No More Learning

The Bicycle Race.
The glorious Fourth had proclaimed itself all
day long. Bang! Bang! Bang! went the cannons,
Bang! Bang! Bang! echoed the crackers, and
Bang! Bang! Bang! sounded the torpedoes small
and great Gunpowder made the air heavy and
oppressive, and the clouds gathering in the sky
made one very uncertain as to whether or not the
rain would put an <<end to all the fun. Large
posters in red and blue letters had notified the
people that the most beautiful fireworks they
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? 128 The Bicycle Race.
liad ever seen would be put off back of tlit O^f^re
house -- so do you wonder that the sly was
watched most anxiously?
Now the people of the to^vn were not alone in
wishing for a clear night. The young folks who
dwelt in the woods were watching the clouds
with just the keenest interest, even the tiniest
speck of blue sky was hailed with shouts of de-
light. Were they, too, going to celebrate this
day of Independence? Why, to be sure they
were. They were not going to send off rockets
and bombs. Roman candles and pin-wlieels were
not part of their fun. These forest folks had in-
vited all their friends to witness a bicycle race.
The bear, the wolf, the fox, the rabbit, the
porcupine and the catamount were to take part,
and as no bicycle race had ever been ridden in
these parts, the greatest interest vras taken in it
by all the animals in the country round.
For weeks they had been practicing. Early
and late you might see these four-footed fellows
mounted on their wheels, and pushing them
along just as fast as ever they could. It was not
all fun either, for tires v/ould slip off the rims,
nuts constantly became loose, and sometimes it
happened that a stone or a twig or something of
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? The Bicycle Race. 1*9
the sort sent the rider off his wheel, and then
bent handle-bars must be straightened, or worse
still, bruised heads must be tied up -- but all
these woes were part of the undertaking, so no
one dared complain, but must go to work and try-
again.
Well, all these trials were over now, and the
evening had come when fate should decide to
whom the honor belonged. What a crowd had
gathered to see them. The squirrels sat chatter-
ing together up in the trees; the crickets and
katj-dids tried to outdo each other in their lively
chirrup, and the nightingale raised her sweet
voice and poured forth the loveliest music.
One! UygI three! croaked the frog, and off
they started. The rabbit was first. "Three
cheers for Bun! '' shouted the crowd. "Bruin is
ahead! Three cheers for Bruin. " "It's the Fox
this time! " "Xo, he has lost his place. Bruin is
ahead again! " "Oh, what a shame, the wolf has
fallen off! No use trying again, poor wolf, the
others are far ahead. "
First it was one and then another, until at last^
just as the goal was reached, little Bun wath one
mighty effort came in first. How the crowd
cheered, and what a happy fellow Bun was. It
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? I30 The Jolly Chinee.
was hard for the others, but as some one must
win, all felt satisfied that it should be the little
rabbit Then the lion, who- was judge, awarded
the prize, which was the nicest bicycle ever
made, and little Bun went home very happy.
The Jolly Chinee.
We Wo Wang was a "Jolly Chinee. '' From
the time lie opened his funny almond-shaped
eyes in the morning until sleep closed tkem for
him at night, he laughed and chatted, and sang
the merriest kind of songs. He liked the sun,
because it always seemed so bright and happy --
lie loved to be out in it. He liked all sorts of
flowers, the gayer the better for him; he liked
bis clothes the brightest; everything must be
brilliant and sparkling to please We Wo Wang,
the "Jolly Chinee. ''
We Wo Wang had two sisters, who bad funny
almond-shaped eyes just like his, and long,
straight, black hair, like his also. But they did
not wear a pigtail as We Wo Wang did; they
piled their hair on top of their heads, and dressed
it beautifully, they thought, with fancy pins and
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? The Jolly Chinee. 131
tiny fans. They wore queer little shoes, that
were so tight they pinched their toes dreadfully,
and made them sway from side to side as they
walked along. One day We Wo Wang said to
his sisters, "My dears, I am sure, if I tried J
might walk down
those balusters. I
think I might do
it gracefully, too;
know just how
would balance my-
self. ^' His sisters
were horrified at the
idea, and begged him not
to try, but We Wo Wang
was determined. He mount-
ed the rail, opened his fan,
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? 132 The Jolly Chinee.
fluttered it from side to side, and commenced
the descent.
The servants hearing of their master's doings,
hurried from all parts of the house to see the
sight. But alas! for poor We Wo Wang; his
foot slipped, and he came crashing down to the
floor. Away flew his hat, away flew his fan.
