Citation
Three little lovers of nature

Material Information

Title:
Three little lovers of nature
Creator:
Bloor, Ella Reeve, 1862-1951
Flanagan, A ( Publisher )
A. Flanagan Co ( Publisher )
Place of Publication:
Chicago
Publisher:
A. Flanagan
Publication Date:
Language:
English
Physical Description:
103 p. : ill. ; 19 cm.

Subjects

Subjects / Keywords:
Children -- Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction ( lcsh )
Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction ( lcsh )
Brothers and sisters -- Juvenile fiction ( lcsh )
Natural history -- Juvenile fiction ( lcsh )
Animals -- Juvenile fiction ( lcsh )
Flowers -- Juvenile fiction ( lcsh )
Family -- Juvenile fiction ( lcsh )
Christmas -- Juvenile fiction ( lcsh )
Bldn -- 1895
Genre:
novel ( marcgt )
Spatial Coverage:
United States -- Illinois -- Chicago
Target Audience:
juvenile ( marctarget )

Notes

Statement of Responsibility:
by Ella Reeve Ware.

Record Information

Source Institution:
University of Florida
Holding Location:
University of Florida
Rights Management:
This item is presumed to be in the public domain. The University of Florida George A. Smathers Libraries respect the intellectual property rights of others and do not claim any copyright interest in this item. Users of this work have responsibility for determining copyright status prior to reusing, publishing or reproducing this item for purposes other than what is allowed by fair use or other copyright exemptions. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions may require permission of the copyright holder. The Smathers Libraries would like to learn more about this item and invite individuals or organizations to contact The Department of Special and Area Studies Collections (special@uflib.ufl.edu) with any additional information they can provide.
Resource Identifier:
027009287 ( ALEPH )
ALH9911 ( NOTIS )
10922381 ( OCLC )

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SEVANUOEoECoeronanneresereagysgggeseregy

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THREE LITTLE LOVERS OF NATURE



THREE

LITTLE LOVERS

OF

NATURE

BY

ELLA REEVE WARE



CHICAGO
A. FLANAGAN, PuBLISHER



COPYRIGHT 1895

By A. FLANAGAN






CH ¢° LITTLE —¥
2° LOVERS

®® ® @ ® OF



CONTENTS.

PAGE

INTRODUCTION 430 52 2
SERING 0 a ee re 0
SUMMER 6 ee 6
NGOSRWMING ee en ee OO

NWWAINEEER eo eee ee ee ee eo OO



ILLUSTRATIONS.

Mayflowers

Violets

Dandelions

Wasp and Nest
Robins eee
Bird’s Nest
Gardens = 3.
Star of Bethlehem
Bees

Bee Hive .
Ants.

Starfish
Lighthouse

Crabs

Conch

Jellyfish :
Life Saving Station
Golden-rod
Squirrels ee
Oak Tree Branches
Rabbits

Chestnut Party
Winter










Page 9

Missing
From

Original



Page
10
Missing
From

Original



Spring—Flower Story.

about its being a beautiful =,
land. They were tired of
living so neara king, and &
thought they might be
freer and happier in Amer-
ica. In those
days it took
months to cross «@\\
the ocean, fone
such a thing as
asteamship was
unknown. Their
sailing vessel
was an odd looking
boat, called the AZay-
Jiower. The sailors
didn’t know as much
about managing a vessel
as Sailors do to-day. It
seemed a fearful and dan- %
gerous trip to these Pilgrims â„¢
from the Old Country, and
they were glad enough to see
the shores of the new land.

It was in the cheerless month |
of November when they sailed into the beautiful bay.
The men left the women and children on the vessel
while they built houses of logs. While they were
doing this, Indians hearing the noise of hammer and











Three Little Lovers of Nature.

saw, came near to see what was going on. When
they saw the white men they tried to kill ther,
and the men hurried back to the ship. The Indians
then went off thinking the strangers had gone
away over the water.

When at last they all left the ship it was far into
December. Their new home looked dreary enough.
They called the place where they landed ‘“Ply-
mouth Rock,” after their home in Old England.
Some of the strong fathers died of the cold, and
the children were hungry and wished they had
never come to our country.

In the spring, things seemed a little brighter, and
the Pilgrims planted seeds they had brought with
them, but they planted them too soon for the cold
New England climate and the tender plants were
killed. Then their only hope was that some of their
friends in England who had promised to send a
ship over to them to see how they were doing in
the new land would soon come to them. This ship
would bring food and clothing, too, which they
needed so sadly.

Every day they went down to the shore and
strained their eyes to see the first glimpse of a Sail.
At last it came, and they were happy once more.
This ship brought more seeds, which they planted
later the next spring and soon had good crops of
their own. But they missed the flowers of their En-
glish gardens, and you can imagine how glad they



Spring—Vrolets. 13

“were one day to find some beautiful pink blossoms
while wandering around in the bare old woods.
They eagerly picked some bunches of the sweet
waxy blossoms, and named them “mayflowers,”
after their good old ship.








ae § =Whittier, one of
s our best loved poets,
whose home was in
New England, wrote some
verses about the JA/ay-
jiower and the Pilgrims.
5 HELEN thought the may-
(flower story very interest-
gg? ing, but wished they knew
a Story about the violet, for
§ she loved the violets even more
fy, than the arbutus flowers.
Hh \ MARGERY said her kindergarten
teacher had told her that there
were over thirty different kinds of violets in this
country.
HELEN could not believe that there were so
many, and the children went out together the very



14 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

next day through the fields and woods just to see
how many kinds they could find.

They invited some of their little girl friends to go
with them to gather the violets, and they were all
very eager to discover some new member of the
violet family. Of course they did not find all of
the thirty, but they were pleased to find some they
had never known before.

HELEN saw a very large velvety one which
mamma thought must be the “bird foot” violet,
because the leaves were divided something like a
bird’s foot, and were different from the other violet
leaves.

MARGERY and two of the girls found a bed of
white violets which had a faint sweet smell. The
common blue wild violets do not smell sweet like
the violets in the garden beds.

HARRY, who was doing his best to make some
great discovery, saw a lot of little yellow flowers
with leaves just like the violet leaves. When he
showed them to the others, mamma said they, too,
belonged to the family and were called downy
yellow violets. They usually bloom a little later
than the blue and white violets, but the place
where HARRY found them was a warm sheltered
nook, and they had come out to join the rest of
their family.

One of the little girls told mamma that when she
was visiting in the Catskill Mountains, late in Sep-



Spring—Dandelion Story. 15

tember, she saw some white flowers with delicate
purple veins, and if it had not been so late she
would have called them violets.
Mamma said they were “ Canada’
often bloomed very late in the fall.
MARGERY Said she had found such pretty sweet
violets she liked them almost as much as the
,mayflower.

The bright
dandelions
peeping out of
the grass all
around the house
pleased them all so
much, for it was the
Surest Sign of spring.

“T don’t think dandelions
are common at all; doyou,
mammap” asked Margery,

“No, they are called so
“only because they are
found all over the world. Let

4 me tell you a story about the
dandelion:

,

violets, and







Je

DANDELION STORY.

“A large family of dande-
lions lived in a field a long



16 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

distance from any house, and it seemed to them
they must live out of the world; but the sun shone
so brightly on them they had to wear their gayest
yellow dresses, and to look their prettiest.

“«T wonder if we will ever be of any use in the
world or ever see anything but this old field,’ one
of them said wearily, as he was looking his very
best one day.

“Just then a beautiful child, with longycurls al-
most as bright as the dandelions, came singing
along the path.

“*Oh, you beautiful flowers! Just like sunbeams|
I must take some of you home with me. I know
it will make my mamma get well faster to see your
bright faces,’ exclaimed the child.

“Snip, snip, and the dandelion who wanted a
change in its humdrum life was fast in the child’s
. warm little hand. As others of his family were
with him, he did not feel at all Wei gutence: and kept
right on shining.

“The child ran home as fast as her feet could fly.
Soon our dandelion saw a little white house with
green blinds, just the right kind of a home for such
a beautiful child. She ran into the house crying,
‘Oh, mamma, see these pretty dandelions! Spring
has really come at last You can soon get out into
the air, and then you will be well.’

“The dandelions looked so fresh and bright that
the child’s mother held them close to her face and



Spring—Dandelion Story. 17

cried tears of joy over them, for she had longed so
for spring to come, and now it was here with all its
beauty.

“The child put the flowers in cool water, and
every day brought fresh ones from the field.

“Tt is worth dying for to do so much good be-
fore we go,” said the dandelions, as they folded
their petals day by day ang made room for the
others.

“The rest of the dandelion family in the field won-
dered what happened to their brothers and sisters
who went off every day in the child’s hand, and
they grew tired of waiting and wondering. They
were all a trifle gloomy one day, when an old
woman came slowly down the road looking at the
ground as she walked. As she drew near the field
she gave acry of joy, ‘Now, I will have a good
dinner!’ Then she began digging up the dande-
lions by the roots, and putting them in a basket
and she went gladly home to boil them as ‘greens’
for her dinner; the dandelions did not murmur,
for she was so hungry and so pleased to get them.

“As the old lady went to the field many times
that summer, the dandelion family grew rather
small, and their bright golden flowers faded as the
summer passed on. They were all much aston-
ished one morning to find they had feathery dresses
on, white and soft as silk. Soon puffs of wind
came along and blew these fancy dresses off, and



18 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

the dandelions flew off with the dresses, the best
part of all, the seeds, and away they sailed over
field and garden. Whenever they grew weary and
dropped down to rest, they found a soft piece of
earth and there they slept quietly all through
the winter until springtime. Then springing up
with joy the dandelions were ready to be useful
again with their large families of golden blossoms.”

“T never thought a dandelion could be so useful’
said MARGERY.

“In some countries they dry the roots, powder
them and drink water boiled with them in as we
drink coffee,” said mamma. “So you See they are
useful in many ways.”

WASP AND NEST.

One day HELEN, the quiet little thinker, wan-
dered off by herself, and soon came running back
as fast as her fat little legs could carry her, calling
out:

“O mamma, come and see this wasp; it is acting
so funny.”

Mamma and the others went very softly to an
old fence post, where HELEN had found the wasp,
and sure enough, there it was tearing off little
splinters from the post, and when it had torn
them again into fine threads with something that
seemed like teeth, it somehow got them into



Spring—Wash and Nest 19

small bundles and bruised them by walking over
them with its tiny feet, until they were all matted
together.

Then it flew off with them to a corner of the
fence. 5

The children were afraid to watch the wasp any
longer for fear they would disturb it, as mamma
told them it was a mother wasp building a house
aoe t-y@ior her baby wasps, and in a day or
wwe epi it was done.
pet And when they came again, what

f= did they see but a real house or nest

Rapes filled with lots of
yy é eae little six-sided rooms
2s4all ready for the
Gz eges, from which

i Re) two they would come back and see

Ay






















fz “Mamma, how
=<3é could the wasp make
szX such a perfect house
se all herself?” asked
MARGERY.
; Then mamma told
‘them how the wasp
had moistened the
bundle of splinters
with juices from her



20 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

own body, and chewed the mass until it was like
paste, so that she could spread it out in layers
which looked like thin gray paper, and the whole
nest was made from this paper.

“What a wise little thing a wasp is,” said MAR-
GERY. “I must watch all the insects now, but I
don’t believe we shall find any so interesting as
the wasp.”

_“O yes, you will,” said mamma, “just use your
eyes and ask questions.”

After this the children found many wise little
builders among the insects. They even learned
to respect the spiders which had always before
seemed so disagreeable to them.

One day they discovered what seemed like a
brown ball or balloon made of smooth silk, hanging
from four thick blades of grass by fine but strong
threads.

Mamma told them to look all around to see if
they could find a spider, and close by under a leaf
they found it. Mamma explained to them that this
ugly spider had made the pretty little ball all her-
self, as a cradle for her baby spiders.

ROBINS.

Next to the house where the children lived was
a large field owned by one of their friends. He
told their papa that he wanted the children to use



Spring—Robins. 21

the field for their playground. It was just the
place for a good romp, and when they were tired
of play they rested under a large willow tree in the
corner of the field. This tree was the home of two
families of robins, and the children watched for
them every ee
spring. They
built their
nests in the

at
3



a










lower branch-
es of the tree
with dried
grass, leaves,
hair, and feathers, and
before very long there
Sf were three beautiful blue
eggs in the nest which the mother
bird carefully watched over.

The robins grew very tame because the children
Knew what robins liked best to eat, and often
treated them to a delicacy, and what do you think
it was P Just plain bread and butter. The children
discovered that the birds were nearly wild over
scraps of fat grease of any kind.



22 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

Mamma said she had heard of a robin that flew
in at an open window every day to pick at a
tallow candle which was Kept on a table by the
window.

But very early in the spring, before the robins
came back, the children saw some blue birds
hopping around the field.

HELEN said she was sure they were the same
family that built a nest last year in the hollow
stump of an old tree in their field.

“Let us be careful and not scare them, and
perhaps they will build there this year,’ said
HARRY.

MARGERY asked her papa how the blue birds and
robins lived when they were in the South. “I think
they build nests down there in some of the beau-
tiful trees,” answered papa.

“Do they lay eggs in the nests and raise families
of young birds, as they do here in the North,” again
asked MARGERY, who always wanted to learn all
she possibly could about her little bird friends.

Then papa confessed that he did not know, and
went to his library for a large book called “ Birds
of North America;” turning to a page about blue
birds, he found that they raised broods of little ones
in the South. i

“Then this flock of lively blue birds with the old
ones must be their children from the South,” said
MARGERY



Spring—Bird’s Nest. 23

In a few days the blue birds seemed so busy
about the old tree stump, which was full of com-
fortable hollows just right for cosy nests, the child-
ren knew they were building their nests, and helped





.them all they
could by carry-
ing pieces of wool
and cotton and bits

i of string into the field
mer" and putting them in the bushes
where the birds could easily find them.
This was a great help to the birds and
very soon the nest was finished, and the careful
mother bird was sitting on four light-blue eggs,
waiting for the birdies to come out of the shells.





24 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

The patient mother bird sat on the eggs for three
whole weeks watching for the little birds to come.

And when they did come out, what queer little
things they were, without any feathers, holding
their mouths wide open for the worms and insects ©
that the papa bird brought them so often.

After HELEN had been earnestly watching the
birds one afternoon she said, “I believe baby birds
must be very greedy, for the papa bird gives them
so many meals a day, and they always chirp as if
they were half starved.”

“Baby birds are just like baby boys and girls;
they must be fed very often,” said mamma.

“How very careful the papa bird is of the nest
and the little ones,’ said MARGERY; “he never
leaves them except to get food, and sings so merrily
to keep them cheerful.”

“Next year, if the birds come back, we will build
a large house in the yard for them with doors and
windows,” said mamma; “then their nests will be
safer and the mamma bird will be more sheltered
from the rain.”

“Do you mean a real house like the one we saw
at grandma’s, stuck up on a high polee” said
HARRY; “won't that be jolly!”



Spring—Gardens. 25

GARDENS.






71,
TRA a
Merinrgan Co.

er
’ But now warm-
, er weather was
{ coming, and the
| children began

to work in their
“gardens, dig-
OR ging up the nice
brown earth all ready for the







Nuit



- little seeds.
~ MARGERY wanted her garden to be full of flow-
ers, while HELEN and HARRY wanted beans and
corn in theirs. Mamma showed them the seeds
with the tiny leaves all folded up inside, ready to
burst right out after they had been buried in the
warm ground for a few days.



26 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

MARGERY was So interested about their growth
she dug up one or two seeds to see the little roots
shooting down deeper into the earth and the leaves
forcing their way up toward the bright sunlight.

About the first of June their field began to grow
white with beautiful daisies, and many times a day
the children called mamma to present her with
bouquets, so that the house soon looked almost as
gay as the field with the golden and white blos-
soms.

It was fun to tell their fortunes with the daisies,
and to weave long chains as they sat under the tree
with the robins singing cheerily over their heads.

STAR OF BETHLEHEM.

They discovered another white flower growing
in the thick grass of the field, which looked some-
thing like the snowdrop. It was a very modest
little flower opening its petals only in the brightest
sunlight. The children soon learned its name,
which was one of the prettiest names for a flower,
the “Star of Bethlehem,” and mamma told them of
an old legend which some one had written about
the flower :

“A young man who wanted to make the world
better, travelled away from his own country miles
and miles until he reached a land called Persia.
Here he lived for a while and tried to tell the



Spring—Star of Bethlehem. 29

people about CHRIST and a better way to live, but
the people would not listen to him, and treated
him so unkindly he wished he had remained in

Wie his own country.

iy. “He grew very

ies” e ) lonely and homesick
and wandered off by
himself one day and
laid down to rest in
a field full of may-
flowers.

“He looked sadly
around him and
thought of his home.
Even the flowers of
this land were
strange to him; but
just as he was longing
in his heart fora message
from home, he saw in
the grass at his feet a
dear little white flower
which he remembered
i as the ‘Star of Bethle-
hem’ he had so often
* picked when a boy in the fields about his

home. |

“It seemed to him that the flower brought him
a word of hope and courage with its bright pure





28 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

face, and he started on his journey again with new
strength.

“T shall always think of the lonely young man
whenever I pick the flower,’ said MARGERY; “I
wonder if our flowers could help anyone e”

HELEN said she knew cf a little lame girl who
had to sit in the house all the time, and she must
be very lonely.

“O yes, I remember how she used to love the
wild flowers when she was well; we will take her
some of ours every day,” said MARGERY.

When the children saw the pleasure the flowers
gave little lame JENNIE, they decided to gather all’
the wild flowers they could for other sick children.

Mamma called it their “flower mission,” and
was very glad to help them arrange the flowers.

Their mission gave such pleasure throughout the
spring and early summer, not only to the sick
children but to two old ladies who said the bunches
of daisies, buttercups, and clover blossoms made
them think of the days long gone by when they
were happy children.

They thought the flower mission one of the
brightest spots in their lives, and called the children
“Little Sunshiners” when they brought the flowers.

“IT see now how flowers can carry messages of
love to people,’ said MARGERY; “I believe our
flower mission keeps many people from being sad
and lonely.”



Spring—Bees and Flowers. 29:

BEES.

“Oh! oh! my eye! I’m killed,” screamed Harry,
as he was smelling one of his mamma’s flowers in
the garden one bright June morning.

Everyone came running out of the house to see
what was the matter with
ls poor HARRY.

A small bee

be mwas buzz-
RS ing around
~ him, so mamma
ap knew he must
have been stung.
‘His eye was
“AQ SWOllen and hurt very much.
She looked at the place care-
fully and saw a tiny stinger the
bee had left. She removed this and
-his face then felt a little better, but

HARRY cried and said he did not like
bees, and never wanted to see another one.

“But you like the honey the bees make, and the
poor little bee that stung you was getting honey
from the flower to store away for the winter when
you disturbed him, and he tried to frighten you
away.”

“But, mamma, how does a bee store the honey









PICHHM AM Co.



30 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

away,” asked HARRY, beginning to wipe away his
tears.

“Don’t you remember the beautiful wax combs
full of honey we had on our table last winter?
This case for the honey is all made by the
bees.”

“While HARRY’S sting is getting better we will all
sit down and let mamma tell us about the bees,”
said MARGERY; ‘now tell us, mamma, how do the
bees make the wax combs P”’

“There are three kinds of bees in each hive; the
queen bee is the mother bee. The drone is the
father, and has no sting; the mother bee stings,
and so does the work bee. People who keep bees
sometimes send long distances for queen or mother
bees which can be forwarded by mail, caged in
little blocks of wood prepared for their comfort,
in one part of which is placed enough food for the
traveler, though the journey be one of hundreds |
or even thousands of miles.

“Another thing of interest in connection with
these journeyings is that the queen has an escort
of a dozen or more work bees.”

““Some of the work bees make the wax houses
for the baby bees, and other work bees take care
of the babies.

“Now, if we could catch the bee that stung
HARRY we would see rings on his body and tiny
scales of wax on each ring; and on his legs you



Spring—Bee Hive. 31

would see what looks like a brush, a tool, and a
tiny pocket.

The bee flies into a flower, and becomes covered
with the yellow dust called “pollen” in the flow-
ers; the brush on its legs takes all the dust
off its wings and body, and brushes it into a sort of
little pocket. This dust is the food for the baby bees.”

“But what is the tool for?”” asked HARRY, who
was forgetting his troubles.

