knock was heard at the door. The on the earth, each with a wound. She meeting was singular; 'twas another nobleman, another young man, another Henry. The old woman beheld them with astonishment. The first wished to hide the bread and cheese, the second replaced them on the table, and laid his sword by their side. The third Henry smiled. "You don't wish to give me any of your supper then," said he ; "I can wait, I have a good stomach." "The supper," said the first Henry, "belongs by right to the first comer." "The supper," said the second, "belongs to him who can best defend it." The third Henry colored with anger, and said fiercely: "Perhaps it belongs to him who best obtains it." Scarcely were these words uttered, when the first Henry drew his dagger, and the others their swords. As they were about coming to blows, a fourth knock was heard, a fourth young man, a fourth nobleman, a fourth Henry appeared. At the sight of the naked swords, he drew his own, placed himself on the weaker side, and fought rashly. The old woman, terrified, hid herself, and the swords went clashing and shattering everything that met them in the way. The lamp fell down, went out, and they struck in the dark. The clash of steel lasted for sometime, then gradually it grew fainter, and at last suddenly ceased. Then the old woman ventured out of her hiding-place, relit the lamp, and found the four young men stretched out examined them; fatigue, rather than the loss of blood, had overthrown them. They raised themselves one after the other, and ashamed of what had happened, they laughed and said: "Come, let us sup peaceably and without any more discord.” But when they looked for the supper, it was on the ground, trampled under foot, and soiled with blood. Slight as it was they regretted it. On the other hand, the cabin was torn down, and the old woman, seated in a corner, fixed her tawny eyes on the four young men. "Why do you look at us ?" said the first Henry, disturbed by her unfaltering gaze. The "I see your destinies written on your foreheads," replied the old woman. second Henry could hardly retain his self possession. The last two began to laugh. The old woman continued: "As you. all four have been united in this cabin, you will all four be united in the same destiny. As you have trampled under foot and soiled with blood the bread which hospitality has offered you, so shall you trample under foot and soil with blood the power which you would share. As you have spoiled and impoverished this cottage, you will spoil and impoverish France. As you have all four been wounded in the dark, you will all four perish by treachery and a violent death." The four noblemen could not forbear laughing at the old woman's prediction. These four noblemen, were the four INTELLIGENCE OF A DEAF MUTE. THE BUTTERFLY. 115 heroes of the League, two as its chiefs, he decides. God is omniscient, he knows all things, he never doubts, he two as its enemies. Henry de Condé, poisoned by his therefore never reasons." servants. Henry de Guise, assassinated by the Quarante-cinq.* แ What is hope?"-" Hope is the blossom of happiness." "What is the difference between hope and desire ?"-"Desire is a tree in leaf, hope is a tree in flower, and enjoyment is a tree in fruit." "What is eternity?"-" A day without yesterday or to-morrow; a line that has no ends." "What is time ?"-"A line that has two ends; a path which begins in the cradle and ends in the tomb." "What is God ?"-"The necessary being, the sun of eternity, the eye of justice, the watchmaker of the universe, the soul of the world." "Does not God reason."-"Man reasons, because he doubts, he deliberates, The 28th of December, 1588, the noblemen called the Quarante-cinq, who assassinated the duke of Guise, were a new company founded by the Duke of Epernou, and paid out of the royal treasury, on the duke's notes. Let us, then, take a peep into a needle factory. We find one chamber of the shops is hung round with coils of bright wire, of all thicknesses, from the stout kinds used for cod-fish hooks, to that for the finest cambric needles. In a room below, bits of wire, the length of two needles, are cut by a vast pair of shears, fixed in the wall. A bundle has been cut off; the bits need straightening, for they came off from coils. The bundle is thrown into a red-hot furnace; then taken out, and rolled backward and forward on a table until the wires are straight. This process is called "rubbing straight." We now see a mill for grinding needles. We go down into the basement, and find a needle pointer seated on his bench. He takes up two-dozen or so of wires, and rolls them between the thumb and fingers, with their ends on the grindstone, first one end, and then the other. We have now the wires straight and pointed at both ends. Next is a machine which flattens and gutters the heads of ten thousand needles an hour. Observe the little gutters at the head of your needle. Next comes the punching of the eye; and the boy who does it, punches eight thousand in an hour, and he does it so fast, your eye can hardly keep pace with him. The splitting follows, which is running a fine wire through a dozen, perhaps, of these twin needles. A poor A woman, with a little anvil before her, files between the heads and separates them. They are now complete needles, but rough and rusty, and, what is worse, they easily bend. needle, you will say. But the