Servants rushed to pick him up, and his two
little sisters came hobbling down the stairs as
fast as ever they could, expecting to see We Wo
Wang battered to pieces. There were no bones
broken, and arnica and court plaster soon made
him pretty comfortable. But there was some-
thing hurt past healing, and that was We Wo
Wang's pride. It gTieved him to think his ser-
vants had seen his failure. It was bad enough
for his sisters to have been witnesses, but it was
dreadful to have these chattering servants laugh
and joke over his downfall. He made up his
mind to punish them for having so much curios-
ity, so he had one of them carry him into the
hall, prop him up with pillows, and then he
ordered them to walk down the ballusters, one
after the other, while he sat and w^atched their
defeat just as they had witnessed his. The
servants were greatly terrified whon they heard
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? The Jolly Chinee. 133
this command, but of course they all had to try,
because they dared, not disobey their master's
^ " ^ v^^>><(^M,
command. One after another they mounted the
stairs, and took their positions to descend, but
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? 134 A Chinese Adventure.
not in the way We Wo Wang intended. Off
they tumbled, one after another, bruising their
poor bodies and wishing they had kept out of the
way, and not been so curious. We Li Ho came
very near coming down in safety, but near the
bottom his foot slipped, and he too fell down.
As We Wo Wang sat and watched them, he
laughed hard enough to split his sides, for no
one was able to accomplish the feat
A Chinese Adventure.
We Wing Wo was a little yellow Chinaman.
He belonged to one of the best families, as any
one could tell from his red and yellow girdle.
That he never worked a day in his life might also
be told by the great length of his finger nails, of
which he was wonderfully proud. He was also
proud of his round, plump figure, for Chinamen,
you know, like to be fat. Like the rest of his
countrymen, he had almond-shaped eyes, and
wore his shiny black hair in a long, carefully
combed pig-tail.
We Wing Wo was very fond of good thinga
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? 136
A Chinese Adventure.
to eat, and lie thought no one could cook these
good things as well as his servant, Ho Che Lee.
How old We Wing Wo would smile with de-
light when the bird's-nest soup was set before
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? A Chinese Adventure. 137
him; and then, again, how merrily he would
chuckle- over a dish of shark's fins or deer's
sinews, and the never-forgotten pearly white
rice! "VYe Wing "VYo could make his chop sticks
fly when all these dainties graced his table. But
above all things, "We "Wing Wo loved a cup of
good, strong tea. It seemed to drive away all
cares and troubles. Ho Che Lee always kept
some ready in a funny brown tea-pot.
We Wing Wo had never been to sea, and he
was siezed with a wild dt<<ir(C) to try a trip on the
briny deep. One day he called his faithful Ho
Che Lee to him, and telling him his wish, bade
him pack a hamper with eatables, hunt up a
boat, and prepare to take the journey with him.
Poor Ho Che Lee shook with fear at such a
prospect, but he dared not question his master's
order, and so went away to do his bidding.
When all was ready, Ho Che Lee suggested that
it might be better to take with them somebody
who knew a thirg or two about a boat. We
Wing Wo agreed to this; a fellow was found,
and the three set sail.
All went well at first, but by and by poor We
Wing Wo wished ho was on shore, for he was
growing sicker every minute.
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? 138
A Chinese Adventure.
'TLet's go home," said he. "Sailing is no pleas-
Tire at all. "^
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? The Eagle's Christmas. 139
It was easy enough to say, go home, but try
as they might, neither the sailor nor He Che Lee
could manage the boat.
"Throw out a line," said We Wing "Wo, "and
see how deep it is. " Out went the line, and out
went luckless Lee; not to drown, however, for
after much pidling he was landed safely in the
boat.
How all of them longed for shore, and how
very small their chances of getting there did
seem!
But fate is sometimes kind, and so she
proved herself this time.
Some men had been watching the boat from
the shore, and had seen the poor fellows' sorry
plight; so they tied a rope round the waist of
one good-hearted Chinaman, and sent him to the
rescue. He swam out to them, fastened the rope
to the bow, and with many long, strong pulls
We Wing Wo was hauled to shore.
The Eagle's Christmas.
On the top of a high mountain a mother
eagle had built a nice, soft nest She did not
build where some eagles do, in the cleft of the
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? I40 The Eagle's Christmas.
rocks, but in top of a large tree. In the nest she
laid four eggs, and there, day after day, she sat
on the nest, keeping the eggs warm, until one
day she heard a gentle rap-rap against the shell.
The knocking grew louder and louder, and a bit
of the shell fell off the end of the egg, and slowly
a little head came out, and then a little body,
and in the course of a few hours the old Mother
Eagle found herself with four little ones to look
after. It kept her very busy indeed, supplying
all their wants, and she had to make a good many
trips to the valley to get them the food they
wanted.