“O, that is to help make the wax cells. It takes
the scales of wax off the rings on its body with
that; then with its mouth it shapes the walls of
the cells we call ‘honey comb.”

“They put honey in some of the cells, food for
the bees to eat in others, and in others they put
some of the dust from the flowers which they
carry home in the little pockets on their legs.

“Then the queen bee lays eggs in each cell, and
soon a small worm or grub comes from the egg
and eats the flower dust the nurse work bees have
put there. These grubs soon grow into bees, and
help the other workers in the busy hive.”

BEE HIVE.

“What is a hive er” asked HELEN.

“O, 1 forgot to say that people keep bees in large
square board boxes called ‘hives,’ and the bees
build their honey combs on the inside of these



32 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

hives, which are partly open so the bees can fly in
and out with their honey and flower dust.”

“I do like bees, after all,” said HARRY; | did not |
know they could do so much, but I don’t see why
they ure such nee Sunes”
cx “Yes, there
f. iS a reason
for the stings,
,,; too; as the hives
; must be left open,
worms and bugs
, might get in to steal
* the honey and kill
the baby bees if the
work bee and the
mother bee could not
fight them off with
their stings.”

“The sting has three prongs skill-
fully grooved together, making a
“sort of tube for the flow of the poison
from the sac in which it is held. Two
of these prongs are barbed, and as

- they enter the flesh of the object
attacked, first one prong and then the other works
forward, the barbs of one prong holding it in place
while the other is pressed onward. This action
serves to pump the poison from the sac till the
sting has been driven into the flesh its entire length.







ay
AO





Spring—Auts. 33

The bee stings to protect its house or itself from
what it looks upon as threatened danger, and the
loss of its sting finally results in its death. If,
therefore, the bee stings to repel what seems to it an
attack upon its home, it gives its life in its defense.

“The sting of a bee should be taken at once from
the flesh by a scraping movement, for which the
finger nail, or something else having a thin edge,
may be used. To grasp the sting for the purpose
of drawing it out tends to force still more poison
into the flesh.

“People suffering from rheumatism, paralysis and
dropsy have found relief by being stung, and stings
are now taken from bees for use as medicine. So
you see that the very weapon of defense of these
industrious little creatures may be used for our good.”

HELEN looked very thoughtful for a moment, and
then said the bee knew more than the wasp or the
spider, and must be the wisest insect in the world.

Mamma thought so, too, but told them to guess
another insect, a very common one, which was
always busy.

MARGERY happened to look down to the ground
just then and saw a red:ant scampering along. “Is
it an ant, just a common ant, mamma ?”

ANTS.

“Where are they all going in such a hurry ?”
“They are building a house under the ground.



, 34 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

First, they dig up the earth with their tiny feet,
all working together, until quite a deep hole is

ug.

“Then they bite out large pieces, roll them into

balls, and then carry these balls up to the top of
Sigg he ground until at

x a are a they have a house

“ar ll divided into rooms

ob under ne ground.

3) Aas “They have queen ants

a oe and work ants like the bees.

rd You may often see the work

ants carrying home crumbs

mM., larger than they are themselves to feed

gy, the family. Even if they have to drop

# their load very often, they keep on picking
it up until they get it to their home.

“Ants do not like rain, and they hurry
home as fast as they can when a shower
comes up.”

“Now, children, we have had a long

@ talk about bees and ants, and in the years

to come you will find out much more
about them by watching them, which is

the best way, and by reading about them. Whole
books have been written about bees, and also about
ants.

“T think HARRY is ready for a play now, even if
his eye is swollen.’







Spring—Ants. 35

Off they flew for a game of hide-and-seek behind
bushes and trees, but HARRY looked out very care-
fully for the bees, not caring to disturb any more
that day.





SUMMER.

ae Serer such a happy spring time, the chil-
"HENS dren almost dreaded the hot summer
Os days, but their mamma told them one
@) day, that they were going on a long
journey to the seashore. Of course this was glad
news, and even their dreams were full of happiness.

When they arrived at Wildwood, their summer
home, they found a beautiful wood full of old holly
‘and cedar trees covered with long hanging moss,
with bright flowers growing underneath likea beau-
tiful carpet, on one side of the railroad; on the
other side was a wide, smooth beach, over which
the blue waters of the ocean rolled and tumbled:
the children thought they must surely have arrived
in Heaven.

Oh, the bright happy days they spent on that
beach, digging in the sand, making sand-cakes and
pies, forts and caves, hunting for crabs and sea-
Shells, and once in a great while rejoicing to find a
live starfish.



STARFISH.

A lady who lived all the year round by the sea
and who had learned many things about starfish
and sea-shells, showed the children a large star-



Summer—Starfish. 37

fish, or “sea star,’ she said it ought to be called,
as it was not a fish at all.

“It is just like a star,” said MARGERY.

“Yes, it has five rays orarms, and if you will look
carefully you will see an eye at the point of each
arm

“The sea stars lay eggs and are so careful of
them that they bend their arms to protect them and
carry them around with them to keep them from
danger.”

“Tf the sea star loses one of its rays, an-
~¢, other one grows out; that is the reason
ae some of the arms are smaller
than others when found on
the beach.”










“What does
the sea star
-eate”’ asked

“It eats many things, but likes oysters better than
anything else. It makes sad work in the oyster-
beds, fastening itself on the oysters and sucking

them out of the shells.”
“Poor oysters! Can you tell us anything more



38 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

about theme” asked MARGERY, who liked to eat
oysters as much as the Sea stars did.

“There are many oyster beds near here, and we
will see men dredging for oysters whenwe go with
the sailing party to-morrow. The banks of Grassy
Sound, where we are going, is lined with oysters,
and the salt water oysters, though smaller than
those living in fresh water, have a much better
flavor.”

While the lady was talking to the children,
mamma was looking earnestly at a beautiful pearl
in a ring on her finger; holding it up to them she
said, ““Would you think such a pure, lovely pearl
could come from an ugly oyster 2?”

“No, indeed!” cried MARGERY. ‘‘Can we find
them in our common oysters P”

“Yes, they are sometimes found in them, but not
often. The true pearl oyster has a much prettier.
Shell than the oysters we eat. It lives in the waters
of the Pacific Ocean and the lining of its shell is
valuable for what is called ‘mother of pearl. The
buttons on HELEN’S coat are made from it. See
how it shines and changes color.”

“Another curious pearl oyster lives in the waters
of China. It is so clear that it is often used for
windows. It is named the ‘Chinese window
shell.’ Of course the little Chinese boys and girls
cannot see through them as we look out of our
clear glass windows, but the light shines in and



Summer—Lighthouse. 39

makes the room bright. These shells make beau-
tiful buttons and tiny pearls are often found in
them.”

When the children grew tired of play, as they
sometimes did, they loved to lie on the sand with
mamma, and listen to her stories about the ships
they could see away off on the ocean.

MARGERY noticed large birds flying over the
waves near shore, one morning, and said they must
be pigeons.

But mamma said, “O, no, pigeons do not fly out
tosea. They aresea gulls, a large bird that often
follows ships.”

“Are they called ‘Mother Carey’s Chickens ?’

“No, that is the name the sailors give the stormy
petrel, another large bird that flies close toa ship a
day or two before a storm; the sailors do not
like to see these birds for they think they are bring-
ing bad news; a storm at seais a terrible thing.
The waves rise as highas the ship, and it is so dark
that the ship might be dashed upon the rocks, but
there are lighthouses built upon the most dangerous
points, like the one we saw at Cape May the other
day; we can see the light from it at night, though
it is nearly ten miles away; the sailors can see it
when miles out to sea.”



40 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

LIGHTHOUSE.








“When papa comes, |
mean to ask him to take
~~ ys to the lighthouse and
— see how they make such a
bright light,” said HARRY.

«x So the next time papa came
to see them, the children beg-
ged him, as soon as he stepped
from the train, to take them to
Cape May lighthouse.

Papa said he would; so off they
started on the very next train.

When they arrived at Cape May City
6 they took an electric car to the light-
Eek Merman Louse, which was quite a long distance
down the beach. .

How strange it looked as they got nearer to it.

Se



Sumimer—Lighthouse. 4]

Such a high, round column withtiny windows peep-
ing out of its brown sides.

“Can we go tothe top?” asked papa of a man
wearing a blue uniform.

“O, yes,” he said, “but the little folks will get
tired before they reach the top.”

The “little folks” were only too eager to try; so
mamma took HARRY’S hand, papa had MARGERY by
one hand and HELEN by the other, and then the
climb began, around and around the tower, over two
hundred steps HELEN counted; and when they
reached the top, puffing and panting, they saw the
largest lamp one could imagine, with a reflector as
bright as polished silver.

The man who kept the lighthouse said if he
should let the light go out once at night, he would
lose his place.

They all walked out on a platform and looked for
miles over land and sea. Off in the dim distance
they could see their own Wildwood, and in every
direction a beautiful view, which paid them well for
their long tramp up the stairs.

When they got on firm ground again they felt a
little shaky in the knees, and sat down to rest in the
home of the keeper, a pretty, small white house
with a garden around it, and six children of all sizes
running in and out.

“Do youstay herein the winter?” asked mamma
of the keeper’s wife.



42 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

“O, yes, and a long winter itis. The children
walk over a mile to school and the storms are very
bad. Wetried to have ahappy Christmas last year,
but my children said they wished they could get
away from the sound of the ocean for one day.
They do get tired and lonely, but some days in the
winter are bright and sunny; thenthey run up and
down the beach as they do in summer.”

After thanking the kind lighthouse keeper for
explaining everything to them, the children went
back to Wildwood, with a much clearer idea of a
lighthouse than they ever had before.

As they were riding on thetrain, HELEN whispered
to her mamma that she thought it would be nice to
send a box of things to the keeper’s children next
Christmas.

“That’s a good idea,” said mamma, “and we will
have a good time getting it ready.”

One day they went about three miles up the
beach to visit a fishing village, and how they did
open their eyes to see so many fish.

The little fishing boats, or dorys, seemed to all
come in atonce. The brown fishermen drew the
boats up on the shore and then commenced taking
out the fish in great basketfuls.

As they were leaving the boat pier at Anglesea
they noticed a large fish dangling from the end of
the pier. One of the fishermen told them it was a
man-eating Shark, which they had killed after much
trouble.



Suminer—Lighthouse. 43

“This is a terrible fish, children. I will show
you his teeth,” said the fisherman. “They cut just
like sharp pieces of glass. In some countries the
natives fix handles to them and use them for tools.
This kind is not quite so dangerous as some; it is
a blue shark, but the white sharks are the dread of
Sailors all over the world. They follow ships for
long distances, feeding upon the refuse thrown into
the sea by the sailors. While there is a sign of one
of these monsters about a vessel the sailors never
go in Swimming, and take very good care not to fall
overboard, for they would be sure to lose a leg or
an arm or possibly their lives if caught by one of
these sharks.”

“Please dont tell me any more; I will dream
about sharks,” said HARRY.

“But the sharks are useful, too,” said the man.
“In some countries a large business is done with
the oil of the shark. His liver is dried inthe sun and
thought to be a great delicacy in some countries,
and the.Chinese prepare a soup from his fins.
Sailors sometimes take the spine of a shark, polish
it up, bring it home with them and sellit for a good
price to a dealer in canes. A gold head is put onit,
and then it is one of the costliest of walking sticks,
sometimes bringing thirty or forty dollars.”

“The shark is of some good, then, after it is dead,”
Said HARRY, “but I hope I shall never see a live
one.”



44 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

Mamma thanked the fisherman for all he had told
them, and said they would come again soon to
Angelsea to learn more about fish.

“T should like to take you out to the fishing
grounds in my .big boat, before you leave the sea-
shore,” he said. “There wiil be no danger.”

Mamma promised to accept his invitation, and the
children were delighted to think they might some
day go fishing in the ocean.

The fisherman gave mamma some fish to take
with them to Wildwood for their supper. The
children carried them home, and when they were
cooked thought they tasted better than any fish they
had ever tasted before.

CRABS.

Little HARRY enjoyed the “crabbing” parties
more than any other kind of fun. Near the cottage
where they boarded was an inlet from the ocean,
which they call the “ Crabbing Grounds,” for when
the tide came in, they could catch numbers of
these funny, lively little fellows.

When they thought the tide would be just tight
they all started out wearing large hats, and carrying
baskets, nets, lines, andfresh meat as their crabbing
bait.

When they arrived at the pier, built out into the
sound for such parties, they all sat very quietly on
the edge waiting for mamma to put fresh meat on



Suminer—Crabs. 45

their lines, without any hooks, then in a minute or
two, HARRY or one of the little girls would scream
out, “mamma, do bring the net quick, here’s a
great big fellow!” ;

ahen mamma ran to them and very carefully
scooped up a squirming old crab and
dumped him into the basket.

After a number were caught,
such a scrambling and fighting
as would go on in that basket,
which had to be covered
over with boards, or the
Squirmers would get out and
run sideways orf the
pier back into the
water.















Fhe children
were curious and
wanted to know
how these crabs
livedin the water,
and what their
habits were; So
mamma told
them that they live in the sand by the ocean. Mr.
Crab digs out several rooms in the sand for himself
and Mrs. Crab; that they keep insects, pieces of
Seaweed and all sorts of scraps to eat in this house.
When they areat home they don’t iike to go out

ate



46 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

while the tide is high. Mrs. Crab does not lay her
eggs in this house, but carries them around with
her in a little sac near her body.

The little crabs soon grow big and help her catch
insects. Crabs also like to feed upon dead fish that
are washed ashore.

“But, mamma, these crabs don’t look alike; this
large one has one great big claw and avery small
one to match it, and here’s another large one with
two small claws,” said MARGERY.

“Mr. Crab has one large claw to fight and dig
with, but Mrs. Crab hasn’t the large one, for she
doesn’t dig at all,’ answered mamma.

‘Old Mr. Crab isa great fighter and often loses a
claw or leg in his battles, but that doesn’t matter to
him for another soon grows out to take the place
of the lost one. The strangest thing about the
crabs is, that their shell often gets too small for them
and they draw themselves out of it, and look so
queer and flabby without a shell, but there is a soft
skin growing which soon grows hard and they are
then all dressed out in a fine new shell. They
change these shell coats very often. They are like
little children who outgrow their clothes so fast.”

The children were glad mamma knew so much
about the crabs, and watched them with increased
interest.

On one of these crabbing parties HELEN had worn
a new pair of low canvas shoes of which she was



Sumimer—Crabs. 47

very proud, and as her fat little legs dangled over
the water she watched her feet as closely as she
did her line, but sad to relate, just as she gavea
kick of joy as she landed a crab, one of the precious
shoes dropped off, down into the soft black mud.

HELEN wailed loud enough to scare off all the
crabS, but mamma comforted her by telling her
that perhaps papa might manage to get it at night
when the tide was going out.

When night came, papa started off with a crab
net and dipping the net down in the mud he drew
up the shoe, quite forlorn looking when it came
home dripping in the net over papa’s shoulder, but
after it had been set out in the sun to dry the next
day, and carefully brushed, it looked almost as new
as the other one.

The children loved to take long walks on the
beach ; they found so many treasures.

One day as they were walking toward Anglesea,
the fishing village, they noticed many holes in the
sand. Thinking they had found some crab-houses,
they dug around these holes with their small
shovels, expecting to see Mr. Crab scamper out, but
no, they struck something harder and after much
tugging, drew out large. conch shells, pink and
yellow and soft and glossy as china inside, but what.
was the dark, ugly thing growing out of ite



48 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

CONCH.

It was the live conch or winkle which makes its
home in this beautiful shell, and a very wise winkle
itis. The children watched eagerly to see its long
foot come slowly out, feeling around for some-
thing to eat; with this foot it crushes small oysters
and muscles and draws the good part up into its
mouth.

The children found during this same walk some
very strange things which looked like along string
of many little pockets, ‘or
purses, joined together
in beautiful regular-
ity, and their
wonder grew






when mamma told them that these were little
cradles Mrs. Conch had made for her babies.
Breaking open some of the pockets they found
tiny shells about as large asa grain of wheat, but
Shaped like the large conch shells. They were all
dead, as the waves had washed the cradles too far
up on the shore and the bright sun had killed them.



Sumimer—Conch. 49

“Mamma, do you think any other animal in the
sea could make such safe, pretty cradles for their
babies as Mrs. Conch makes for hers?” asked
HELEN.

“I do not kow of any particular one,’ an-
swered mamma, “but I think a fish called the
‘dog shark’ makes safer ones, not the ‘man-
eater,’ but a more peaceable member of the shark
family.

“They make little black cases almost square,
and tougher than the conch cradles. At each
corner there are long stems or strings; in some
mysterious way the mother fish fastens these
stems around plants or weeds in the water, and
there they hang safe from harm until the little
fish are strong enough to break their way out
of the pocket. I think if you will look around
on the beach carefully you will some day
find one of these deserted cradles washed
ashore.”

Life at the seashore is so full of pleasure, So much
to see and do, these little folks were happy from
morning until night, and ready to go to bed early
every night, so tired were they.

But one evening mamma said they needn’t go
quite so early as usual as she had a pleasant treat
forthem. Of course the children were delighted
and ina great flutter.

As soon as it grew dark, mamma took them to a



50 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

large ocean pier, many feet out from the shore, over
the water, and as they walked out on this pier they
pretended they were walking the deck of an ocean
steamer far out at sea.

Mamma told them to sit down on the benches at
the extreme end of the pier and watch the waves
as far as they could look.

Just as they were wondering what mamma
meant by this, up rose the great, red moon, right
out of the ocean, it seemed to them; never did it
seem So large or so bright before, and they begged
mamma to stay longer and watch the moon. As it
rose higher it made a path of light over the waves,
and the ocean seemed like a dream of Fairyland to
them.

JELLY-FISH.

And something else happened, which often does
happen to the ocean at night, but of which they
had never heard.

As they were looking earnestly at the beautiful
water, MARGERY exclaimed, “O look, mamma!
there must be fairies or brownies in the ocean and
they are lighting their lamps.”

And so it seemed to them all, for on each wave
glittered many colored balls of light, until the whole
expanse of water seemed ablaze with these little
fairy lamps.

A gentleman sitting near them called the children



Summer—Felly-fish. 51

around him and told them that these shining lights
came from jelly-fish, or “sea flowers,” as they are
sometimes called from their beautiful flower shapes
and bright colors.

He told them of many different varieties of jelly-
fish—one kind being called nettle fish, because

a -—. the long arms which trail out from their
jelly-like bodies sting everything
with which they come in contact.
Often when persons are bath-
“3 ing in the ocean they will feel
ya pricking sensation all over
~ their bodies, just as’ if many
, nettles were stinging them,
‘We and they will soon see that
















a

i jelly-fish.

<—- The gentleman promis-
. edtotake them for a long
_..... Walk down the beach
to the Life Saving Sta-
tion the next day
== and said he felt
sure they would find two or three kinds of jelly-
fish washed up on the beach.

Mamma accepted the kind invitation and started
the children home; they must rise early the next
morning, as then the tide would be very low, leav-
ing the beach full of shells and jellyfish.



52 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

The gentleman called for them the next morning,
bringing with him his own little boy HERBERT who
had traveled with his father to many lands besides
our own. He was a very intelligent little fellow,
and the children found in him a comrade after their
own hearts. His sharp eyes spied the first jelly-fish,
and it proved to be one of the finest specimens
found on the beach that summer.

As it lay on the sand, at the very edge of the
waves, still quivering with life, it looked like a
beautiful flower carved from the purest ice, resting
on a base as clear as crystal, the whole being
as large around as a pail.

HERBERT’S papa said he had never in all his
travels Seen a prettier one.

They afterwards found smaller ones of different
colors and shapes.

Thoughtful HELEN told their new friend that she
was beginning to think the ocean must be like a
beautiful garden, with so many flower-like animals
Iai:

He then told her a true story of a young lady who
had started on a temperance missionary trip around
the world. As she was going in a large steamer from
Australia to Java she passed through the great
pearling grounds of the world, over a hundred ships
in mid-ocean, sending divers into the depths of the
ocean for the pearl oysters.

As she thought of what these men must see so



Summer—D1ving.. 53

many feet under the water, she felt a great desire
to see for herself. When she told her friends on
the steamer they all discouraged her, saying a
woman had never done-such a thing, but she
insisted on trying it,so they took her from the
steamer to one of the pearling boats.