hardening comes next. They are heated in batches in a furnace, and, when red hot, are thrown into a pan of cold water. Next, they must be tempered; and this is done by rolling them backward and forward on a hot metal plate. The polishing still remains to be done. On a very coarse cloth, needles are spread to the number of forty or fifty thousand : emery dust is strewed over them, oil is sprinkled, and soft soap daubed by spoonfuls over the cloth; the cloth is then rolled hard up, and, with several others of the same kind, thrown into a sort of wash-pot to roll to and fro for twelve hours or more. They come out dirty enough; but after a rinsing in clean hot water, and tossing in saw-dust, they look as bright as can be, and are ready to be sorted and put up for sale. But the sorting and the doing up in papers, you may imagine, is quite a work by itself. A Noble Boy. HE following touch- About nine o'clock in the morning, a little boy of twelve, whose jacket of white cloth and apron ditto, distinctly indicated that he followed the profession of pastry cook, was returning from market with an open basket on his head, containing butter and eggs. When he had reached the vicinity of the church of St. Eustache, the little fellow, who could only with difficulty make his way through the crowd, was violently jostled by a stranger who was passing, so that his basket tipped, and fell to the ground with its contents. The poor lad, when he saw his eggs all broken, and his butter tumbled in the gutter, began to cry bitterly, and wring his hands. A person who happened to be in the crowd that had gathered around the little fellow, drew a ten sou piece from his pocket, and giving it to the boy, asked the rest who stood grouped around him to do the same, to make up the loss occasioned by this accident. Influenced by his example, every one present eagerly complied, and very speedily the boy's apron contained a respectable collection of coppers and silver. When all had contributed their quota, our young vatel, as though by enchantment, warmly thanked his new benefactors for their kindness, and forthwith proceeded to count the sum he had received, which amounted to no less than twenty-two francs and thirty-five centimes. But, instead of quietly putting this sum in his pocket, he produced the bill of the articles he had lost, and as its total amounted only to fourteen francs, he appropriated no more than that sum, and then, observing in the group that surrounded him, a poor woman in rags, the gallant little fellow walked right to her, and placed the remainder in her hand. Certainly it would have been impossible to show himself more deserving of public generosity, or to acknowledge it in a handsomer manner. The boy's noble conduct was greeted with the applause of the crowd, who were delighted to find such delicacy and propriety of feeling in one so young. The Grateful Dog. [From the Spanish.] BY ANNA. LABORER sent his son, named Adolphus, one morning to the A house of his uncle Andreas, who had been ill, to inquire after his health. His house was three miles distant, but the boy who was very obedient, immediately whose distress had vanished in a moment set out, carrying with him a slice of bread, a small piece of meat, and a couple of apples that his mother had given him for his breakfast. He had scarcely gone a mile, when he met a dog, whose famished appearance showed that it must be a long time since he had tasted any food. The child, who was very kind hearted, gave him a portion of his bread and meat; the poor animal seized it with avidity, and after having eaten it, followed the boy, seeming no way inclined to leave him. After having performed the errand upon which his father had sent him, Adolphus returned home accompanied by the dog. One day, when he was taking a walk with his canine companion along the bank of a river, he met some of his young acquaintances, and joining in their sports he accidently fell into the water. Overcome with terror, instead of offering him any assistance, the children ran screaming towards the village. Adolphus for some time struggled manfully against the current, which was bearing him rapidly along, but his strength and hope at last deserting him, he was just sinking, when his dog, who had sprung into the water after him, reached him, and seizing his coat pulled him out upon the bank, and by his affectionate caresses showed the joy he felt at having saved him. When Adolphus' father knew the danger from which his son had escaped, he immediately gave thanks to God for having preserved his life. Being a good and pious man he took this occasion to impress upon the mind of his son that a EVERY body has read Hiawatha. But who has seen him? Here he is, whittling out his first bow, and preparing to teach the red men how to make them. He looks a little puzzled about it, but it will all come right after a few experiments. That quiet-looking fellow behind him, cooking the dinner, is Ishte-lu-lu, a chap whom Longfellow did not get acquainted with, not deeming it poetical, to meddle with kitchen affairs, or say anything about plain cooking. Our great bard is not only a long fellow, but a long-headed fellow, and takes good care not to commit himself on things he don't understand. He does well enough among the stars, and in the clouds, but in the kitchen, among the pots and kettles, he would be "a cat in a strange garret." |