All babies must have a name, and so the old
Mother Eagle put on her thinking cap, and tried
to find a name for each child; but, like all mam-
mas, none was good enough. At last she de-
cided to call them Tim, Sam, Chirp and Baldy.
They were a funny looking lot of creatures,
to be sure, with their big heads, and mouths al-
ways open, and we would not think them at all
pretty; but they seemed beautiful to their
mamma, and she was always trying to think up
ways of making them happy. 'No children ever
spent more happy days than these little eagles.
Strange to say, they never quarreled. If Sam
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? The Eagle's Christmas. 14I
felt cross, and was likely to scold, the other little
ones would creep awav, and leave him to himself
until he was good-natured once more. They
loved one another very dearly, and each one was
ready to do as the others wished. They never
said, "I won't play, if you do that," as some little
boys and girls do.
They were still quite young, so young that
they had not yet learned to fly, when the glad
Christmas time rolled around. The snow had
been falling for several days, and the mountain
tops were covered with a beautiful white blanket.
On the fir trees just near the eagle's nest, the
snow glistened like diamonds in the morning sun.
Sam and Tim, Baldy and Chirp were up early
that Christmas morning, for, like all little folks,
they wanted to see if Santa Claus had brought
them anything. All the week they had been
wild with excitement, for, although they had
never had a Christmas, their mamma had told
them all about it, and it seemed as if they could
never wait for the day to come. Each tiny eagle
had written do^^Ti just what he wanted, and
mamma had a long list when she started off that
morning to get the gifts and the Christmas
dinner. Santa Claus was so busy supplying the
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? 142 The Eagle's Christmas.
wants of the children down in the valley, that he
did not have time to visit the nest, but he met
the Mother Eagle one day as he was driving over
the mountain, and he had promised to leave a
lot of nice toys for the little ones hidden in the
hollow tree at the foot of the mountain, where
she could get them. Santa Claus has such a
good, kind heart that he could not bear to think
that even little eagles should be forgotten on this
glad day, when all of God's creatures should be
happy.
All day the little eagles sat on the branches of
the tree which was their home, craning their
long necks and straining their eyes to catch the
first sight of their mother as she flew homeward.
They did not even take time for tlieir mid-day
nap, and if they had not been so anxious to see
what their mamma would bring, I fear they
would have dropped asleep and perhaps would
have fallen out of the tree to the ground below.
It was nearly twilight when the mother came
home, and how joyfully the little ones greeted
her, and how delighted they were with her well-
filled basket. They chattered and chirped in
their own language until their poor mother
was almost wild with their noise, but she
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? The Eagle's Christmas. 143
was also very much pleased to see them all so
happy.
What a nice Christmas dinner they had. True,
their turkey was not roasted or garnished, as ours
is, but they liked it all the better. Tirst there
was the nicest, sweetest fish you ever saw, served
up in true eagle style. Then a nice rabbit, two
young pigeons and some fat ducks. When the
youngsters had finished their dinner, their
mamma brought out a bag of yellow com and a
lot of rosy cheeked apples, which she had stolen
from a farmer's wagon. My, how those little
eagles did eat It was a great wonder they did
not all die.
Wlien the feast was over, and the horns and
drums, the bright picture books, and the other
pretty toys were distributed, they all decided
that Christmas was the happiest time imaginable.
^Well, really," said little Baldy, "I wish Christ-
mas came oftener. " And all the others cried,
*^So do we. "
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? Tale of the Ostrich Hunter.
Did you ever hear of a bird tliat could not
fly? That seems odd, does it not? But a bird,
called the ostrich, belongs to this family. Its
wings are so tiny that they are of little use to
him, except that while running they spread out
and catch the air. If the ostrich has not the
power of flying, which other birds possess, he
is gifted with the ability to run at a wonderfully
swift pace. To help him in this direction, he is
provided with strong, long legs, that carry him
across the country as rapidly as the swiftest
horse. The long neck of this bird is covered
with soft, downy plumage, but its body is cov-
ered with the beautiful, graceful plumes that are
used for trimming our hats and bonnets.
The home of the ostrich is in the hot, sunny
desert land of Africa. It is a very tall bird,
measuring six feet, and sometimes eight. Its
lood is principally grass and grains, but it picks
up and devours sand and pieces of stone and
bone. It will also eat insects, small birds and
snakes. Large numbers of them wdll feed to-
gether; in fact, they live in flocks, often of great
size. The mother bird, before laying her eggs,
144
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? Tale of the Ostrich Hunter.
145
scratches a hole in the ground, thus making her
nest. She lays ten or twelve eggs in the same
place. In the daytime she allows the heat of the
sun to hatch them^ but at night she sits on them
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? 146 Tale of the Ostrich Hunter.
and keeps them warm. These eggs are said to
weigh three pounds apiece and to be good to eat.