She then dressed herself in a complete diver’s
outfit, which consisted of two suits of very heavy
hand-made underwear, two pairs of very long
stockings, and then the diving dress, made all in
one piece to cover the whole body but the head.
They then put on her a very heavy breastplate of .
some kind of metal, to which they screwed the
dress fast; then came the shoes, weighing thirty-
two pounds; then heavy leaden weights were
attached to her body to help it sink. Last of all
they fastened on the head gear, a heavy helmet,
large enough for her to turn her head from Side to
side: this had three glass globes, one in front and
at the sides. To this was attached a rubber pipe
connecting with an air pump, which one man
worked all the time to send her plenty of fresh air
from above.

After all this preparation they tied a very heavy
rope about her and slowly lowered her down, down
into Old Ocean’s wonderful “ garden of secrets.”

‘She described the scene, down there, more than
sixty feet from the surface, as far more beautiful
than any flower garden; the most delicate seaweed



54 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

and mosses, coral of all colors, shells of every
description, and swimming in and out fish more
graceful and beautiful than any of which she had
ever heard.

After a time spent in this most wonderful ocean
garden, she pulled the signal for them to draw her
up to the boat, and as she appeared again the friends
on the steamer felt greatly relieved; but the lady
will always remember this as one of the most
exciting and pleasing experiences of her life.

“Now, little HELEN, you see you were right—
Old Ocean is the oldest and most beautiful garden
in the world.”

LIFE SAVING STATION.

By this time the Life Saving Station was in sight,
and the children ran a race to reach the place of
which they had heard and talked about so much.

A dark red building stood by itself on a lonely
part of the coast where a few brave men live, always
on the lookout for vessels in distress, andthe men
told the children how their big life boat had saved
many lives during the storms which often visit that
coast.

“What is this long .thing which looks like an
air-tight boxe” asked HERBERT, who had been wan-
dering around the building, eager to learn all about
the whole service.



Summer—Life Saving Station. 55

“That is our life car,’ answered the captain. We
only use it in terrible storms when nothifig
else willdo. Ifthe lifeboats cannot reach
the ship, we have this rope machine
which is so fixed that we can shoot it a
long distance, and when the
rope at last reaches the ship-
we send this life car
along the rope with
one of our men in it.
It is water tight and
will hold five
men. Of





















course
it is worked
quickly or the men
would die for want of air.”
“Don’t you get very lonely
with nothing tosee but the ocean *
and not much to do?” asked
MARGERY, of one of the men.
“O, yes, little girl, very often, for
we want to see our wives and children



56 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

and can go home but once in a good many months.
We used to long for more books and papers to read,
but last summer some of the ladies from the hotel
at Wildwood came to visit us and became So inter-
ested in us that after their return to their city homes,
they sent us boxes full of books, papers, pictures,
games, and other things to amuse and interest us,
besides some articles of comfort, like warm mittens,
stockings, wristlets, and mufflers, and at Christmas
they remembered us with a glorious box of good
things to eat. This made the hard winter months
more cheerful for us, and we bless these kind-
hearted ladies every day.”

On their way home from the life saving station,
HERBERT told the children that his father expected
to take him to his home in New York the next day,
and just as soon as he saw a book store he would
buy those brave men the finest book he could find
and send it to them. He thought everyone ought
to remember their lonely, dreary lives, and brighten
them as often as possible. MARGERY and HELEN
said they knew they could make up.a large box as
soon as they returned to their homes, and they
would be so glad to do this for such kind life
Savers.

Late in the summer the salt marshes around
Wildwood became gay with large rose-colored
flowers, which the children called hollyhocks.
Mamma said they did look like hollyhocks, but that



Summer—Life Saving Staton. Di.

they belonged to another family called rose mallows
or marsh mallows.

“That’s the name of the candy | like better than
any other kind,” said HELEN.

“You will think it a queer thing to make candy
of, but it is true that your favorite candy is made
partly from a sticky substance from the roots of this
rose mallow. There is another member of the mal-
low family which is used as medicine. It grows
wild in many places all over our country.

The same plant is cultivated and cared for away
off in the land of Egypt, and people think it is very
good for food boiled like cabbage. ;

This is such an old plant, it is spoken of by Job
in the Bible.

There were many other wild flowers blooming at
this time, one of which was the prickly pear with
its lemon-colored blossoms that were pretty to look
at, but were so hard to pick without getting scratch-
ed with their sharp prickles; the orange-colored

butterfly weed with blossoms like the pink milk. .

weed in form, only different in color; and the tiny
blossoms of a running vine called the wild sweet
pea, were all so pretty that the children were some-
times tempted to leave the joys of the sand and
treasures of the sea to gather the flowers.

The children made fine collections of shells and
mosses for their kindergarten at home, and as the
days grew cooler mamma told them to say “ good-



58 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

bye” to their summer home, and comforted them
by reminding them that everything would be ripe
in their home garden.

When they arrived at home they ran into the
garden as fast as they could. MARGERY found
plenty of weeds, but among the weeds she could
see the bright flowers blooming.

HELEN and HARRY were amazed to see tall things
growing in their garden almost like trees; they
soon found that it was the corn grown so tall, and
they hunted around the big stalks until they found
the ears of corn, with soft, silky tassels. They
asked mamma to cook some for supper, and how
sweet and good it tasted! HELEN thought it was
even better than the fish at Wildwood.





AUTUMN.

OW, children,” said mamma one morning,
“the summer days are gone; we must
get to work in our kindergarten in the
mornings, and in the afternoons take

our walks in the woods.”

So the children became busy workers, with their
cube blocks, paper folding, drawing, sewing and all
the delightful kindergarten work.

Then came the happy walks again, so different
from their spring walks, for everything was getting
ready fora long winter sleep; the leaves were drop-
ping gently to the ground to keep the little plants
warm; the squirrels were storing up nuts in their
homes in the trees; the birdies had all grown up
and were ready to fly away with the older birds to
the warm South, and their insect friends were all
hidden away for their long nap.

About this time the woods and fields were bright-
ened by the golden-rod, which blossomed in every
bare corner. ‘The children liked to gather great
bunches of it, for as soon as they returned from the
seashore they began their flower mission work, and
the sick children and old ladies loved the golden-rod
as much as they did the spring wild flowers.






60 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

One of the old ladies knew ever so much about
flowers and often talked to the children about
them. From her they learned that there were
about eighty different kinds of golden-rod in the
United States.

Forty-two of them can be found in our Northern
States. MARGERY and HELEN found several differ-
ent kinds, one a fragrant blossom with shining
dotted leaves.

Mamma told them such a pretty story about the
golden-rod that after hearing it they always thought
of the flowers as live little fairies. The story was
called,

GAY LITTLE GOLDEN-ROD.

The queen of the fairies, whose name was Rose,
seemed very Sad one day, and one of the little fairy
pansies asked her to look bright just for a minute
while he told her a funny story. She shook her
head and said, “Dear little Pansy, don’t you know
the world is growing colder, and we will soon have
to die?”

“Why, no, Queen Rose, you have been so sad
you haven't raised your head to look at the beauti-
ful world. Only to-day I saw the gayest little fairy
called ‘Golden-rod,’ and he said he was going
to touch every field and roadside with his little
rod and turn the whole world a beautiful golden
color.” .



Autumn—Gay Little Golden-Rod. 61

“Here he is now, let him speak for himself.”
The queen looked up, smiling a little as she saw
a tiny yellow fairy, just like a feather, so quick and







graceful i
his move-
ments; looking
brightly in her
face, he said:
“Didnt you
know | was com-
ing to make the world a
warm?” Andas he spoke
he darted off, touching AF
everything in his way, and
leaving feathery fairies like himself
wherever he passed; and soon the
old world which really had been
growing colder, glowed with a warmth
that was reflected from the hosts of fairy ¢
golden-rods scattered over the fields and
woods.
And to please the queen they all loved
so much, the maple leaves and the oak leaves



62 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

put on gay red and yellow dresses, and Queen
Rose and the pansies were fairly dazzled by the
brightness. Their eyes grew heavy, and Queen
Rose said:

“Tt is time I was taking my ‘beauty sleep’ for next
summer,” and she closed her eyes, dropped off her
pink and red dress, and slowly went off into beauti-
ful dreamland, without a single shiver, for little
Golden-rod was still making the earth warm.

-The pansies didn’t goto sleep as soon as the
queen, for they loved to watch the games the fairies
were playing with the wind, but they folded their
little wings and soon and quietly went to sleep,
happy as could be, for hadn’t these last days been
the brightest of the year, thanks to gay little Golden-
rode

SQUIRRELS.

The squitreis amused the children so much by
their frisky motions. HARRY said he saw two or
three kinds flying around the trees and uN on
the ground for acorns and nuts.

Mamma thought some large gray squirrels lived
in one of the big oak trees, but the lively little
chipping squirrel, or “chipmuck,” as the boys call
him, they saw much oftener than the gray ones.

“Mamma, I wish we could see a squirrel’s home.
How do you suppose it looks inside 2”

“They often choose large hollows in trees for



Autumn—Squirrels. 63

their home and it is pretty well filled up with little
ones, for papa and mamma squirrel have quite a
family. In May four babies come to their home,
and again in August four or five more ;so papa
squitrel has to fly around to find enough nuts for
the winter. They get grass
seeds and other seeds, too,
but they like acorns and
nuts better.
“What sharp teeth they
must have,” said HELEN.
“They are very sharp,
and will bite fiercely if
pop et home is in danger,”
said mamma.
>They do not
always
wt, have their
homes
in the
trees;
















very often they dig deep holes in the ground.”

“A great man, who loved to watch birds and
-animals, dug into one of these squirrel holes to see
how it looked so that he could write about it and
let other people know more about squirrels. He



64 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

found a number of tunnels leading to the nest.
These winding paths had nuts in them where the
squirrels had hidden them. The nest was lined with
dried grass and oak leaves, and the squirrels were
lying in it snug and warm.

“In the nest they had stored some grains of
wheat and buckwheat, but in the long tunnels they
had dug near the nest was found a peck of acorns,
two quarts of buckwheat, grains of corn and a
quart of hazel-nuts.”

“How could they carry so much?” asked
MARGERY.

“They have a strange way of carrying their
treasures,” Said mamma, andyou would laugh to see
them. The squirrels that dig holes in the ground
for their nests have pouches or bags in their cheeks
.in which to carry the nuts, and each time they
carry just four nuts. They seem to be very wise
little creatures, and pack the nuts away very care-
fully. The hazel-nuts have a sharp beak or edge,
and before they put them in their pouch they bite
off the sharp point, so it won’t hurt their cheeks.
They look very funny as they run home with their
cheeks swelled out with the nuts.”

“T heard a boy talking about black squirrels,”
said HARRY.

“Yes, there are black squirrels in many parts of
North America, but they are hard to tame. Their
fur is very glossy and black. Men hunt them just



Autumn—Squirrels. 65

for their skins, which are quite valuable, as they
are large.

“Their tails arealmostas big aroundas their bodies,
and curl up over their back like a beautiful brush.

“These squirrels are very clean in their habits.
They have been watched while playing and seen
to suddenly stop their play and run to the edge of.
a pond or river, bend over and stick their noses
deep into the water and take a long drink. After
their thirst was satisfied they would sit up on their
hind legs and wash their faces with their fore feet;
dipping their paws into the water two or three
times to make their toilet complete.” :

“I saw a flying squirrel in a cage one day,’
MARGERY.

“They are wonderful little animals,” said mamma,
“with something like a wing growing under their
fur. When this is stretched out it looks like a thin
skin. This bears them up when they make their
flying jumps.”

“There is a red squirrel called a ‘chick-a-ree,
and | think there are some in our woods,” said
mamma, “for I heard a little squeal that sounded like
its call, ‘chick-a-ree, chick-a-ree.’”

“O [ve heard that, and thought it was a. bird,”
said HELEN. =e"

“Did you ever hear the call of a chippy squirrel?
It sounds like a wren, ‘chip,’ ‘chip,’ ‘chip,’ aqueer
little cluck. ”

?

said



66 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

The children always gathered acorns to play
dishes, but when they found the squirrels liked
them so much they did not want to rob them, but
mamma said there were enough for all.

OAK TREE.






How kind
the old oak
trees are tO Ae yz
throw down so ="
many acorns,” said HELEN.
“We could not get along very well
without the oak tree,’ said mamma. “ :
It is so useful. The wood is very hard and our
best furniture is made from it. Ship builders think



Autumnu—Oak Tree. 67

the live oak the best wood to use for making
the hulls of their strong boats. The white oak
makes fine timber for building houses. Oak
wood makes the strongest kind of casks and
barrels, and the bark is used to tan leather. We
might think of hundreds of ways in which it is
used.”

“ And then what a noble looking tree it is, spread-
ing its branches so far. It always makes me think
of a kind father tree; father to all the other trees of
the wood.”

“Tf | should plant an acorn would it grow to be
an oak tree,” asked HARRY. ;

“Yes, all these lofty oak trees grew from little
acorns,” said mamma. “The tiny first leaf of the
tree is folded up in the acorn ready to spring to life
if it is planted in the ground.”

“Does the oak tree grow only in our country?”
asked MARGERY.

“It grows in almost every country of the world.
In Russia they think their holm-oak has power to
work miracles. The old Germans believe in a god
of thunder called “Thunar’, and they consecrated
the oak tree to him. Their neighbors in Norway
used to hold their solemn councils of war under a
large oak tree. The Romans used to make crowns
for their heroes of oak leaves and in England, long
before our country was discovered, they thought
the groves of oak trees were sacred. We think



68 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

more of its real use and beauty, and hope it will
never die out of our country.”

In all these changes, the children loved the out-
door world so much they told mamma they almost
wished to be Gypsies and live in the woods.
Mamma said she thought they would change their
minds when the snow came.

They felt so sorry for the pretty brown quails; for
cruel men with dogs and guns were coming through
the woods every day shooting these timid birds,
which are so tame when they live near a farm
house they will occasionally go near the house and
feed with the chickens.

These quails are birds that fly very little but run
along the ground. They are very tender mothers
to their brood of little ones, and it is a sight that
should touch the heart of a hard-hearted gunner
to see a mother quail running along with ten or
fifteen young quails following close after her.

“T expect to persuade all my boy friends to join
a band of mercy,” said HELEN.

“You'd better get the girls to join too,” MARGERY
quickly answered, “for I saw your friend Alice
wearing a new hat yesterday with a stuffed bird
on it, a dear little blue bird.”

“Mamma, isn’t it just as bad to kill birds to wear
as it is to eat them.”

“Certainly, children, and lam glad you mentioned
it. I will try to have some of your little friends



Autumnu—Rabotts. 69

join you in a band of mercy, and 1 will explain to
you how the poor birds are tortured when they are
killed for people to wear, and we will promise by
an earnest pledge that we will never encourage
such cruelty by wearing birds as ornaments.

“And then boys are so often thoughtlessly cruel
in destroying a happy little family of birds by steal-
ing their nests and their precious eggs. If they
only knew how careful and tender these mother
and father birds were of their young ones, and how
much work they put into each round nest, they
would not be so cruel. In our little band of mercy
we will study all we can about the habits.and in-
stincts of birds and animals, and we will soon love
and respect them so much that we will never think
of doing them harm.”

RABBITS.

It was fun to watch the frisky rabbits scampering
through the dead leaves, and hiding whenever they
caught a glimpse of the children. These animals,
too, had to be very watchful for hunters, as rabbits
are considered good for food, and the children
almost cried when they saw men and boys going
home from the woods carrying many of their little
rabbit friends strung over their shoulders dead.

“Rabbits have so many enemies, | feel sorry for
them also,” said mamma. “Foxes dig into their
holes and eat the young rabbits. Some large birds



70 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

like to eat them, and come swooping down on
them before they know the bird is near.”
“Do rabbits live under ground?” asked HELEN.
“Yes, they burrow into the ground like a ground
squirrel, and when the mother rabbit is expecting
baby rabbits she lines her nest at the end of the
burrow with dry leaves and grass, and picks out
fur from her own breast to make it soft and warm
for the babies. When they are born they
Ay have no fur on and their eyes are closed
\at for ten or fifteen days; so it is very fortu-
4 * A nate that the mother takes such good
Gi ss . ycare of them.”

, It is funto
ich. watch tame
Ufa, Yabbits.

They

%









he ay yd ue : Hy THIeE oa its us

are like the wild rabbit in their habits, but look
different. The wild ones are brown while the tame
ones are of all colors, black, brown, yellow, and the
purest white.

“They have many cunning ways, but they have
afew naughty tricks. Ifthey live neara garden the



Autumu—Rabbtts. Hl

tender young vegetables will suffer, for they love
all kinds of green juicy leaves; they nibble at the
bark of trees, too, stripping it off and leaving it in
little piles around the tree, not eating it at all; just
exercising their teeth.

“One bad habit the tame rabbit mother some-
times has, is that of eating her own babies. Some
people who study about these little animals, think
they do it because of a strong thirst natural toa
mother rabbit, and if they were given more water
and juicy food, they would not destroy the little
ones.”

“Cannot we have a pet rabbit this fall?” HARRY
asked.

“If we can buy a pair of them I think they will
be the nicest kind of pets for you,” said mamma.

“While we are talking about them I want to tell
you of some queer things some ignorant people of
the South believe about them. They think if they
carry the right fore foot of a rabbit around in
their pockets with them it will keep off sickness
and evil.

“A rabbit’s stomach is supposed to cure almost
any disease, so they eat it dried and powdered for
medicine, and when their children are getting teeth
they wear the skin of a rabbit’s stomach around
their necks.”

“When you get older I will read you some very
funny rabbit stories written by a man who knew



12 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

more than I can tell you about these people of the
South and their beliefs about ‘Brer Rabbit,’ as he

calls him.”
“T will read all 1 can about rabbits after this,”

said MARGERY.

CHESTNUT PARTY.






4 A OWL OTS
* timesomething
happened,
almost as de-
tee lightful as the crabbing parties in the
zou summer. The children’s Uncle FRED,

a jolly young man who lived in a
city near by, wrote inviting them to go with him



Autumnu—Chestnut Party. 73

on a chestnut hunt the next Saturday. As he was
very fond of children they took the liberty of in-
viting some of their schoolmates, and all that week
much preparation was made for the coming fun.

With baskets of lunch and tin kettles for the nuts,
the whole party met their uncle at the station, and
trudged along merrily after him to the woods
wherea great many chestnut trees grew. And then
the fun, or work older people would call it, began.
They threw sticks and stones up in the trees to
knock the chestnut burrs off, and were in such
haste to get the brown nuts from their prickly out-
side shells, that their poor fingers got ever So many
wounds, but the nuts were there, and this was
sufficient reward for all the prickles and work.

Uncle Fred made them a fire and carefully
watched it himself; then filling one of the pails
with water, which they got from a farm near the
woods, they boiled some chestnuts over the fire,
and ate them with their lunch. It was even better
than a summer picnic, for the weather was just
cool enough to make them feel brisk and really
enjoy the lively exercise.

HARRY, who was getting to be so strong and
stout, that he went with them on all such excur-
sions, said he thought it very good fun to get
chestnuts, and better to eat them, but he wished he
had a big old crab to boil in that Kettle.

MARGERY thought this very cruel, and said that



74 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

after she had learned how much crabs knew, she
didn’t like to kill them, even if they were ugly.

As the children were beginning to feel some-
what tired, and to wish they had not strayed
so far from home, a great rattling was heard
and shouts of, “Ho there, children! where are you?”
and there was their papa with two horses and a big
hay wagon. They were all pleased, indeed, at the
prospect of a ride, and sang happy songs all the way
home.

HELEN whispered very confidentially to her
mamma that night, that she thought they ought to
be very good children for they had so many good
times, and such a kind mother and father, and the
best Uncle Fred in the world.

Soon after the chestnut hunt, Thanksgiving Day
came around with all its fun. The whole family
went to their grandfather’s to spend the day. All
their little cousins were there, and they had a jolly
time playing until dinner time.

Of course they ate lots of turkey and the other
good things grandma had ready for them, and after
dinner, somehow they did not feel like playing any
more, but just wanted to sit around and be
quiet.

Grandma saw how still they were and thought it
a good time for story telling.

The children were glad enough to hear one of
her stories ; so she told them a story of—



Autumn—Thanksgiving Day. ds

THE FIRST THANKSGIVING DAY.

“The first winter after the Pilgrims, who came
over in the Mayflower, landed at Plymouth Rock,
was a terrible one. The men had built log houses,
filling up the cracks and chinks with mud and clay.

