a  rose  a  long  time. 
6.  I  surely  am  in  kind  hands. 
— ERMA  MORGAN,  (16  yrs. ) 
New  York. 
Notes 
The  words  in  the  box  were  sent  by 
Bouise  Judge,  a  10-year-old  Rhode  Island 
reader.  Her  idea  of  growing  in  spirit 
as  well  as  in  body  is  a  fine  one.  Every 
day  we  are  building  our  character,  our 
personality,  the  thing  that  makes  each 
one  of  us  different  from  any  person  who 
ever  lived  or  who  ever  will  live.  How 
important,  then,  to  build  well,  to  develop 
a  character  that  is  true  and  a  personality 
that  is  likable  and  friendly.  Our  Page 
stands,  we  hope,  for  all  that  is  best  in 
the  growth  of  body,  of  mind 
The  list  of  contributors  this  month  will 
be  found  on  page  1003.  If  you  have  kept 
watch  you  have  noticed  some  names  ap¬ 
pearing  month  after  month.  These  are 
the  most  interested  and  faithful  of  our 
readers.  Each  month  also  finds  -  many 
new  names  in  the  list. 
Speaking  of  the  spirit  of  helping,  one 
older  girl  wrote  a  while  ago  :  “My  father 
says  that  none  of  my  drawings  will  ever 
be  printed  because  I  don’t  draw  half  as 
well  as  the  boys  and  girls  that  have 
theirs  printed.  But  I  told  him  I  would 
try  my  best.  Don’t  you  think  that  is 
the  way  to  do?  I  will  help  all  I  can.” 
It  certainly  is  the  way  to  do,  and  if 
every  reader  did  as  much  Our  Page 
would  mean  even  more  to  us  than  now. 
Quite  a  number  of  readers  have  writ¬ 
ten  about  turtles,  and  some  have  sent 
drawings.  In  general  the  letters  tell 
more  about  the  large  forms  of  sea  turtles 
than  about  the  kinds  of  turtles  we  find 
in  our  own  neighborhoods.  While  this  is 
interesting  it  seems  to  your  editor  even 
more  important  to  know  as  much  as  we 
can  abont  the  turtles  we  are  likely  to 
meet.  Next  month  we  ought  to  publish 
the  best  of  the  turtle  essays  and  draw¬ 
ings.  So  let  anyone  else  who  can  send 
something  on  this  interesting  topic. 
All  work  for  the  August  page  should 
reach  your  editor  not  later  than  August 
4.  This  gives  you  a  whole  week,  but  do 
not  put  off  writing.  The  best  time  is 
just  after  you  finish  reading  this  page, 
when  your  interest  is  fresh. 
Again  we  say  goodbye  for  a  month. 
Remember  that  anything  you  send  is 
welcomed  and  read  with  interest  by  your 
editor  and  friend,  edward  M.  tuttle, 
in  care  The  Rural  New-Yorker,  333 
West  30th  street,  New  York  City. 
Drawn  in  Pencil •  by  Margarethe  Schroeder  (12  years),  New  York. 
Drawn  in  Pencil  by  Esther  Howe,  Massachusetts 