The father ostrich sometimes grows weary of
the long term of hatching, and breaks the eggs
before the tiny bird is ready to come out.
The feathers of the ostrich are worth a great
deal of money. Sometimes the birds are hunted
by natives on horseback, and the horses are
trained for this long, tedious ride for a great
while -- the bird is not easily caught by its pur-
suer.
There are farms, called ostrich farms, where
the birds are raised in great numbers. The eggs
are set, and the baby ostriches hatched, watched
and cared for until they are old enough to jield
the beautiful plumage.
If the ostrich is taken away from its home and
put in a cage, it will in time become quite tame
and gentle toward those to whom it is used, but
it does not like a stranger, and if it gets a chance
will knock him down and trample on him.
Somebody told a funny story about an old fel-
low, who thought he would take his gun and go
hunting for ostriches, as he wanted to get a lot
of nice feathers and some of the birds to send
away to a museum. So he started out on the
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? Tale of the Ostrich Hunter.
147
desert to hunt his prej. Pretty soon he came
upon an ostrich that was resting in the sun, and
raising his gun to his shoulder, he fired. He
wounded the bird so that it could not walk very
fast, and thinking that he would be able to cap-
ture it, if he could wound it in such a manner as
to stop its walking, he crept carefully toward it,
and stooping down, attempted to cut off its leg
with his sharp, strong sword. He felt quite sure
of his prize now, but had not counted on what
was going to happen. The ostrich is a very wise
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? 148 Vacation at Grandfather's.
bird, and this fellow knew that he had the hunter
just where he wanted him -- completely in his
power. What do you think that ostrich did?
He dropped right down on top of the poor
hunter, completely hiding him from view. That
poor hunter wished he had not been so foolish
as to get so near the huge bird, at least we sup-
pose he wished so ; but we shall never know just
how he did feel, for vv^hen the ostrich at last
arose, there lay the poor hunter just as flat as
a pancake, looking very much as if he had been
under a heavy rolling machine. The ostrich
hurried away as fast as he could go, leaving the
poor hunter to his fate. "We see what a powerful
bird this is and how careful the poor hunter has
to be.
Vacation at Grandfather's.
Vacation had come, and Dick and I were two
of the happiest boys you could find after a good
long search. Vacation did not simply mean to
us that examinations were over, that, now books
and slates could be put away, and study hour
given over to play, l^o, indeed! Vacation
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? Vacation at Grandfather's. 149
meant lots more to us, it meant Grandfather^s.
If and boy lias a grandfather who lives on a big
farm, with lots of horses and cews, and whose
place is just filled with trees that grow in exactly
the right style for climbing, and if he has a
grandmother who knows how to make the best
pies and puddings and ginger cake men that no
baker could possibly make half as good, then he
has some idea of what vacation meant to Dick
and me.
Grandfather's place was many miles from our
home. "We had to start quite early in the morn-
ing, and ride on the train all day -- then, just
about the time the sun commenced to creep down
back of the hill, the train stopped at Clearfield,
-- that's the name of the station -- and out we
popped, eyes wide open for the two big grays
that grandfather always drove. They never
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? I50
Vacation at Grandfather's.
failed us, and after getting a good big hug from
grandfather, we always rubbed their soft noses,
and patted their sleek, fat necks.
Grandmother knew the appetites of her two
healthy grand-
sons, and made
ample prepara-
tions. Such piles
of bread and
butter as she cut
for us, and how
good it tasted,
spread mth
grandmother's
lovely butter
and the golden
honey that the
busy bees made.
"Early to bed, and early to rise," was grand-
father's motto; so Ave boys must wait until
breakfast time to tell all the home news,
and to ask after Towser, the watch-dog, and
Bess, the old donkey, and to hear about the
cunning gray kittens in the bam, and the little
fluffy ducklings only two days old, and the baby
lambs.
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? Vacation at Grandfather's. 151
The sun was not up long, when grandfather
called, "Dick ! Rob ! It's time you were a stirrin'.
Don't let the outside world enjoy all the morn-
ing's loveliness; get up, and enjoy yourselves. "
How we did love the well-cured ham that
grandmother had for breakfast, and the new-laid
eggs that were fried just right. Everything
tasted wonderfully good to us boys, for hunger
is a good sauce, you know.
Breakfast over, we started for the stables. It
was such fun to hear the horses whinning for
their share of the apples we carried to Bess, and
to see the little baby colts trot coyly away as
we attempted to rub their cunning faces. Our
next visit was made to the calves. I^othing could
be prettier than these timid little creatures. We
had hard work coaxing them to be friends, but
the salt held out to them was too great a tempta-
tion, and we won at last.
Aaron, the man, was milking.