“They did not know how cold and bitter were the
storms of aNew England winter, and just as soon as
these storms came on the clay and mud was all
washed out.

“The wind came whistling through the holes and
of course the people grew cold and sick, and hungry,
too, for they had not enough food.

“About half the men died; among the rest, their
good Governor Carver and his son.

“At last there were only twenty men left and a few
women and children, but they kept up their
courage, and when the Mayflower sailed back to
England not one would go back with her, although
the captain offered to take any one who wanted to
go. They bravely staid in their places and when
spring came they planted peas and barley they had
brought with them.

“They happened to find a store of Indian corn
which the Indians had hidden away, and this grew
fast, but the peas and barley did not do very well;
so the first year’s crop did not amount to much.

“But they found plenty of fish inthe harbor andthe
children gathered clams and mussels along the shore.



76 Lhree Little Lovers of Nature.

“There were plenty of wild turkeys and deer in
the woods; so they knew they would not be hungry
any more, although they had been without bread
for a long time.

“When the fall came on they felt much happier;
all were well once more. Their houses were made
strong for the coming winter, and the Indians were
friendly to them.

“They had all been so busy working very hard and
trying to make more comfortable homes, that their
joys and pleasures had been few. Even the child—
ren had not found time to play very much.

“Their new Governor Bradford thought it was
time to have a holiday; so he sent invitations to the
old Indian Chief Massanoit to come and rejoice with
them, and help them to give thanks to. their
Heavenly Father.

“The chief was glad enough to accept, and early
in the morning of that first Thanksgiving Day, he
came with nearly one hundred other Indians SWoop-
ing down on the quiet village with a yell.

“The Governor and Captain Miles Standish led
them to what they called their “common house,”
what people to-day would call a “town hall.” It
was not very large, only about twenty feet Square,
but the best house in the little settlement.

“The women commenced to work as hard as they
could to get dinner for such a host, but they had
plenty to eat, for the governor had sent four men



Autumn—Thanksgiving Day. Hy

out hunting the day before, and they had brought
in plenty of wild turkeys. The Indians brought
deer meat with them for the feast.

“Before their good dinner they offered thanksgiv-
ing prayers. In the afternoon they played their old
English games of stool ball and pitch bar.

“They did truly feel thankful for their mercies, but
they could not help feeling homesick for the friends
they had left behind in England,and sad when
thinking of those who had died in this new land.

“But our Pilgrim fathers and mothers were brave,
earnest souls; they looked forward with hope to a
better time. - .

“Old Captain Miles Standish thought he would
entertain the Indians by showing them what their
guns could do; so he ordered some of the men to
shoulder guns like soldiers, and others to stay ina
fort they had built and answer the guns of the
soldiers by the guns of the fort.

“It was more like our Fourth of July than Thanks-
giving Day. Such a noiseand stir! The wily captain
knew it was a wise thing to show the Indians how
they could fight if there was a cause, for the
English could not quite trust the Indians yet, but
old Massanoit proved true to the peace contract he
had made with the English sometime before.

“Always after that first Thanksgiving Day, one day
was set apart in Massachusetts for such a holiday,
and it was made more of than Christmas; but it did



78 Lhree Little Lovers of Nature.

not become a national holiday until the time
when President Lincoln proclaimed that a day
should be set apart by the Nation for thanksgiving
to God.

“When I think of that first Thanksgiving Day in
Plymouth, and how cheerful the Pilgrims were,
without any of the every day comforts we enjoy,
and then think of our happy homes with every
convenience, water in our houses, gas ready to
light at a touch, beautiful pictures and carpets, and
life made so easy for us, it seems that we ought to
make every day a Thanksgiving Day.”

“Didn’t they have railroads in those days?” asked
HELEN.

“Mercy, no, child,” cried grandma. “Steam
engines had not been dreamed of then. Almost
two hundred years after that first Thanksgiving Day
Robert Fulton invented the first steam engine.

“He was a man who painted small pictures in
Philadelphia for a living. His friends thought he

was going to bea fine painter and sent him to
~ London to study under Benjamin West, a great artist
who had been a Philadelphia boy himself; but
Robert had other plans in his head, and kept won-
dering how he could make boats go by steam.

“After he had come back to this country he suc-
ceeded in his plan, and started the first boat by
steam, on the Hudson River, in New York.

“Railroads street cars, the telegraph, the tele--



Autumn—Thanksgiving Day. vO.

phone—all these wonderful every day comforts of
ours came long after the Pilgrims.”

“Well, ’'m glad I was not a Pilgrim,” said
MARGERY.

“ Now, children, I think your dinner is settled, and
you can play some old-fashioned Thanksgiving
Day games until supper time.”

So the children played “Simon says thumbs
up,” “forfeits” and “consequences,” and a good
game of “ blind-man’s-buff.”

Mamma took some very tired children home that
night, but they seemed happy as they talked
together earnestly about the day’s doings. -

Mamma had not heard grandma’s story;so she
wondered what the children were talking about
when she heard words like “Indians,” “Pilgrims,”
“first steamboat,” and thought the children must be
planning some kind of a “ show.”





WINTER.

AS the beautiful days of autumn faded
slowly into the cold winter time, the
children still took their daily walks and

” found much to enjoy in the woods and



@
fields.
The cedar trees, the holly bushes with bright
red berries, were still green, and, close to the
ground, the partridge vine was still shining
with its green leaves and red berries which the
winter birds love so much.
“How can these birds live out inthecold?” asked
HELEN. “Why.don’t they fly away to the warm
South with the robins and bluebirds?”

“These birds are the strong little snowbirds
and English sparrows. Cold weather does not
worry them, but they have trouble sometimes to
find enough to eat. The wintergreen berries are
their winter food, and they love them, but boys go
through the woods and gather the berries to sell in
the markets, for children like to eat them, too.”

“| don’t think it is right to rob the birds of
them,” said HARRY, “and I won't pick any more.”

“The snowbirds are so pretty with their white
breasts. In the first of the winter before it gets
very cold, they stay in the woods among the fallen



Winter—Snowbirds. 81

leaves and hide in the trees when disturbed; but
when the snow falls they grow bolder and come
close to the houses, for then they are very hungry.
The berries and seeds are all covered with the
snow.

“AS soon aS warm weather comes they fly North
and build their nests on the ground or in the grass.
They are not as careful mother birds as the robins
and bluebirds.”










co

riche “Do the Sparrows “ever
/’ fly away to the North or South?”

irs yf AG
ik epg i Use




“No, they stay with us all the year
round, and are the most sociable of all our birds.
They like the crowded city just as much as the
country, and build their nests under the eaves of
stores and houses, and fly around noisy railroad
stations, just as much at home as if they were in
the quiet woods.”

“Do they need crumbs, too?” asked HELEN.



82 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

“Yes, I know a lady who fed sparrows with
crumbs of bread. Every day she noticed a few
more, until she counted about two hundred birds.
They grew very tame and when she opened her
door to feed them and gavea long whistle, the
birds would flock around her like chickens.”

“We must remember that and see how many
we can feed this winter,’ said MARGERY.

“Even if the sparrows are bold and saucy, I do
not think the boys should shoot them, do you,
mammap”

“No, indeed; it is wrong and cruel. I have seen
them trying to fly, with one wing broken by these
naughty boys. Just think how they suffer. It
makes our winter more cheerful to have these noisy,
happy, little sparrows flying around, and we will
always treat them kindly.”

The flower mission work had to be given up in
these days, as there were no flowers, but they
wanted to keep up their little society, and asked
mamma what kind of work my: could do in the
winter.

Mamma said she would read thema story, and
after she had finished reading it they could perhaps
think of something to do.

The story was called—



Winter—The Little Sunshiners. 83:

“THE LITTLE SUNSHINERS.”

“MRS. BRIGHTLY was a young mother whose life
had been shadowed by the death of her first-born
little daughter, who for the three short years of her
life had been a patient sufferer. For her dear sake
many little hearts had been made happy by the love
and sympathy of this good, warm-hearted woman.

“One day she heard that some neighbors, strangers
to her, had a dear little girl about ten years old who
had been lying on her bed for weeks, suffering
with hip disease. She determined to make hera
visit, and see what she could do to make brighter
the life of the little invalid, JENNIE GRANT.

“Knocking at the door one Sunday evening near’
Christmas time, she was admitted by the father, an
intelligent looking man, who led the way toa very
neat, though poorly furnished room which served
as kitchen and family living-room.

“After MRS. BRIGHTLY had been introduced to the
mother, a sad-faced woman, her eyes sought little
JENNIE, where, on a narrow cot-bed, she lay with a
weight of eighty pounds at her feet.

“Sitting down by the little bed, the lady com-
menced a lively conversation, and from that time
these two became warm, loving friends.

“JENNIE told of the long, weary hours with nothing
to do but watch her mother doing the housework.



84 Lhree Little Lovers of Nalure

She could use her hands and eyes, and she longed
for work. She had one brother who told her all
the news and brought her apples and flowers, but
the days often seemed very long and dark, spent in
this one small room.

“After promising. to come often, MRS. BRIGHTLY
went home in a thoughtful mood. Many plans came
into her mind for brightening JENNIE’S life, and
finally a gleam of light shone in her face as she
thought of her own two little sisters living in a lux-
urious home, without a thought of the help they
might give to other less fortunate children.

““T will teach them the blessedness of helping
others,’”’ she said, and this is the way she did it:

“A little society was planned, called ‘The Sun-
shiners.’ The object—to brighten the lives and
lighten the suffering of sick children. The
badge—a yellow ribbon, bright as the sun.

“The members were MRS. BRIGHTLY and her two
Sisters, five little girls in the neighborhood, little
JENNIE herself, and a rich old man, compelled for
twenty-five years to move about in a wheeled
chair—the result of an accident which happened
to him in the very prime of health and life. He
was thought to be a cross old fellow, and many
people were afraid of him, but ‘The Sunshiners’
found him a valuable member, with a great heart,
always ready to help with gifts of love

“MRS. BRIGHTLY’S sisters lived in a neighboring



Winter—Luttle Sunshiners 85

town, and they, with the aid of some friends, made
up a box for JENNIE, full of just the things she
needed to keep her happy and busy; large paper
dolls to cut out, drawing and painting mate-
rials, two scrap books and bright pictures to
paste in them, dolls to dress, and a box of writing
paper. .

“She made good use of everything, and was so
merry all day that her pain was almost forgotten.
She wrote many little letters to the other “Sun-
shiners,” especially to the rich old gentleman, and
his heart was touched by her quaint ways.

“He was wheeled to her home very often-by his
faithful man-servant, and always left some remem-
brance on the small table by her bedside. He
seemed to know just what little girls liked, for he
selected dainty boxes of handkerchiefs, bottles of
cologne, bright pictures and cheery books.

“As JENNIE grew better, he helped her in more
substantial ways, procuring specially made shoes
and crutches for her, and loaning her his wheeled
chair for long rides in the sunshine.

“JENNIE’S love for him seemed to help him to bear
his own affliction more patiently, and he grew,
day by day, more thoughtful for all poor people,
especially for widows and fatherless children.

“At Christmas time he carried sunshine into homes
where all had seemed dark before.

“But soon after Christmas his disease progressed



86 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

rapidly to a fatal termination, and at last rest came
to him from all his suffering.

“One rainy day, not long before his death, in a
note to MRS. BRIGHTLY, he said: “We ‘Sunshiners”
know that behind the clouds the sun a/ways
shines; and speaking of another, he quoted what
we all felt to be true of himself:

““All hearts grow warmer in the presence
Of one who, seeking not his own,
Gives freely, for the love of giving,
Nor reaping for self the harvest sown.’”’

“On the day of his funeral JENNIE was wheeled to
his home, to look upon his face for the last time,
and the poor child would not be consoled for the
loss of her friend.

“Oh, why did they have a glass over his face?
I longed so to kiss him good-bye,” she sobbed out
to MRS. BRIGHTLY, to whom she had gone for com-
fort.

“Although his death cast a shadow over the “Sun-
shine Society,” they went bravely on in their good
work, and JENNIE seemed to be the one who was
always finding out some needy or crippled child for
them to help.

‘““AS more money was needed for the work, it was
decided to appeal to the public for help in the form
of a children’s fair.



Winter—Luttle Sunshiners. 87

“One bright day in May, MRS. BRIGHTLY opened
her large parlors for the ‘sale.’ The little girls, all
dressed in white with yellow ribbon badges pinned
on their breasts, looked very happy.

“One large table was covered with fancy articles;
another, presided over by JENNIE herself, was full
of more useful articles.

“This table proved to be the most popular, partly
because of its usefulness, but more because of JEN-
NIE’S sweet face and winning voice, which no one
could resist, as she sat there so patiently with her
little crutch by her side.

“In the back parlor MRS. BRIGHTLY sold cakes and
dispensed lemonade.

“The ‘Sunshiners’ realized twenty dollars in
return for their efforts, enough to help them in
their work, and more than this, they had
touched the hearts of the people, causing them
to think more about the suffering little ones around
them.

“The society still flourishes and just now is
engaged in making scrap-books, and getting fancy
cards and books together to send to some children
ina city hospital. Even the crippled ones in its
care are helping.

“Their motto is this—that dear old one—‘Inas-
much as ye have done it unto the least of these,
my brethren, ye have done it unto me.’”’

“Oh, that is just what we can do this winter,



88 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

make scrap books for sick children and carry all the
sunshine we can to them.”

One night, when they were ready to hop into
bed, mamma told them she thought there would
be a “surprise” for them when they opened their
eyes in the morning.

Their eyes flew open pretty early, they were so
anxious to See the “surprise,” and they were happy
enough when they saw everything outdoors cov-
ered with white sparkling snow.

It didn’t take them long to eat their breakfast;
then bundled up warm with snug coats, hoods and
mittens, and rubber boots on their feet, off they
started for a ride on their sleds.

They were almost too young to go coasting by
themselves,so one of their big boy friends pulled them
two at a time; they stopped to take one of the little
neighbor girls who hadn’t any sled, and she was
so happy, she just laughed all the time. They had
such a good time, they said, they liked winter best
after all.

The grand surprise of the winter came one
morning just before Christmas, and was better
than the snow, and even better than Christmas
itself.

Papa knocked at their door and told them to
hurry into mamma’s room to see what had been
sent them in the night.

They couldn’t believe their eyes when they saw





HAMILTON







Wintevr—A “Surprise,’ Hamilton 91

a beautiful little baby brother, cuddled up in the
bed close to mamma. They jumped up and down
with joy and wanted to get hold of him as quick
as possible, but papa said they must not touch him
until he was a few days older.

They each gave him a light kiss on his forehead,
and he opened his eyes and looked at them, big
brown eyes they were, and MARGERY said she was
sure he smiled at her.

HARRY said he was so glad he was a boy for he
didn’t like being the only boy.

“What shall we call hime” asked HELEN.

Mamma told them she was going to name him
for one of her uncles, one they all loved dearly, but
it was such a long name—HAMILTON—that they
nicknamed him “TONY” that very day.

TONY grew very fast, and by Christmas he was
big enough to have his stocking hung up with the
rest, and laughed and crowed when the children
told him their Christmas secrets.

They had many happy plans for Christmas, and
worked busily at home and in the kindergarten
making presents for every one of their friends.
They did not forget the men of the life-saving
station, and the children of the lighthouse
keeper, but worked like busy bees to fill boxes
for them.

“I should just like to see them when they open
the boxes,” said MARGERY, as she tucked a bright



92 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

story book in the box for one of the little girls.
“Won't they be happye”

“And the men will be so glad to think we remem-
bered them; I hope HERBERT will send them some
books from New York as he said he would.”

“We must each write a letter to put in the
boxes,” said HELEN. “They will be glad to hear
about our baby; and we will take him to see them
next Summer.”

At last they got the boxes filled with just the
things to give their seashore friends a merry
Christmas, and we know they must have blessed
their kind little hearts when they opened their
treasures.

MARGERY said she meant to be Santa Claus to
some little girls she knew, who hadn’t any papa to
give them a happy Christmas, and when they
opened their money banks they took more than
half of their pennies to buy presents for these little
girls.

When Christmas Eve came they filled their .
sled with dolls, tin kitchens, a set of dishes, two
little work baskets, a big bundle mamma gave them
of nice things to wear, warm underclothes, two
bright red dresses, two pretty knitted hoods and
two pairs of mittens.

MARGERY and HELEN felt very happy as they
pranced along, drawing this precious load, and
when they stopped at the house where the little



Winter—Christnas Morning. 93

girls lived, they made such a noise that they
came running out to see if Santa Claus had really
come.

When they saw such beautiful presents, all for
them, they danced and screamed with joy, and told
MARGERY and HELEN they had just been praying
that Santa Claus wouldn’t forget them, and here
were two good fairies instead of one old man.

This part of their Christmas was the very best of
all to the children, for MARGERY said it always made
her happy to make other folks feel glad.

The day before Christmas papa went to the
woods and cut them a beautiful tree, and at night
they saw him fix it ina box and place it in the
nursery, but he would not let them look at it long
for they must all hurry off to bed.

They hung their stockings from the mantel ina
row, and before they went to bed sent papa and
mamma out of the room while they filled their
stockings.

Then they went to bed to dream of Santa Claus
and Christmas trees, and when they opened their
eyes it was broad daylight and Christmas morning.

They all began to sing—

“Merry, merry Christmas everywhere,
Cheerily it ringeth through the air.”

Mamma and papa answered with a “Merry
Christmas.”



94 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

Then how they did hurry on their clothes! Papa
led the way to the nursery with Tony in his arms.

They all screamed with joy when they saw the
tree trimmed with balls of all colors, angels, fairies
and candy animals.

There was a Silver rattle, a gay ball made of
soft wool and a little white rabbit grandma had
made for TONY.

The dolls that HELEN and MARGERY found sitting
under the tree were as large as TONY himself;
they had doll’s furniture and all the things that doils
and little girls like.

HAROLD discovered a large horse the first thing.
He forgot to look for his other presents when he
saw that and began to take a good ride, though
KRIS had sent him a drum, a large wheelbarrow, a
lot of animals on wheels, and everything for which
he had asked.

Papa said there were enough toys to last them
until Christmas time came around again.

“Look in your stockings, bere and mamma,” said
MARGERY.

Papa pulled out a beautiful pen wiper made
of chamois skin in the form of a maple leaf which
MARGERY had made for him in the kindergarten.
Then a spectacle case HELEN had made and a
stamp case HAROLD had been working on faithfully
for over two weeks.

Mamma found the same things in her stocking,



Winter—Christinas tn Gerinany. 95

and they were both pleased to think that the child-
ren loved them so much.

The childrenin the neighborhood came inthrough
the day to see their tree and they played hard until
night, when mamma called them all around her
while she told them a Christmas story.

STORY OF A CHRISTMAS IN GERMANY.

“Little GRETCHEN lived in a large city called
Dresden, away over the sea, in Germany. She was
a round-faced happy little girl, with hair as light
as flax, plaited in two long braids hanging down
her back. .

“She went to the kindergarten, for Germany was
the first home of the kindergarten and of FROEBEL,
the man who loved children and who started this
beautiful method of teaching little ones.

“GRETCHEN knew all about him, and loved him for
thinking of such pleasant things for children to do.

“As she was sitting quietly in school working
with her cubes and spheres, one day about three
weeks before Christmas, the children, and the »
teacher, too, were all startled to see a man dressed
in along mantle with a black hood over his face
walking in the door.

“He asked in a loud voice if there were any
naughty children in the school. He said he had
been sent to all the children in Germany to see who
were good and to take the names of the naughty



96 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

children to Old Saint Nicholas, so he would not
bring them presents.

“All the children who had been even a little
naughty began to tremble and cry and look at the
teacher. She was a kind, loving woman, and did
not give the names to this man, for she had not
much faith in him, and did not believe Saint
Nicholas had sent him, although many people in Ger
many think that there is a man called “Black
Rupert” who goes around to every home before
Christmas to find out about the naughty children,
and they are much afraid of him.

“But this kind teacher knew the people only
imagined there was such a man, and she told this
man who came in her school to go away and not
wortty her little ones.

“As he turned his head to walk off, she recognized
him as a young student, who was attending the
college near her school, disguised in this black
mantle.

“The children were all glad to see him go, but
they tried hard to be good every day after that until
Christmas. :

“As the holidays drew near, the streets became
gay with toys and evergreens. Stores were set up
right out of doors, cold as it was, and children came
from all the country round to buy their Christmas’
presents.

“The American girls and boys would laugh to



Winter—Christnas in Germany. OF

see these little Germans buying gingerbread by
the yard, for that is the way they buy it in

Dresden.

“About five o’clock the night before Christmas,
GRETCHEN’S mother dressed her in her Sunday
gown, and gave her a little wax candle, for all the
children carry these little lighted tapers to the
churches.

“After sending GRETCHEN off she hurried to
dress herself, and soon followed her to the big
church.

“As the bells rang out to tell the people that the
‘Holy Night,’ as they call Christmas Eve, had
come every one hastened to church. The stores
were deserted, and the streets were as quiet as on
Sunday. In the dimly lighted churches choirs
of beautiful voices sang Christmas carols, and
prayers were offered to the Christ who had come
to the world so many years ago.

“Tittle GRETCHEN was very quiet, and almost
expected to see the lovely Christ child; it all seemed
so much like heaven to her.

“No work is done by any one after five o’clock
Christmas Eve in Germany.

“When the church service is over all hasten home
to their christmas trees, and before seven o'clock
in every home the trees are lighted, and as one
passes along the streets it is a beautiful sight to
see the rooms brightly lighted in every house and



98 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

groups of parents, servants, and children gathered
around the gay Christmas tree all singing—

‘Oh, Still and Holy Night.’

“Little GRETCHEN always talked about the Christ
child bringing her presents, instead of Saint
Nicholas, or Santa Claus, and as she looked at her
beautiful gifts she loved him very much.

“Her father and mother always gave many good
things to the poor at Christmas, and the servants
had Christmas trees in their own rooms.

“The kitchen in GRETCHEN’S home was a very
nice place. The servants had worked nearly all the
night before Holy Night to make things bright and
clean. —

“Instead of ugly black stoves like ours, theirs were
made of white tiles with shining brass trimmings.

“The shelves were covered with bright pans, and
by the windows they had their trees filled with gifts.

“One of the best things about the German Christ-
mas is, the spirit of the Christ child so fills their
hearts that all quarrels are made up; forgiveness is
asked of each other if cross words have been
spoken, and all is peace and joy.

“In all Germany there is hardly a person without
a presenton Christmas Day. No one is forgotten,
and to GRETCHEN this was the best part of the day,
for her father always took her a nice long ride to
help him distribute his presents.



Full Text



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THREE LITTLE LOVERS OF NATURE
THREE

LITTLE LOVERS

OF

NATURE

BY

ELLA REEVE WARE



CHICAGO
A. FLANAGAN, PuBLISHER
COPYRIGHT 1895

By A. FLANAGAN



CH ¢° LITTLE —¥
2° LOVERS

®® ® @ ® OF
CONTENTS.

PAGE

INTRODUCTION 430 52 2
SERING 0 a ee re 0
SUMMER 6 ee 6
NGOSRWMING ee en ee OO

NWWAINEEER eo eee ee ee ee eo OO
ILLUSTRATIONS.

Mayflowers

Violets

Dandelions

Wasp and Nest
Robins eee
Bird’s Nest
Gardens = 3.
Star of Bethlehem
Bees

Bee Hive .
Ants.

Starfish
Lighthouse

Crabs

Conch

Jellyfish :
Life Saving Station
Golden-rod
Squirrels ee
Oak Tree Branches
Rabbits

Chestnut Party
Winter

Page 9

Missing
From

Original
Page
10
Missing
From

Original
Spring—Flower Story.

about its being a beautiful =,
land. They were tired of
living so neara king, and &
thought they might be
freer and happier in Amer-
ica. In those
days it took
months to cross «@\\
the ocean, fone
such a thing as
asteamship was
unknown. Their
sailing vessel
was an odd looking
boat, called the AZay-
Jiower. The sailors
didn’t know as much
about managing a vessel
as Sailors do to-day. It
seemed a fearful and dan- %
gerous trip to these Pilgrims â„¢
from the Old Country, and
they were glad enough to see
the shores of the new land.

It was in the cheerless month |
of November when they sailed into the beautiful bay.
The men left the women and children on the vessel
while they built houses of logs. While they were
doing this, Indians hearing the noise of hammer and








Three Little Lovers of Nature.

saw, came near to see what was going on. When
they saw the white men they tried to kill ther,
and the men hurried back to the ship. The Indians
then went off thinking the strangers had gone
away over the water.

When at last they all left the ship it was far into
December. Their new home looked dreary enough.
They called the place where they landed ‘“Ply-
mouth Rock,” after their home in Old England.
Some of the strong fathers died of the cold, and
the children were hungry and wished they had
never come to our country.

In the spring, things seemed a little brighter, and
the Pilgrims planted seeds they had brought with
them, but they planted them too soon for the cold
New England climate and the tender plants were
killed. Then their only hope was that some of their
friends in England who had promised to send a
ship over to them to see how they were doing in
the new land would soon come to them. This ship
would bring food and clothing, too, which they
needed so sadly.

Every day they went down to the shore and
strained their eyes to see the first glimpse of a Sail.
At last it came, and they were happy once more.
This ship brought more seeds, which they planted
later the next spring and soon had good crops of
their own. But they missed the flowers of their En-
glish gardens, and you can imagine how glad they
Spring—Vrolets. 13

“were one day to find some beautiful pink blossoms
while wandering around in the bare old woods.
They eagerly picked some bunches of the sweet
waxy blossoms, and named them “mayflowers,”
after their good old ship.








ae § =Whittier, one of
s our best loved poets,
whose home was in
New England, wrote some
verses about the JA/ay-
jiower and the Pilgrims.
5 HELEN thought the may-
(flower story very interest-
gg? ing, but wished they knew
a Story about the violet, for
§ she loved the violets even more
fy, than the arbutus flowers.
Hh \ MARGERY said her kindergarten
teacher had told her that there
were over thirty different kinds of violets in this
country.
HELEN could not believe that there were so
many, and the children went out together the very
14 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

next day through the fields and woods just to see
how many kinds they could find.

They invited some of their little girl friends to go
with them to gather the violets, and they were all
very eager to discover some new member of the
violet family. Of course they did not find all of
the thirty, but they were pleased to find some they
had never known before.

HELEN saw a very large velvety one which
mamma thought must be the “bird foot” violet,
because the leaves were divided something like a
bird’s foot, and were different from the other violet
leaves.

MARGERY and two of the girls found a bed of
white violets which had a faint sweet smell. The
common blue wild violets do not smell sweet like
the violets in the garden beds.

HARRY, who was doing his best to make some
great discovery, saw a lot of little yellow flowers
with leaves just like the violet leaves. When he
showed them to the others, mamma said they, too,
belonged to the family and were called downy
yellow violets. They usually bloom a little later
than the blue and white violets, but the place
where HARRY found them was a warm sheltered
nook, and they had come out to join the rest of
their family.

One of the little girls told mamma that when she
was visiting in the Catskill Mountains, late in Sep-
Spring—Dandelion Story. 15

tember, she saw some white flowers with delicate
purple veins, and if it had not been so late she
would have called them violets.
Mamma said they were “ Canada’
often bloomed very late in the fall.
MARGERY Said she had found such pretty sweet
violets she liked them almost as much as the
,mayflower.

The bright
dandelions
peeping out of
the grass all
around the house
pleased them all so
much, for it was the
Surest Sign of spring.

“T don’t think dandelions
are common at all; doyou,
mammap” asked Margery,

“No, they are called so
“only because they are
found all over the world. Let

4 me tell you a story about the
dandelion:

,

violets, and







Je

DANDELION STORY.

“A large family of dande-
lions lived in a field a long
16 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

distance from any house, and it seemed to them
they must live out of the world; but the sun shone
so brightly on them they had to wear their gayest
yellow dresses, and to look their prettiest.

“«T wonder if we will ever be of any use in the
world or ever see anything but this old field,’ one
of them said wearily, as he was looking his very
best one day.

“Just then a beautiful child, with longycurls al-
most as bright as the dandelions, came singing
along the path.

“*Oh, you beautiful flowers! Just like sunbeams|
I must take some of you home with me. I know
it will make my mamma get well faster to see your
bright faces,’ exclaimed the child.

“Snip, snip, and the dandelion who wanted a
change in its humdrum life was fast in the child’s
. warm little hand. As others of his family were
with him, he did not feel at all Wei gutence: and kept
right on shining.

“The child ran home as fast as her feet could fly.
Soon our dandelion saw a little white house with
green blinds, just the right kind of a home for such
a beautiful child. She ran into the house crying,
‘Oh, mamma, see these pretty dandelions! Spring
has really come at last You can soon get out into
the air, and then you will be well.’

“The dandelions looked so fresh and bright that
the child’s mother held them close to her face and
Spring—Dandelion Story. 17

cried tears of joy over them, for she had longed so
for spring to come, and now it was here with all its
beauty.

“The child put the flowers in cool water, and
every day brought fresh ones from the field.

“Tt is worth dying for to do so much good be-
fore we go,” said the dandelions, as they folded
their petals day by day ang made room for the
others.

“The rest of the dandelion family in the field won-
dered what happened to their brothers and sisters
who went off every day in the child’s hand, and
they grew tired of waiting and wondering. They
were all a trifle gloomy one day, when an old
woman came slowly down the road looking at the
ground as she walked. As she drew near the field
she gave acry of joy, ‘Now, I will have a good
dinner!’ Then she began digging up the dande-
lions by the roots, and putting them in a basket
and she went gladly home to boil them as ‘greens’
for her dinner; the dandelions did not murmur,
for she was so hungry and so pleased to get them.

“As the old lady went to the field many times
that summer, the dandelion family grew rather
small, and their bright golden flowers faded as the
summer passed on. They were all much aston-
ished one morning to find they had feathery dresses
on, white and soft as silk. Soon puffs of wind
came along and blew these fancy dresses off, and
18 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

the dandelions flew off with the dresses, the best
part of all, the seeds, and away they sailed over
field and garden. Whenever they grew weary and
dropped down to rest, they found a soft piece of
earth and there they slept quietly all through
the winter until springtime. Then springing up
with joy the dandelions were ready to be useful
again with their large families of golden blossoms.”

“T never thought a dandelion could be so useful’
said MARGERY.

“In some countries they dry the roots, powder
them and drink water boiled with them in as we
drink coffee,” said mamma. “So you See they are
useful in many ways.”

WASP AND NEST.

One day HELEN, the quiet little thinker, wan-
dered off by herself, and soon came running back
as fast as her fat little legs could carry her, calling
out:

“O mamma, come and see this wasp; it is acting
so funny.”

Mamma and the others went very softly to an
old fence post, where HELEN had found the wasp,
and sure enough, there it was tearing off little
splinters from the post, and when it had torn
them again into fine threads with something that
seemed like teeth, it somehow got them into
Spring—Wash and Nest 19

small bundles and bruised them by walking over
them with its tiny feet, until they were all matted
together.

Then it flew off with them to a corner of the
fence. 5

The children were afraid to watch the wasp any
longer for fear they would disturb it, as mamma
told them it was a mother wasp building a house
aoe t-y@ior her baby wasps, and in a day or
wwe epi it was done.
pet And when they came again, what

f= did they see but a real house or nest

Rapes filled with lots of
yy é eae little six-sided rooms
2s4all ready for the
Gz eges, from which

i Re) two they would come back and see

Ay






















fz “Mamma, how
=<3é could the wasp make
szX such a perfect house
se all herself?” asked
MARGERY.
; Then mamma told
‘them how the wasp
had moistened the
bundle of splinters
with juices from her
20 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

own body, and chewed the mass until it was like
paste, so that she could spread it out in layers
which looked like thin gray paper, and the whole
nest was made from this paper.

“What a wise little thing a wasp is,” said MAR-
GERY. “I must watch all the insects now, but I
don’t believe we shall find any so interesting as
the wasp.”

_“O yes, you will,” said mamma, “just use your
eyes and ask questions.”

After this the children found many wise little
builders among the insects. They even learned
to respect the spiders which had always before
seemed so disagreeable to them.

One day they discovered what seemed like a
brown ball or balloon made of smooth silk, hanging
from four thick blades of grass by fine but strong
threads.

Mamma told them to look all around to see if
they could find a spider, and close by under a leaf
they found it. Mamma explained to them that this
ugly spider had made the pretty little ball all her-
self, as a cradle for her baby spiders.

ROBINS.

Next to the house where the children lived was
a large field owned by one of their friends. He
told their papa that he wanted the children to use
Spring—Robins. 21

the field for their playground. It was just the
place for a good romp, and when they were tired
of play they rested under a large willow tree in the
corner of the field. This tree was the home of two
families of robins, and the children watched for
them every ee
spring. They
built their
nests in the

at
3



a










lower branch-
es of the tree
with dried
grass, leaves,
hair, and feathers, and
before very long there
Sf were three beautiful blue
eggs in the nest which the mother
bird carefully watched over.

The robins grew very tame because the children
Knew what robins liked best to eat, and often
treated them to a delicacy, and what do you think
it was P Just plain bread and butter. The children
discovered that the birds were nearly wild over
scraps of fat grease of any kind.
22 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

Mamma said she had heard of a robin that flew
in at an open window every day to pick at a
tallow candle which was Kept on a table by the
window.

But very early in the spring, before the robins
came back, the children saw some blue birds
hopping around the field.

HELEN said she was sure they were the same
family that built a nest last year in the hollow
stump of an old tree in their field.

“Let us be careful and not scare them, and
perhaps they will build there this year,’ said
HARRY.

MARGERY asked her papa how the blue birds and
robins lived when they were in the South. “I think
they build nests down there in some of the beau-
tiful trees,” answered papa.

“Do they lay eggs in the nests and raise families
of young birds, as they do here in the North,” again
asked MARGERY, who always wanted to learn all
she possibly could about her little bird friends.

Then papa confessed that he did not know, and
went to his library for a large book called “ Birds
of North America;” turning to a page about blue
birds, he found that they raised broods of little ones
in the South. i

“Then this flock of lively blue birds with the old
ones must be their children from the South,” said
MARGERY
Spring—Bird’s Nest. 23

In a few days the blue birds seemed so busy
about the old tree stump, which was full of com-
fortable hollows just right for cosy nests, the child-
ren knew they were building their nests, and helped





.them all they
could by carry-
ing pieces of wool
and cotton and bits

i of string into the field
mer" and putting them in the bushes
where the birds could easily find them.
This was a great help to the birds and
very soon the nest was finished, and the careful
mother bird was sitting on four light-blue eggs,
waiting for the birdies to come out of the shells.


24 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

The patient mother bird sat on the eggs for three
whole weeks watching for the little birds to come.

And when they did come out, what queer little
things they were, without any feathers, holding
their mouths wide open for the worms and insects ©
that the papa bird brought them so often.

After HELEN had been earnestly watching the
birds one afternoon she said, “I believe baby birds
must be very greedy, for the papa bird gives them
so many meals a day, and they always chirp as if
they were half starved.”

“Baby birds are just like baby boys and girls;
they must be fed very often,” said mamma.

“How very careful the papa bird is of the nest
and the little ones,’ said MARGERY; “he never
leaves them except to get food, and sings so merrily
to keep them cheerful.”

“Next year, if the birds come back, we will build
a large house in the yard for them with doors and
windows,” said mamma; “then their nests will be
safer and the mamma bird will be more sheltered
from the rain.”

“Do you mean a real house like the one we saw
at grandma’s, stuck up on a high polee” said
HARRY; “won't that be jolly!”
Spring—Gardens. 25

GARDENS.






71,
TRA a
Merinrgan Co.

er
’ But now warm-
, er weather was
{ coming, and the
| children began

to work in their
“gardens, dig-
OR ging up the nice
brown earth all ready for the







Nuit



- little seeds.
~ MARGERY wanted her garden to be full of flow-
ers, while HELEN and HARRY wanted beans and
corn in theirs. Mamma showed them the seeds
with the tiny leaves all folded up inside, ready to
burst right out after they had been buried in the
warm ground for a few days.
26 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

MARGERY was So interested about their growth
she dug up one or two seeds to see the little roots
shooting down deeper into the earth and the leaves
forcing their way up toward the bright sunlight.

About the first of June their field began to grow
white with beautiful daisies, and many times a day
the children called mamma to present her with
bouquets, so that the house soon looked almost as
gay as the field with the golden and white blos-
soms.

It was fun to tell their fortunes with the daisies,
and to weave long chains as they sat under the tree
with the robins singing cheerily over their heads.

STAR OF BETHLEHEM.

They discovered another white flower growing
in the thick grass of the field, which looked some-
thing like the snowdrop. It was a very modest
little flower opening its petals only in the brightest
sunlight. The children soon learned its name,
which was one of the prettiest names for a flower,
the “Star of Bethlehem,” and mamma told them of
an old legend which some one had written about
the flower :

“A young man who wanted to make the world
better, travelled away from his own country miles
and miles until he reached a land called Persia.
Here he lived for a while and tried to tell the
Spring—Star of Bethlehem. 29

people about CHRIST and a better way to live, but
the people would not listen to him, and treated
him so unkindly he wished he had remained in

Wie his own country.

iy. “He grew very

ies” e ) lonely and homesick
and wandered off by
himself one day and
laid down to rest in
a field full of may-
flowers.

“He looked sadly
around him and
thought of his home.
Even the flowers of
this land were
strange to him; but
just as he was longing
in his heart fora message
from home, he saw in
the grass at his feet a
dear little white flower
which he remembered
i as the ‘Star of Bethle-
hem’ he had so often
* picked when a boy in the fields about his

home. |

“It seemed to him that the flower brought him
a word of hope and courage with its bright pure


28 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

face, and he started on his journey again with new
strength.

“T shall always think of the lonely young man
whenever I pick the flower,’ said MARGERY; “I
wonder if our flowers could help anyone e”

HELEN said she knew cf a little lame girl who
had to sit in the house all the time, and she must
be very lonely.

“O yes, I remember how she used to love the
wild flowers when she was well; we will take her
some of ours every day,” said MARGERY.

When the children saw the pleasure the flowers
gave little lame JENNIE, they decided to gather all’
the wild flowers they could for other sick children.

Mamma called it their “flower mission,” and
was very glad to help them arrange the flowers.

Their mission gave such pleasure throughout the
spring and early summer, not only to the sick
children but to two old ladies who said the bunches
of daisies, buttercups, and clover blossoms made
them think of the days long gone by when they
were happy children.

They thought the flower mission one of the
brightest spots in their lives, and called the children
“Little Sunshiners” when they brought the flowers.

“IT see now how flowers can carry messages of
love to people,’ said MARGERY; “I believe our
flower mission keeps many people from being sad
and lonely.”
Spring—Bees and Flowers. 29:

BEES.

“Oh! oh! my eye! I’m killed,” screamed Harry,
as he was smelling one of his mamma’s flowers in
the garden one bright June morning.

Everyone came running out of the house to see
what was the matter with
ls poor HARRY.

A small bee

be mwas buzz-
RS ing around
~ him, so mamma
ap knew he must
have been stung.
‘His eye was
“AQ SWOllen and hurt very much.
She looked at the place care-
fully and saw a tiny stinger the
bee had left. She removed this and
-his face then felt a little better, but

HARRY cried and said he did not like
bees, and never wanted to see another one.

“But you like the honey the bees make, and the
poor little bee that stung you was getting honey
from the flower to store away for the winter when
you disturbed him, and he tried to frighten you
away.”

“But, mamma, how does a bee store the honey









PICHHM AM Co.
30 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

away,” asked HARRY, beginning to wipe away his
tears.

“Don’t you remember the beautiful wax combs
full of honey we had on our table last winter?
This case for the honey is all made by the
bees.”

“While HARRY’S sting is getting better we will all
sit down and let mamma tell us about the bees,”
said MARGERY; ‘now tell us, mamma, how do the
bees make the wax combs P”’

“There are three kinds of bees in each hive; the
queen bee is the mother bee. The drone is the
father, and has no sting; the mother bee stings,
and so does the work bee. People who keep bees
sometimes send long distances for queen or mother
bees which can be forwarded by mail, caged in
little blocks of wood prepared for their comfort,
in one part of which is placed enough food for the
traveler, though the journey be one of hundreds |
or even thousands of miles.

“Another thing of interest in connection with
these journeyings is that the queen has an escort
of a dozen or more work bees.”

““Some of the work bees make the wax houses
for the baby bees, and other work bees take care
of the babies.

“Now, if we could catch the bee that stung
HARRY we would see rings on his body and tiny
scales of wax on each ring; and on his legs you
Spring—Bee Hive. 31

would see what looks like a brush, a tool, and a
tiny pocket.

The bee flies into a flower, and becomes covered
with the yellow dust called “pollen” in the flow-
ers; the brush on its legs takes all the dust
off its wings and body, and brushes it into a sort of
little pocket. This dust is the food for the baby bees.”

“But what is the tool for?”” asked HARRY, who
was forgetting his troubles.

“O, that is to help make the wax cells. It takes
the scales of wax off the rings on its body with
that; then with its mouth it shapes the walls of
the cells we call ‘honey comb.”

“They put honey in some of the cells, food for
the bees to eat in others, and in others they put
some of the dust from the flowers which they
carry home in the little pockets on their legs.

“Then the queen bee lays eggs in each cell, and
soon a small worm or grub comes from the egg
and eats the flower dust the nurse work bees have
put there. These grubs soon grow into bees, and
help the other workers in the busy hive.”

BEE HIVE.

“What is a hive er” asked HELEN.

“O, 1 forgot to say that people keep bees in large
square board boxes called ‘hives,’ and the bees
build their honey combs on the inside of these
32 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

hives, which are partly open so the bees can fly in
and out with their honey and flower dust.”

“I do like bees, after all,” said HARRY; | did not |
know they could do so much, but I don’t see why
they ure such nee Sunes”
cx “Yes, there
f. iS a reason
for the stings,
,,; too; as the hives
; must be left open,
worms and bugs
, might get in to steal
* the honey and kill
the baby bees if the
work bee and the
mother bee could not
fight them off with
their stings.”

“The sting has three prongs skill-
fully grooved together, making a
“sort of tube for the flow of the poison
from the sac in which it is held. Two
of these prongs are barbed, and as

- they enter the flesh of the object
attacked, first one prong and then the other works
forward, the barbs of one prong holding it in place
while the other is pressed onward. This action
serves to pump the poison from the sac till the
sting has been driven into the flesh its entire length.







ay
AO


Spring—Auts. 33

The bee stings to protect its house or itself from
what it looks upon as threatened danger, and the
loss of its sting finally results in its death. If,
therefore, the bee stings to repel what seems to it an
attack upon its home, it gives its life in its defense.

“The sting of a bee should be taken at once from
the flesh by a scraping movement, for which the
finger nail, or something else having a thin edge,
may be used. To grasp the sting for the purpose
of drawing it out tends to force still more poison
into the flesh.

“People suffering from rheumatism, paralysis and
dropsy have found relief by being stung, and stings
are now taken from bees for use as medicine. So
you see that the very weapon of defense of these
industrious little creatures may be used for our good.”

HELEN looked very thoughtful for a moment, and
then said the bee knew more than the wasp or the
spider, and must be the wisest insect in the world.

Mamma thought so, too, but told them to guess
another insect, a very common one, which was
always busy.

MARGERY happened to look down to the ground
just then and saw a red:ant scampering along. “Is
it an ant, just a common ant, mamma ?”

ANTS.

“Where are they all going in such a hurry ?”
“They are building a house under the ground.
, 34 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

First, they dig up the earth with their tiny feet,
all working together, until quite a deep hole is

ug.

“Then they bite out large pieces, roll them into

balls, and then carry these balls up to the top of
Sigg he ground until at

x a are a they have a house

“ar ll divided into rooms

ob under ne ground.

3) Aas “They have queen ants

a oe and work ants like the bees.

rd You may often see the work

ants carrying home crumbs

mM., larger than they are themselves to feed

gy, the family. Even if they have to drop

# their load very often, they keep on picking
it up until they get it to their home.

“Ants do not like rain, and they hurry
home as fast as they can when a shower
comes up.”

“Now, children, we have had a long

@ talk about bees and ants, and in the years

to come you will find out much more
about them by watching them, which is

the best way, and by reading about them. Whole
books have been written about bees, and also about
ants.

“T think HARRY is ready for a play now, even if
his eye is swollen.’




Spring—Ants. 35

Off they flew for a game of hide-and-seek behind
bushes and trees, but HARRY looked out very care-
fully for the bees, not caring to disturb any more
that day.


SUMMER.

ae Serer such a happy spring time, the chil-
"HENS dren almost dreaded the hot summer
Os days, but their mamma told them one
@) day, that they were going on a long
journey to the seashore. Of course this was glad
news, and even their dreams were full of happiness.

When they arrived at Wildwood, their summer
home, they found a beautiful wood full of old holly
‘and cedar trees covered with long hanging moss,
with bright flowers growing underneath likea beau-
tiful carpet, on one side of the railroad; on the
other side was a wide, smooth beach, over which
the blue waters of the ocean rolled and tumbled:
the children thought they must surely have arrived
in Heaven.

Oh, the bright happy days they spent on that
beach, digging in the sand, making sand-cakes and
pies, forts and caves, hunting for crabs and sea-
Shells, and once in a great while rejoicing to find a
live starfish.



STARFISH.

A lady who lived all the year round by the sea
and who had learned many things about starfish
and sea-shells, showed the children a large star-
Summer—Starfish. 37

fish, or “sea star,’ she said it ought to be called,
as it was not a fish at all.

“It is just like a star,” said MARGERY.

“Yes, it has five rays orarms, and if you will look
carefully you will see an eye at the point of each
arm

“The sea stars lay eggs and are so careful of
them that they bend their arms to protect them and
carry them around with them to keep them from
danger.”

“Tf the sea star loses one of its rays, an-
~¢, other one grows out; that is the reason
ae some of the arms are smaller
than others when found on
the beach.”










“What does
the sea star
-eate”’ asked

“It eats many things, but likes oysters better than
anything else. It makes sad work in the oyster-
beds, fastening itself on the oysters and sucking

them out of the shells.”
“Poor oysters! Can you tell us anything more
38 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

about theme” asked MARGERY, who liked to eat
oysters as much as the Sea stars did.

“There are many oyster beds near here, and we
will see men dredging for oysters whenwe go with
the sailing party to-morrow. The banks of Grassy
Sound, where we are going, is lined with oysters,
and the salt water oysters, though smaller than
those living in fresh water, have a much better
flavor.”

While the lady was talking to the children,
mamma was looking earnestly at a beautiful pearl
in a ring on her finger; holding it up to them she
said, ““Would you think such a pure, lovely pearl
could come from an ugly oyster 2?”

“No, indeed!” cried MARGERY. ‘‘Can we find
them in our common oysters P”

“Yes, they are sometimes found in them, but not
often. The true pearl oyster has a much prettier.
Shell than the oysters we eat. It lives in the waters
of the Pacific Ocean and the lining of its shell is
valuable for what is called ‘mother of pearl. The
buttons on HELEN’S coat are made from it. See
how it shines and changes color.”

“Another curious pearl oyster lives in the waters
of China. It is so clear that it is often used for
windows. It is named the ‘Chinese window
shell.’ Of course the little Chinese boys and girls
cannot see through them as we look out of our
clear glass windows, but the light shines in and
Summer—Lighthouse. 39

makes the room bright. These shells make beau-
tiful buttons and tiny pearls are often found in
them.”

When the children grew tired of play, as they
sometimes did, they loved to lie on the sand with
mamma, and listen to her stories about the ships
they could see away off on the ocean.

MARGERY noticed large birds flying over the
waves near shore, one morning, and said they must
be pigeons.

But mamma said, “O, no, pigeons do not fly out
tosea. They aresea gulls, a large bird that often
follows ships.”

“Are they called ‘Mother Carey’s Chickens ?’

“No, that is the name the sailors give the stormy
petrel, another large bird that flies close toa ship a
day or two before a storm; the sailors do not
like to see these birds for they think they are bring-
ing bad news; a storm at seais a terrible thing.
The waves rise as highas the ship, and it is so dark
that the ship might be dashed upon the rocks, but
there are lighthouses built upon the most dangerous
points, like the one we saw at Cape May the other
day; we can see the light from it at night, though
it is nearly ten miles away; the sailors can see it
when miles out to sea.”
40 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

LIGHTHOUSE.








“When papa comes, |
mean to ask him to take
~~ ys to the lighthouse and
— see how they make such a
bright light,” said HARRY.

«x So the next time papa came
to see them, the children beg-
ged him, as soon as he stepped
from the train, to take them to
Cape May lighthouse.

Papa said he would; so off they
started on the very next train.

When they arrived at Cape May City
6 they took an electric car to the light-
Eek Merman Louse, which was quite a long distance
down the beach. .

How strange it looked as they got nearer to it.

Se
Sumimer—Lighthouse. 4]

Such a high, round column withtiny windows peep-
ing out of its brown sides.

“Can we go tothe top?” asked papa of a man
wearing a blue uniform.

“O, yes,” he said, “but the little folks will get
tired before they reach the top.”

The “little folks” were only too eager to try; so
mamma took HARRY’S hand, papa had MARGERY by
one hand and HELEN by the other, and then the
climb began, around and around the tower, over two
hundred steps HELEN counted; and when they
reached the top, puffing and panting, they saw the
largest lamp one could imagine, with a reflector as
bright as polished silver.

The man who kept the lighthouse said if he
should let the light go out once at night, he would
lose his place.

They all walked out on a platform and looked for
miles over land and sea. Off in the dim distance
they could see their own Wildwood, and in every
direction a beautiful view, which paid them well for
their long tramp up the stairs.

When they got on firm ground again they felt a
little shaky in the knees, and sat down to rest in the
home of the keeper, a pretty, small white house
with a garden around it, and six children of all sizes
running in and out.

“Do youstay herein the winter?” asked mamma
of the keeper’s wife.
42 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

“O, yes, and a long winter itis. The children
walk over a mile to school and the storms are very
bad. Wetried to have ahappy Christmas last year,
but my children said they wished they could get
away from the sound of the ocean for one day.
They do get tired and lonely, but some days in the
winter are bright and sunny; thenthey run up and
down the beach as they do in summer.”

After thanking the kind lighthouse keeper for
explaining everything to them, the children went
back to Wildwood, with a much clearer idea of a
lighthouse than they ever had before.

As they were riding on thetrain, HELEN whispered
to her mamma that she thought it would be nice to
send a box of things to the keeper’s children next
Christmas.

“That’s a good idea,” said mamma, “and we will
have a good time getting it ready.”

One day they went about three miles up the
beach to visit a fishing village, and how they did
open their eyes to see so many fish.

The little fishing boats, or dorys, seemed to all
come in atonce. The brown fishermen drew the
boats up on the shore and then commenced taking
out the fish in great basketfuls.

As they were leaving the boat pier at Anglesea
they noticed a large fish dangling from the end of
the pier. One of the fishermen told them it was a
man-eating Shark, which they had killed after much
trouble.
Suminer—Lighthouse. 43

“This is a terrible fish, children. I will show
you his teeth,” said the fisherman. “They cut just
like sharp pieces of glass. In some countries the
natives fix handles to them and use them for tools.
This kind is not quite so dangerous as some; it is
a blue shark, but the white sharks are the dread of
Sailors all over the world. They follow ships for
long distances, feeding upon the refuse thrown into
the sea by the sailors. While there is a sign of one
of these monsters about a vessel the sailors never
go in Swimming, and take very good care not to fall
overboard, for they would be sure to lose a leg or
an arm or possibly their lives if caught by one of
these sharks.”

“Please dont tell me any more; I will dream
about sharks,” said HARRY.

“But the sharks are useful, too,” said the man.
“In some countries a large business is done with
the oil of the shark. His liver is dried inthe sun and
thought to be a great delicacy in some countries,
and the.Chinese prepare a soup from his fins.
Sailors sometimes take the spine of a shark, polish
it up, bring it home with them and sellit for a good
price to a dealer in canes. A gold head is put onit,
and then it is one of the costliest of walking sticks,
sometimes bringing thirty or forty dollars.”

“The shark is of some good, then, after it is dead,”
Said HARRY, “but I hope I shall never see a live
one.”
44 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

Mamma thanked the fisherman for all he had told
them, and said they would come again soon to
Angelsea to learn more about fish.

“T should like to take you out to the fishing
grounds in my .big boat, before you leave the sea-
shore,” he said. “There wiil be no danger.”

Mamma promised to accept his invitation, and the
children were delighted to think they might some
day go fishing in the ocean.

The fisherman gave mamma some fish to take
with them to Wildwood for their supper. The
children carried them home, and when they were
cooked thought they tasted better than any fish they
had ever tasted before.

CRABS.

Little HARRY enjoyed the “crabbing” parties
more than any other kind of fun. Near the cottage
where they boarded was an inlet from the ocean,
which they call the “ Crabbing Grounds,” for when
the tide came in, they could catch numbers of
these funny, lively little fellows.

When they thought the tide would be just tight
they all started out wearing large hats, and carrying
baskets, nets, lines, andfresh meat as their crabbing
bait.

When they arrived at the pier, built out into the
sound for such parties, they all sat very quietly on
the edge waiting for mamma to put fresh meat on
Suminer—Crabs. 45

their lines, without any hooks, then in a minute or
two, HARRY or one of the little girls would scream
out, “mamma, do bring the net quick, here’s a
great big fellow!” ;

ahen mamma ran to them and very carefully
scooped up a squirming old crab and
dumped him into the basket.

After a number were caught,
such a scrambling and fighting
as would go on in that basket,
which had to be covered
over with boards, or the
Squirmers would get out and
run sideways orf the
pier back into the
water.















Fhe children
were curious and
wanted to know
how these crabs
livedin the water,
and what their
habits were; So
mamma told
them that they live in the sand by the ocean. Mr.
Crab digs out several rooms in the sand for himself
and Mrs. Crab; that they keep insects, pieces of
Seaweed and all sorts of scraps to eat in this house.
When they areat home they don’t iike to go out

ate
46 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

while the tide is high. Mrs. Crab does not lay her
eggs in this house, but carries them around with
her in a little sac near her body.

The little crabs soon grow big and help her catch
insects. Crabs also like to feed upon dead fish that
are washed ashore.

“But, mamma, these crabs don’t look alike; this
large one has one great big claw and avery small
one to match it, and here’s another large one with
two small claws,” said MARGERY.

“Mr. Crab has one large claw to fight and dig
with, but Mrs. Crab hasn’t the large one, for she
doesn’t dig at all,’ answered mamma.

‘Old Mr. Crab isa great fighter and often loses a
claw or leg in his battles, but that doesn’t matter to
him for another soon grows out to take the place
of the lost one. The strangest thing about the
crabs is, that their shell often gets too small for them
and they draw themselves out of it, and look so
queer and flabby without a shell, but there is a soft
skin growing which soon grows hard and they are
then all dressed out in a fine new shell. They
change these shell coats very often. They are like
little children who outgrow their clothes so fast.”

The children were glad mamma knew so much
about the crabs, and watched them with increased
interest.

On one of these crabbing parties HELEN had worn
a new pair of low canvas shoes of which she was
Sumimer—Crabs. 47

very proud, and as her fat little legs dangled over
the water she watched her feet as closely as she
did her line, but sad to relate, just as she gavea
kick of joy as she landed a crab, one of the precious
shoes dropped off, down into the soft black mud.

HELEN wailed loud enough to scare off all the
crabS, but mamma comforted her by telling her
that perhaps papa might manage to get it at night
when the tide was going out.

When night came, papa started off with a crab
net and dipping the net down in the mud he drew
up the shoe, quite forlorn looking when it came
home dripping in the net over papa’s shoulder, but
after it had been set out in the sun to dry the next
day, and carefully brushed, it looked almost as new
as the other one.

The children loved to take long walks on the
beach ; they found so many treasures.

One day as they were walking toward Anglesea,
the fishing village, they noticed many holes in the
sand. Thinking they had found some crab-houses,
they dug around these holes with their small
shovels, expecting to see Mr. Crab scamper out, but
no, they struck something harder and after much
tugging, drew out large. conch shells, pink and
yellow and soft and glossy as china inside, but what.
was the dark, ugly thing growing out of ite
48 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

CONCH.

It was the live conch or winkle which makes its
home in this beautiful shell, and a very wise winkle
itis. The children watched eagerly to see its long
foot come slowly out, feeling around for some-
thing to eat; with this foot it crushes small oysters
and muscles and draws the good part up into its
mouth.

The children found during this same walk some
very strange things which looked like along string
of many little pockets, ‘or
purses, joined together
in beautiful regular-
ity, and their
wonder grew






when mamma told them that these were little
cradles Mrs. Conch had made for her babies.
Breaking open some of the pockets they found
tiny shells about as large asa grain of wheat, but
Shaped like the large conch shells. They were all
dead, as the waves had washed the cradles too far
up on the shore and the bright sun had killed them.
Sumimer—Conch. 49

“Mamma, do you think any other animal in the
sea could make such safe, pretty cradles for their
babies as Mrs. Conch makes for hers?” asked
HELEN.

“I do not kow of any particular one,’ an-
swered mamma, “but I think a fish called the
‘dog shark’ makes safer ones, not the ‘man-
eater,’ but a more peaceable member of the shark
family.

“They make little black cases almost square,
and tougher than the conch cradles. At each
corner there are long stems or strings; in some
mysterious way the mother fish fastens these
stems around plants or weeds in the water, and
there they hang safe from harm until the little
fish are strong enough to break their way out
of the pocket. I think if you will look around
on the beach carefully you will some day
find one of these deserted cradles washed
ashore.”

Life at the seashore is so full of pleasure, So much
to see and do, these little folks were happy from
morning until night, and ready to go to bed early
every night, so tired were they.

But one evening mamma said they needn’t go
quite so early as usual as she had a pleasant treat
forthem. Of course the children were delighted
and ina great flutter.

As soon as it grew dark, mamma took them to a
50 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

large ocean pier, many feet out from the shore, over
the water, and as they walked out on this pier they
pretended they were walking the deck of an ocean
steamer far out at sea.

Mamma told them to sit down on the benches at
the extreme end of the pier and watch the waves
as far as they could look.

Just as they were wondering what mamma
meant by this, up rose the great, red moon, right
out of the ocean, it seemed to them; never did it
seem So large or so bright before, and they begged
mamma to stay longer and watch the moon. As it
rose higher it made a path of light over the waves,
and the ocean seemed like a dream of Fairyland to
them.

JELLY-FISH.

And something else happened, which often does
happen to the ocean at night, but of which they
had never heard.

As they were looking earnestly at the beautiful
water, MARGERY exclaimed, “O look, mamma!
there must be fairies or brownies in the ocean and
they are lighting their lamps.”

And so it seemed to them all, for on each wave
glittered many colored balls of light, until the whole
expanse of water seemed ablaze with these little
fairy lamps.

A gentleman sitting near them called the children
Summer—Felly-fish. 51

around him and told them that these shining lights
came from jelly-fish, or “sea flowers,” as they are
sometimes called from their beautiful flower shapes
and bright colors.

He told them of many different varieties of jelly-
fish—one kind being called nettle fish, because

a -—. the long arms which trail out from their
jelly-like bodies sting everything
with which they come in contact.
Often when persons are bath-
“3 ing in the ocean they will feel
ya pricking sensation all over
~ their bodies, just as’ if many
, nettles were stinging them,
‘We and they will soon see that
















a

i jelly-fish.

<—- The gentleman promis-
. edtotake them for a long
_..... Walk down the beach
to the Life Saving Sta-
tion the next day
== and said he felt
sure they would find two or three kinds of jelly-
fish washed up on the beach.

Mamma accepted the kind invitation and started
the children home; they must rise early the next
morning, as then the tide would be very low, leav-
ing the beach full of shells and jellyfish.
52 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

The gentleman called for them the next morning,
bringing with him his own little boy HERBERT who
had traveled with his father to many lands besides
our own. He was a very intelligent little fellow,
and the children found in him a comrade after their
own hearts. His sharp eyes spied the first jelly-fish,
and it proved to be one of the finest specimens
found on the beach that summer.

As it lay on the sand, at the very edge of the
waves, still quivering with life, it looked like a
beautiful flower carved from the purest ice, resting
on a base as clear as crystal, the whole being
as large around as a pail.

HERBERT’S papa said he had never in all his
travels Seen a prettier one.

They afterwards found smaller ones of different
colors and shapes.

Thoughtful HELEN told their new friend that she
was beginning to think the ocean must be like a
beautiful garden, with so many flower-like animals
Iai:

He then told her a true story of a young lady who
had started on a temperance missionary trip around
the world. As she was going in a large steamer from
Australia to Java she passed through the great
pearling grounds of the world, over a hundred ships
in mid-ocean, sending divers into the depths of the
ocean for the pearl oysters.

As she thought of what these men must see so
Summer—D1ving.. 53

many feet under the water, she felt a great desire
to see for herself. When she told her friends on
the steamer they all discouraged her, saying a
woman had never done-such a thing, but she
insisted on trying it,so they took her from the
steamer to one of the pearling boats.

She then dressed herself in a complete diver’s
outfit, which consisted of two suits of very heavy
hand-made underwear, two pairs of very long
stockings, and then the diving dress, made all in
one piece to cover the whole body but the head.
They then put on her a very heavy breastplate of .
some kind of metal, to which they screwed the
dress fast; then came the shoes, weighing thirty-
two pounds; then heavy leaden weights were
attached to her body to help it sink. Last of all
they fastened on the head gear, a heavy helmet,
large enough for her to turn her head from Side to
side: this had three glass globes, one in front and
at the sides. To this was attached a rubber pipe
connecting with an air pump, which one man
worked all the time to send her plenty of fresh air
from above.

After all this preparation they tied a very heavy
rope about her and slowly lowered her down, down
into Old Ocean’s wonderful “ garden of secrets.”

‘She described the scene, down there, more than
sixty feet from the surface, as far more beautiful
than any flower garden; the most delicate seaweed
54 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

and mosses, coral of all colors, shells of every
description, and swimming in and out fish more
graceful and beautiful than any of which she had
ever heard.

After a time spent in this most wonderful ocean
garden, she pulled the signal for them to draw her
up to the boat, and as she appeared again the friends
on the steamer felt greatly relieved; but the lady
will always remember this as one of the most
exciting and pleasing experiences of her life.

“Now, little HELEN, you see you were right—
Old Ocean is the oldest and most beautiful garden
in the world.”

LIFE SAVING STATION.

By this time the Life Saving Station was in sight,
and the children ran a race to reach the place of
which they had heard and talked about so much.

A dark red building stood by itself on a lonely
part of the coast where a few brave men live, always
on the lookout for vessels in distress, andthe men
told the children how their big life boat had saved
many lives during the storms which often visit that
coast.

“What is this long .thing which looks like an
air-tight boxe” asked HERBERT, who had been wan-
dering around the building, eager to learn all about
the whole service.
Summer—Life Saving Station. 55

“That is our life car,’ answered the captain. We
only use it in terrible storms when nothifig
else willdo. Ifthe lifeboats cannot reach
the ship, we have this rope machine
which is so fixed that we can shoot it a
long distance, and when the
rope at last reaches the ship-
we send this life car
along the rope with
one of our men in it.
It is water tight and
will hold five
men. Of





















course
it is worked
quickly or the men
would die for want of air.”
“Don’t you get very lonely
with nothing tosee but the ocean *
and not much to do?” asked
MARGERY, of one of the men.
“O, yes, little girl, very often, for
we want to see our wives and children
56 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

and can go home but once in a good many months.
We used to long for more books and papers to read,
but last summer some of the ladies from the hotel
at Wildwood came to visit us and became So inter-
ested in us that after their return to their city homes,
they sent us boxes full of books, papers, pictures,
games, and other things to amuse and interest us,
besides some articles of comfort, like warm mittens,
stockings, wristlets, and mufflers, and at Christmas
they remembered us with a glorious box of good
things to eat. This made the hard winter months
more cheerful for us, and we bless these kind-
hearted ladies every day.”

On their way home from the life saving station,
HERBERT told the children that his father expected
to take him to his home in New York the next day,
and just as soon as he saw a book store he would
buy those brave men the finest book he could find
and send it to them. He thought everyone ought
to remember their lonely, dreary lives, and brighten
them as often as possible. MARGERY and HELEN
said they knew they could make up.a large box as
soon as they returned to their homes, and they
would be so glad to do this for such kind life
Savers.

Late in the summer the salt marshes around
Wildwood became gay with large rose-colored
flowers, which the children called hollyhocks.
Mamma said they did look like hollyhocks, but that
Summer—Life Saving Staton. Di.

they belonged to another family called rose mallows
or marsh mallows.

“That’s the name of the candy | like better than
any other kind,” said HELEN.

“You will think it a queer thing to make candy
of, but it is true that your favorite candy is made
partly from a sticky substance from the roots of this
rose mallow. There is another member of the mal-
low family which is used as medicine. It grows
wild in many places all over our country.

The same plant is cultivated and cared for away
off in the land of Egypt, and people think it is very
good for food boiled like cabbage. ;

This is such an old plant, it is spoken of by Job
in the Bible.

There were many other wild flowers blooming at
this time, one of which was the prickly pear with
its lemon-colored blossoms that were pretty to look
at, but were so hard to pick without getting scratch-
ed with their sharp prickles; the orange-colored

butterfly weed with blossoms like the pink milk. .

weed in form, only different in color; and the tiny
blossoms of a running vine called the wild sweet
pea, were all so pretty that the children were some-
times tempted to leave the joys of the sand and
treasures of the sea to gather the flowers.

The children made fine collections of shells and
mosses for their kindergarten at home, and as the
days grew cooler mamma told them to say “ good-
58 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

bye” to their summer home, and comforted them
by reminding them that everything would be ripe
in their home garden.

When they arrived at home they ran into the
garden as fast as they could. MARGERY found
plenty of weeds, but among the weeds she could
see the bright flowers blooming.

HELEN and HARRY were amazed to see tall things
growing in their garden almost like trees; they
soon found that it was the corn grown so tall, and
they hunted around the big stalks until they found
the ears of corn, with soft, silky tassels. They
asked mamma to cook some for supper, and how
sweet and good it tasted! HELEN thought it was
even better than the fish at Wildwood.


AUTUMN.

OW, children,” said mamma one morning,
“the summer days are gone; we must
get to work in our kindergarten in the
mornings, and in the afternoons take

our walks in the woods.”

So the children became busy workers, with their
cube blocks, paper folding, drawing, sewing and all
the delightful kindergarten work.

Then came the happy walks again, so different
from their spring walks, for everything was getting
ready fora long winter sleep; the leaves were drop-
ping gently to the ground to keep the little plants
warm; the squirrels were storing up nuts in their
homes in the trees; the birdies had all grown up
and were ready to fly away with the older birds to
the warm South, and their insect friends were all
hidden away for their long nap.

About this time the woods and fields were bright-
ened by the golden-rod, which blossomed in every
bare corner. ‘The children liked to gather great
bunches of it, for as soon as they returned from the
seashore they began their flower mission work, and
the sick children and old ladies loved the golden-rod
as much as they did the spring wild flowers.



60 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

One of the old ladies knew ever so much about
flowers and often talked to the children about
them. From her they learned that there were
about eighty different kinds of golden-rod in the
United States.

Forty-two of them can be found in our Northern
States. MARGERY and HELEN found several differ-
ent kinds, one a fragrant blossom with shining
dotted leaves.

Mamma told them such a pretty story about the
golden-rod that after hearing it they always thought
of the flowers as live little fairies. The story was
called,

GAY LITTLE GOLDEN-ROD.

The queen of the fairies, whose name was Rose,
seemed very Sad one day, and one of the little fairy
pansies asked her to look bright just for a minute
while he told her a funny story. She shook her
head and said, “Dear little Pansy, don’t you know
the world is growing colder, and we will soon have
to die?”

“Why, no, Queen Rose, you have been so sad
you haven't raised your head to look at the beauti-
ful world. Only to-day I saw the gayest little fairy
called ‘Golden-rod,’ and he said he was going
to touch every field and roadside with his little
rod and turn the whole world a beautiful golden
color.” .
Autumn—Gay Little Golden-Rod. 61

“Here he is now, let him speak for himself.”
The queen looked up, smiling a little as she saw
a tiny yellow fairy, just like a feather, so quick and







graceful i
his move-
ments; looking
brightly in her
face, he said:
“Didnt you
know | was com-
ing to make the world a
warm?” Andas he spoke
he darted off, touching AF
everything in his way, and
leaving feathery fairies like himself
wherever he passed; and soon the
old world which really had been
growing colder, glowed with a warmth
that was reflected from the hosts of fairy ¢
golden-rods scattered over the fields and
woods.
And to please the queen they all loved
so much, the maple leaves and the oak leaves
62 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

put on gay red and yellow dresses, and Queen
Rose and the pansies were fairly dazzled by the
brightness. Their eyes grew heavy, and Queen
Rose said:

“Tt is time I was taking my ‘beauty sleep’ for next
summer,” and she closed her eyes, dropped off her
pink and red dress, and slowly went off into beauti-
ful dreamland, without a single shiver, for little
Golden-rod was still making the earth warm.

-The pansies didn’t goto sleep as soon as the
queen, for they loved to watch the games the fairies
were playing with the wind, but they folded their
little wings and soon and quietly went to sleep,
happy as could be, for hadn’t these last days been
the brightest of the year, thanks to gay little Golden-
rode

SQUIRRELS.

The squitreis amused the children so much by
their frisky motions. HARRY said he saw two or
three kinds flying around the trees and uN on
the ground for acorns and nuts.

Mamma thought some large gray squirrels lived
in one of the big oak trees, but the lively little
chipping squirrel, or “chipmuck,” as the boys call
him, they saw much oftener than the gray ones.

“Mamma, I wish we could see a squirrel’s home.
How do you suppose it looks inside 2”

“They often choose large hollows in trees for
Autumn—Squirrels. 63

their home and it is pretty well filled up with little
ones, for papa and mamma squirrel have quite a
family. In May four babies come to their home,
and again in August four or five more ;so papa
squitrel has to fly around to find enough nuts for
the winter. They get grass
seeds and other seeds, too,
but they like acorns and
nuts better.
“What sharp teeth they
must have,” said HELEN.
“They are very sharp,
and will bite fiercely if
pop et home is in danger,”
said mamma.
>They do not
always
wt, have their
homes
in the
trees;
















very often they dig deep holes in the ground.”

“A great man, who loved to watch birds and
-animals, dug into one of these squirrel holes to see
how it looked so that he could write about it and
let other people know more about squirrels. He
64 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

found a number of tunnels leading to the nest.
These winding paths had nuts in them where the
squirrels had hidden them. The nest was lined with
dried grass and oak leaves, and the squirrels were
lying in it snug and warm.

“In the nest they had stored some grains of
wheat and buckwheat, but in the long tunnels they
had dug near the nest was found a peck of acorns,
two quarts of buckwheat, grains of corn and a
quart of hazel-nuts.”

“How could they carry so much?” asked
MARGERY.

“They have a strange way of carrying their
treasures,” Said mamma, andyou would laugh to see
them. The squirrels that dig holes in the ground
for their nests have pouches or bags in their cheeks
.in which to carry the nuts, and each time they
carry just four nuts. They seem to be very wise
little creatures, and pack the nuts away very care-
fully. The hazel-nuts have a sharp beak or edge,
and before they put them in their pouch they bite
off the sharp point, so it won’t hurt their cheeks.
They look very funny as they run home with their
cheeks swelled out with the nuts.”

“T heard a boy talking about black squirrels,”
said HARRY.

“Yes, there are black squirrels in many parts of
North America, but they are hard to tame. Their
fur is very glossy and black. Men hunt them just
Autumn—Squirrels. 65

for their skins, which are quite valuable, as they
are large.

“Their tails arealmostas big aroundas their bodies,
and curl up over their back like a beautiful brush.

“These squirrels are very clean in their habits.
They have been watched while playing and seen
to suddenly stop their play and run to the edge of.
a pond or river, bend over and stick their noses
deep into the water and take a long drink. After
their thirst was satisfied they would sit up on their
hind legs and wash their faces with their fore feet;
dipping their paws into the water two or three
times to make their toilet complete.” :

“I saw a flying squirrel in a cage one day,’
MARGERY.

“They are wonderful little animals,” said mamma,
“with something like a wing growing under their
fur. When this is stretched out it looks like a thin
skin. This bears them up when they make their
flying jumps.”

“There is a red squirrel called a ‘chick-a-ree,
and | think there are some in our woods,” said
mamma, “for I heard a little squeal that sounded like
its call, ‘chick-a-ree, chick-a-ree.’”

“O [ve heard that, and thought it was a. bird,”
said HELEN. =e"

“Did you ever hear the call of a chippy squirrel?
It sounds like a wren, ‘chip,’ ‘chip,’ ‘chip,’ aqueer
little cluck. ”

?

said
66 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

The children always gathered acorns to play
dishes, but when they found the squirrels liked
them so much they did not want to rob them, but
mamma said there were enough for all.

OAK TREE.






How kind
the old oak
trees are tO Ae yz
throw down so ="
many acorns,” said HELEN.
“We could not get along very well
without the oak tree,’ said mamma. “ :
It is so useful. The wood is very hard and our
best furniture is made from it. Ship builders think
Autumnu—Oak Tree. 67

the live oak the best wood to use for making
the hulls of their strong boats. The white oak
makes fine timber for building houses. Oak
wood makes the strongest kind of casks and
barrels, and the bark is used to tan leather. We
might think of hundreds of ways in which it is
used.”

“ And then what a noble looking tree it is, spread-
ing its branches so far. It always makes me think
of a kind father tree; father to all the other trees of
the wood.”

“Tf | should plant an acorn would it grow to be
an oak tree,” asked HARRY. ;

“Yes, all these lofty oak trees grew from little
acorns,” said mamma. “The tiny first leaf of the
tree is folded up in the acorn ready to spring to life
if it is planted in the ground.”

“Does the oak tree grow only in our country?”
asked MARGERY.

“It grows in almost every country of the world.
In Russia they think their holm-oak has power to
work miracles. The old Germans believe in a god
of thunder called “Thunar’, and they consecrated
the oak tree to him. Their neighbors in Norway
used to hold their solemn councils of war under a
large oak tree. The Romans used to make crowns
for their heroes of oak leaves and in England, long
before our country was discovered, they thought
the groves of oak trees were sacred. We think
68 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

more of its real use and beauty, and hope it will
never die out of our country.”

In all these changes, the children loved the out-
door world so much they told mamma they almost
wished to be Gypsies and live in the woods.
Mamma said she thought they would change their
minds when the snow came.

They felt so sorry for the pretty brown quails; for
cruel men with dogs and guns were coming through
the woods every day shooting these timid birds,
which are so tame when they live near a farm
house they will occasionally go near the house and
feed with the chickens.

These quails are birds that fly very little but run
along the ground. They are very tender mothers
to their brood of little ones, and it is a sight that
should touch the heart of a hard-hearted gunner
to see a mother quail running along with ten or
fifteen young quails following close after her.

“T expect to persuade all my boy friends to join
a band of mercy,” said HELEN.

“You'd better get the girls to join too,” MARGERY
quickly answered, “for I saw your friend Alice
wearing a new hat yesterday with a stuffed bird
on it, a dear little blue bird.”

“Mamma, isn’t it just as bad to kill birds to wear
as it is to eat them.”

“Certainly, children, and lam glad you mentioned
it. I will try to have some of your little friends
Autumnu—Rabotts. 69

join you in a band of mercy, and 1 will explain to
you how the poor birds are tortured when they are
killed for people to wear, and we will promise by
an earnest pledge that we will never encourage
such cruelty by wearing birds as ornaments.

“And then boys are so often thoughtlessly cruel
in destroying a happy little family of birds by steal-
ing their nests and their precious eggs. If they
only knew how careful and tender these mother
and father birds were of their young ones, and how
much work they put into each round nest, they
would not be so cruel. In our little band of mercy
we will study all we can about the habits.and in-
stincts of birds and animals, and we will soon love
and respect them so much that we will never think
of doing them harm.”

RABBITS.

It was fun to watch the frisky rabbits scampering
through the dead leaves, and hiding whenever they
caught a glimpse of the children. These animals,
too, had to be very watchful for hunters, as rabbits
are considered good for food, and the children
almost cried when they saw men and boys going
home from the woods carrying many of their little
rabbit friends strung over their shoulders dead.

“Rabbits have so many enemies, | feel sorry for
them also,” said mamma. “Foxes dig into their
holes and eat the young rabbits. Some large birds
70 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

like to eat them, and come swooping down on
them before they know the bird is near.”
“Do rabbits live under ground?” asked HELEN.
“Yes, they burrow into the ground like a ground
squirrel, and when the mother rabbit is expecting
baby rabbits she lines her nest at the end of the
burrow with dry leaves and grass, and picks out
fur from her own breast to make it soft and warm
for the babies. When they are born they
Ay have no fur on and their eyes are closed
\at for ten or fifteen days; so it is very fortu-
4 * A nate that the mother takes such good
Gi ss . ycare of them.”

, It is funto
ich. watch tame
Ufa, Yabbits.

They

%









he ay yd ue : Hy THIeE oa its us

are like the wild rabbit in their habits, but look
different. The wild ones are brown while the tame
ones are of all colors, black, brown, yellow, and the
purest white.

“They have many cunning ways, but they have
afew naughty tricks. Ifthey live neara garden the
Autumu—Rabbtts. Hl

tender young vegetables will suffer, for they love
all kinds of green juicy leaves; they nibble at the
bark of trees, too, stripping it off and leaving it in
little piles around the tree, not eating it at all; just
exercising their teeth.

“One bad habit the tame rabbit mother some-
times has, is that of eating her own babies. Some
people who study about these little animals, think
they do it because of a strong thirst natural toa
mother rabbit, and if they were given more water
and juicy food, they would not destroy the little
ones.”

“Cannot we have a pet rabbit this fall?” HARRY
asked.

“If we can buy a pair of them I think they will
be the nicest kind of pets for you,” said mamma.

“While we are talking about them I want to tell
you of some queer things some ignorant people of
the South believe about them. They think if they
carry the right fore foot of a rabbit around in
their pockets with them it will keep off sickness
and evil.

“A rabbit’s stomach is supposed to cure almost
any disease, so they eat it dried and powdered for
medicine, and when their children are getting teeth
they wear the skin of a rabbit’s stomach around
their necks.”

“When you get older I will read you some very
funny rabbit stories written by a man who knew
12 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

more than I can tell you about these people of the
South and their beliefs about ‘Brer Rabbit,’ as he

calls him.”
“T will read all 1 can about rabbits after this,”

said MARGERY.

CHESTNUT PARTY.






4 A OWL OTS
* timesomething
happened,
almost as de-
tee lightful as the crabbing parties in the
zou summer. The children’s Uncle FRED,

a jolly young man who lived in a
city near by, wrote inviting them to go with him
Autumnu—Chestnut Party. 73

on a chestnut hunt the next Saturday. As he was
very fond of children they took the liberty of in-
viting some of their schoolmates, and all that week
much preparation was made for the coming fun.

With baskets of lunch and tin kettles for the nuts,
the whole party met their uncle at the station, and
trudged along merrily after him to the woods
wherea great many chestnut trees grew. And then
the fun, or work older people would call it, began.
They threw sticks and stones up in the trees to
knock the chestnut burrs off, and were in such
haste to get the brown nuts from their prickly out-
side shells, that their poor fingers got ever So many
wounds, but the nuts were there, and this was
sufficient reward for all the prickles and work.

Uncle Fred made them a fire and carefully
watched it himself; then filling one of the pails
with water, which they got from a farm near the
woods, they boiled some chestnuts over the fire,
and ate them with their lunch. It was even better
than a summer picnic, for the weather was just
cool enough to make them feel brisk and really
enjoy the lively exercise.

HARRY, who was getting to be so strong and
stout, that he went with them on all such excur-
sions, said he thought it very good fun to get
chestnuts, and better to eat them, but he wished he
had a big old crab to boil in that Kettle.

MARGERY thought this very cruel, and said that
74 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

after she had learned how much crabs knew, she
didn’t like to kill them, even if they were ugly.

As the children were beginning to feel some-
what tired, and to wish they had not strayed
so far from home, a great rattling was heard
and shouts of, “Ho there, children! where are you?”
and there was their papa with two horses and a big
hay wagon. They were all pleased, indeed, at the
prospect of a ride, and sang happy songs all the way
home.

HELEN whispered very confidentially to her
mamma that night, that she thought they ought to
be very good children for they had so many good
times, and such a kind mother and father, and the
best Uncle Fred in the world.

Soon after the chestnut hunt, Thanksgiving Day
came around with all its fun. The whole family
went to their grandfather’s to spend the day. All
their little cousins were there, and they had a jolly
time playing until dinner time.

Of course they ate lots of turkey and the other
good things grandma had ready for them, and after
dinner, somehow they did not feel like playing any
more, but just wanted to sit around and be
quiet.

Grandma saw how still they were and thought it
a good time for story telling.

The children were glad enough to hear one of
her stories ; so she told them a story of—
Autumn—Thanksgiving Day. ds

THE FIRST THANKSGIVING DAY.

“The first winter after the Pilgrims, who came
over in the Mayflower, landed at Plymouth Rock,
was a terrible one. The men had built log houses,
filling up the cracks and chinks with mud and clay.

“They did not know how cold and bitter were the
storms of aNew England winter, and just as soon as
these storms came on the clay and mud was all
washed out.

“The wind came whistling through the holes and
of course the people grew cold and sick, and hungry,
too, for they had not enough food.

“About half the men died; among the rest, their
good Governor Carver and his son.

“At last there were only twenty men left and a few
women and children, but they kept up their
courage, and when the Mayflower sailed back to
England not one would go back with her, although
the captain offered to take any one who wanted to
go. They bravely staid in their places and when
spring came they planted peas and barley they had
brought with them.

“They happened to find a store of Indian corn
which the Indians had hidden away, and this grew
fast, but the peas and barley did not do very well;
so the first year’s crop did not amount to much.

“But they found plenty of fish inthe harbor andthe
children gathered clams and mussels along the shore.
76 Lhree Little Lovers of Nature.

“There were plenty of wild turkeys and deer in
the woods; so they knew they would not be hungry
any more, although they had been without bread
for a long time.

“When the fall came on they felt much happier;
all were well once more. Their houses were made
strong for the coming winter, and the Indians were
friendly to them.

“They had all been so busy working very hard and
trying to make more comfortable homes, that their
joys and pleasures had been few. Even the child—
ren had not found time to play very much.

“Their new Governor Bradford thought it was
time to have a holiday; so he sent invitations to the
old Indian Chief Massanoit to come and rejoice with
them, and help them to give thanks to. their
Heavenly Father.

“The chief was glad enough to accept, and early
in the morning of that first Thanksgiving Day, he
came with nearly one hundred other Indians SWoop-
ing down on the quiet village with a yell.

“The Governor and Captain Miles Standish led
them to what they called their “common house,”
what people to-day would call a “town hall.” It
was not very large, only about twenty feet Square,
but the best house in the little settlement.

“The women commenced to work as hard as they
could to get dinner for such a host, but they had
plenty to eat, for the governor had sent four men
Autumn—Thanksgiving Day. Hy

out hunting the day before, and they had brought
in plenty of wild turkeys. The Indians brought
deer meat with them for the feast.

“Before their good dinner they offered thanksgiv-
ing prayers. In the afternoon they played their old
English games of stool ball and pitch bar.

“They did truly feel thankful for their mercies, but
they could not help feeling homesick for the friends
they had left behind in England,and sad when
thinking of those who had died in this new land.

“But our Pilgrim fathers and mothers were brave,
earnest souls; they looked forward with hope to a
better time. - .

“Old Captain Miles Standish thought he would
entertain the Indians by showing them what their
guns could do; so he ordered some of the men to
shoulder guns like soldiers, and others to stay ina
fort they had built and answer the guns of the
soldiers by the guns of the fort.

“It was more like our Fourth of July than Thanks-
giving Day. Such a noiseand stir! The wily captain
knew it was a wise thing to show the Indians how
they could fight if there was a cause, for the
English could not quite trust the Indians yet, but
old Massanoit proved true to the peace contract he
had made with the English sometime before.

“Always after that first Thanksgiving Day, one day
was set apart in Massachusetts for such a holiday,
and it was made more of than Christmas; but it did
78 Lhree Little Lovers of Nature.

not become a national holiday until the time
when President Lincoln proclaimed that a day
should be set apart by the Nation for thanksgiving
to God.

“When I think of that first Thanksgiving Day in
Plymouth, and how cheerful the Pilgrims were,
without any of the every day comforts we enjoy,
and then think of our happy homes with every
convenience, water in our houses, gas ready to
light at a touch, beautiful pictures and carpets, and
life made so easy for us, it seems that we ought to
make every day a Thanksgiving Day.”

“Didn’t they have railroads in those days?” asked
HELEN.

“Mercy, no, child,” cried grandma. “Steam
engines had not been dreamed of then. Almost
two hundred years after that first Thanksgiving Day
Robert Fulton invented the first steam engine.

“He was a man who painted small pictures in
Philadelphia for a living. His friends thought he

was going to bea fine painter and sent him to
~ London to study under Benjamin West, a great artist
who had been a Philadelphia boy himself; but
Robert had other plans in his head, and kept won-
dering how he could make boats go by steam.

“After he had come back to this country he suc-
ceeded in his plan, and started the first boat by
steam, on the Hudson River, in New York.

“Railroads street cars, the telegraph, the tele--
Autumn—Thanksgiving Day. vO.

phone—all these wonderful every day comforts of
ours came long after the Pilgrims.”

“Well, ’'m glad I was not a Pilgrim,” said
MARGERY.

“ Now, children, I think your dinner is settled, and
you can play some old-fashioned Thanksgiving
Day games until supper time.”

So the children played “Simon says thumbs
up,” “forfeits” and “consequences,” and a good
game of “ blind-man’s-buff.”

Mamma took some very tired children home that
night, but they seemed happy as they talked
together earnestly about the day’s doings. -

Mamma had not heard grandma’s story;so she
wondered what the children were talking about
when she heard words like “Indians,” “Pilgrims,”
“first steamboat,” and thought the children must be
planning some kind of a “ show.”


WINTER.

AS the beautiful days of autumn faded
slowly into the cold winter time, the
children still took their daily walks and

” found much to enjoy in the woods and



@
fields.
The cedar trees, the holly bushes with bright
red berries, were still green, and, close to the
ground, the partridge vine was still shining
with its green leaves and red berries which the
winter birds love so much.
“How can these birds live out inthecold?” asked
HELEN. “Why.don’t they fly away to the warm
South with the robins and bluebirds?”

“These birds are the strong little snowbirds
and English sparrows. Cold weather does not
worry them, but they have trouble sometimes to
find enough to eat. The wintergreen berries are
their winter food, and they love them, but boys go
through the woods and gather the berries to sell in
the markets, for children like to eat them, too.”

“| don’t think it is right to rob the birds of
them,” said HARRY, “and I won't pick any more.”

“The snowbirds are so pretty with their white
breasts. In the first of the winter before it gets
very cold, they stay in the woods among the fallen
Winter—Snowbirds. 81

leaves and hide in the trees when disturbed; but
when the snow falls they grow bolder and come
close to the houses, for then they are very hungry.
The berries and seeds are all covered with the
snow.

“AS soon aS warm weather comes they fly North
and build their nests on the ground or in the grass.
They are not as careful mother birds as the robins
and bluebirds.”










co

riche “Do the Sparrows “ever
/’ fly away to the North or South?”

irs yf AG
ik epg i Use




“No, they stay with us all the year
round, and are the most sociable of all our birds.
They like the crowded city just as much as the
country, and build their nests under the eaves of
stores and houses, and fly around noisy railroad
stations, just as much at home as if they were in
the quiet woods.”

“Do they need crumbs, too?” asked HELEN.
82 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

“Yes, I know a lady who fed sparrows with
crumbs of bread. Every day she noticed a few
more, until she counted about two hundred birds.
They grew very tame and when she opened her
door to feed them and gavea long whistle, the
birds would flock around her like chickens.”

“We must remember that and see how many
we can feed this winter,’ said MARGERY.

“Even if the sparrows are bold and saucy, I do
not think the boys should shoot them, do you,
mammap”

“No, indeed; it is wrong and cruel. I have seen
them trying to fly, with one wing broken by these
naughty boys. Just think how they suffer. It
makes our winter more cheerful to have these noisy,
happy, little sparrows flying around, and we will
always treat them kindly.”

The flower mission work had to be given up in
these days, as there were no flowers, but they
wanted to keep up their little society, and asked
mamma what kind of work my: could do in the
winter.

Mamma said she would read thema story, and
after she had finished reading it they could perhaps
think of something to do.

The story was called—
Winter—The Little Sunshiners. 83:

“THE LITTLE SUNSHINERS.”

“MRS. BRIGHTLY was a young mother whose life
had been shadowed by the death of her first-born
little daughter, who for the three short years of her
life had been a patient sufferer. For her dear sake
many little hearts had been made happy by the love
and sympathy of this good, warm-hearted woman.

“One day she heard that some neighbors, strangers
to her, had a dear little girl about ten years old who
had been lying on her bed for weeks, suffering
with hip disease. She determined to make hera
visit, and see what she could do to make brighter
the life of the little invalid, JENNIE GRANT.

“Knocking at the door one Sunday evening near’
Christmas time, she was admitted by the father, an
intelligent looking man, who led the way toa very
neat, though poorly furnished room which served
as kitchen and family living-room.

“After MRS. BRIGHTLY had been introduced to the
mother, a sad-faced woman, her eyes sought little
JENNIE, where, on a narrow cot-bed, she lay with a
weight of eighty pounds at her feet.

“Sitting down by the little bed, the lady com-
menced a lively conversation, and from that time
these two became warm, loving friends.

“JENNIE told of the long, weary hours with nothing
to do but watch her mother doing the housework.
84 Lhree Little Lovers of Nalure

She could use her hands and eyes, and she longed
for work. She had one brother who told her all
the news and brought her apples and flowers, but
the days often seemed very long and dark, spent in
this one small room.

“After promising. to come often, MRS. BRIGHTLY
went home in a thoughtful mood. Many plans came
into her mind for brightening JENNIE’S life, and
finally a gleam of light shone in her face as she
thought of her own two little sisters living in a lux-
urious home, without a thought of the help they
might give to other less fortunate children.

““T will teach them the blessedness of helping
others,’”’ she said, and this is the way she did it:

“A little society was planned, called ‘The Sun-
shiners.’ The object—to brighten the lives and
lighten the suffering of sick children. The
badge—a yellow ribbon, bright as the sun.

“The members were MRS. BRIGHTLY and her two
Sisters, five little girls in the neighborhood, little
JENNIE herself, and a rich old man, compelled for
twenty-five years to move about in a wheeled
chair—the result of an accident which happened
to him in the very prime of health and life. He
was thought to be a cross old fellow, and many
people were afraid of him, but ‘The Sunshiners’
found him a valuable member, with a great heart,
always ready to help with gifts of love

“MRS. BRIGHTLY’S sisters lived in a neighboring
Winter—Luttle Sunshiners 85

town, and they, with the aid of some friends, made
up a box for JENNIE, full of just the things she
needed to keep her happy and busy; large paper
dolls to cut out, drawing and painting mate-
rials, two scrap books and bright pictures to
paste in them, dolls to dress, and a box of writing
paper. .

“She made good use of everything, and was so
merry all day that her pain was almost forgotten.
She wrote many little letters to the other “Sun-
shiners,” especially to the rich old gentleman, and
his heart was touched by her quaint ways.

“He was wheeled to her home very often-by his
faithful man-servant, and always left some remem-
brance on the small table by her bedside. He
seemed to know just what little girls liked, for he
selected dainty boxes of handkerchiefs, bottles of
cologne, bright pictures and cheery books.

“As JENNIE grew better, he helped her in more
substantial ways, procuring specially made shoes
and crutches for her, and loaning her his wheeled
chair for long rides in the sunshine.

“JENNIE’S love for him seemed to help him to bear
his own affliction more patiently, and he grew,
day by day, more thoughtful for all poor people,
especially for widows and fatherless children.

“At Christmas time he carried sunshine into homes
where all had seemed dark before.

“But soon after Christmas his disease progressed
86 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

rapidly to a fatal termination, and at last rest came
to him from all his suffering.

“One rainy day, not long before his death, in a
note to MRS. BRIGHTLY, he said: “We ‘Sunshiners”
know that behind the clouds the sun a/ways
shines; and speaking of another, he quoted what
we all felt to be true of himself:

““All hearts grow warmer in the presence
Of one who, seeking not his own,
Gives freely, for the love of giving,
Nor reaping for self the harvest sown.’”’

“On the day of his funeral JENNIE was wheeled to
his home, to look upon his face for the last time,
and the poor child would not be consoled for the
loss of her friend.

“Oh, why did they have a glass over his face?
I longed so to kiss him good-bye,” she sobbed out
to MRS. BRIGHTLY, to whom she had gone for com-
fort.

“Although his death cast a shadow over the “Sun-
shine Society,” they went bravely on in their good
work, and JENNIE seemed to be the one who was
always finding out some needy or crippled child for
them to help.

‘““AS more money was needed for the work, it was
decided to appeal to the public for help in the form
of a children’s fair.
Winter—Luttle Sunshiners. 87

“One bright day in May, MRS. BRIGHTLY opened
her large parlors for the ‘sale.’ The little girls, all
dressed in white with yellow ribbon badges pinned
on their breasts, looked very happy.

“One large table was covered with fancy articles;
another, presided over by JENNIE herself, was full
of more useful articles.

“This table proved to be the most popular, partly
because of its usefulness, but more because of JEN-
NIE’S sweet face and winning voice, which no one
could resist, as she sat there so patiently with her
little crutch by her side.

“In the back parlor MRS. BRIGHTLY sold cakes and
dispensed lemonade.

“The ‘Sunshiners’ realized twenty dollars in
return for their efforts, enough to help them in
their work, and more than this, they had
touched the hearts of the people, causing them
to think more about the suffering little ones around
them.

“The society still flourishes and just now is
engaged in making scrap-books, and getting fancy
cards and books together to send to some children
ina city hospital. Even the crippled ones in its
care are helping.

“Their motto is this—that dear old one—‘Inas-
much as ye have done it unto the least of these,
my brethren, ye have done it unto me.’”’

“Oh, that is just what we can do this winter,
88 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

make scrap books for sick children and carry all the
sunshine we can to them.”

One night, when they were ready to hop into
bed, mamma told them she thought there would
be a “surprise” for them when they opened their
eyes in the morning.

Their eyes flew open pretty early, they were so
anxious to See the “surprise,” and they were happy
enough when they saw everything outdoors cov-
ered with white sparkling snow.

It didn’t take them long to eat their breakfast;
then bundled up warm with snug coats, hoods and
mittens, and rubber boots on their feet, off they
started for a ride on their sleds.

They were almost too young to go coasting by
themselves,so one of their big boy friends pulled them
two at a time; they stopped to take one of the little
neighbor girls who hadn’t any sled, and she was
so happy, she just laughed all the time. They had
such a good time, they said, they liked winter best
after all.

The grand surprise of the winter came one
morning just before Christmas, and was better
than the snow, and even better than Christmas
itself.

Papa knocked at their door and told them to
hurry into mamma’s room to see what had been
sent them in the night.

They couldn’t believe their eyes when they saw


HAMILTON

Wintevr—A “Surprise,’ Hamilton 91

a beautiful little baby brother, cuddled up in the
bed close to mamma. They jumped up and down
with joy and wanted to get hold of him as quick
as possible, but papa said they must not touch him
until he was a few days older.

They each gave him a light kiss on his forehead,
and he opened his eyes and looked at them, big
brown eyes they were, and MARGERY said she was
sure he smiled at her.

HARRY said he was so glad he was a boy for he
didn’t like being the only boy.

“What shall we call hime” asked HELEN.

Mamma told them she was going to name him
for one of her uncles, one they all loved dearly, but
it was such a long name—HAMILTON—that they
nicknamed him “TONY” that very day.

TONY grew very fast, and by Christmas he was
big enough to have his stocking hung up with the
rest, and laughed and crowed when the children
told him their Christmas secrets.

They had many happy plans for Christmas, and
worked busily at home and in the kindergarten
making presents for every one of their friends.
They did not forget the men of the life-saving
station, and the children of the lighthouse
keeper, but worked like busy bees to fill boxes
for them.

“I should just like to see them when they open
the boxes,” said MARGERY, as she tucked a bright
92 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

story book in the box for one of the little girls.
“Won't they be happye”

“And the men will be so glad to think we remem-
bered them; I hope HERBERT will send them some
books from New York as he said he would.”

“We must each write a letter to put in the
boxes,” said HELEN. “They will be glad to hear
about our baby; and we will take him to see them
next Summer.”

At last they got the boxes filled with just the
things to give their seashore friends a merry
Christmas, and we know they must have blessed
their kind little hearts when they opened their
treasures.

MARGERY said she meant to be Santa Claus to
some little girls she knew, who hadn’t any papa to
give them a happy Christmas, and when they
opened their money banks they took more than
half of their pennies to buy presents for these little
girls.

When Christmas Eve came they filled their .
sled with dolls, tin kitchens, a set of dishes, two
little work baskets, a big bundle mamma gave them
of nice things to wear, warm underclothes, two
bright red dresses, two pretty knitted hoods and
two pairs of mittens.

MARGERY and HELEN felt very happy as they
pranced along, drawing this precious load, and
when they stopped at the house where the little
Winter—Christnas Morning. 93

girls lived, they made such a noise that they
came running out to see if Santa Claus had really
come.

When they saw such beautiful presents, all for
them, they danced and screamed with joy, and told
MARGERY and HELEN they had just been praying
that Santa Claus wouldn’t forget them, and here
were two good fairies instead of one old man.

This part of their Christmas was the very best of
all to the children, for MARGERY said it always made
her happy to make other folks feel glad.

The day before Christmas papa went to the
woods and cut them a beautiful tree, and at night
they saw him fix it ina box and place it in the
nursery, but he would not let them look at it long
for they must all hurry off to bed.

They hung their stockings from the mantel ina
row, and before they went to bed sent papa and
mamma out of the room while they filled their
stockings.

Then they went to bed to dream of Santa Claus
and Christmas trees, and when they opened their
eyes it was broad daylight and Christmas morning.

They all began to sing—

“Merry, merry Christmas everywhere,
Cheerily it ringeth through the air.”

Mamma and papa answered with a “Merry
Christmas.”
94 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

Then how they did hurry on their clothes! Papa
led the way to the nursery with Tony in his arms.

They all screamed with joy when they saw the
tree trimmed with balls of all colors, angels, fairies
and candy animals.

There was a Silver rattle, a gay ball made of
soft wool and a little white rabbit grandma had
made for TONY.

The dolls that HELEN and MARGERY found sitting
under the tree were as large as TONY himself;
they had doll’s furniture and all the things that doils
and little girls like.

HAROLD discovered a large horse the first thing.
He forgot to look for his other presents when he
saw that and began to take a good ride, though
KRIS had sent him a drum, a large wheelbarrow, a
lot of animals on wheels, and everything for which
he had asked.

Papa said there were enough toys to last them
until Christmas time came around again.

“Look in your stockings, bere and mamma,” said
MARGERY.

Papa pulled out a beautiful pen wiper made
of chamois skin in the form of a maple leaf which
MARGERY had made for him in the kindergarten.
Then a spectacle case HELEN had made and a
stamp case HAROLD had been working on faithfully
for over two weeks.

Mamma found the same things in her stocking,
Winter—Christinas tn Gerinany. 95

and they were both pleased to think that the child-
ren loved them so much.

The childrenin the neighborhood came inthrough
the day to see their tree and they played hard until
night, when mamma called them all around her
while she told them a Christmas story.

STORY OF A CHRISTMAS IN GERMANY.

“Little GRETCHEN lived in a large city called
Dresden, away over the sea, in Germany. She was
a round-faced happy little girl, with hair as light
as flax, plaited in two long braids hanging down
her back. .

“She went to the kindergarten, for Germany was
the first home of the kindergarten and of FROEBEL,
the man who loved children and who started this
beautiful method of teaching little ones.

“GRETCHEN knew all about him, and loved him for
thinking of such pleasant things for children to do.

“As she was sitting quietly in school working
with her cubes and spheres, one day about three
weeks before Christmas, the children, and the »
teacher, too, were all startled to see a man dressed
in along mantle with a black hood over his face
walking in the door.

“He asked in a loud voice if there were any
naughty children in the school. He said he had
been sent to all the children in Germany to see who
were good and to take the names of the naughty
96 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

children to Old Saint Nicholas, so he would not
bring them presents.

“All the children who had been even a little
naughty began to tremble and cry and look at the
teacher. She was a kind, loving woman, and did
not give the names to this man, for she had not
much faith in him, and did not believe Saint
Nicholas had sent him, although many people in Ger
many think that there is a man called “Black
Rupert” who goes around to every home before
Christmas to find out about the naughty children,
and they are much afraid of him.

“But this kind teacher knew the people only
imagined there was such a man, and she told this
man who came in her school to go away and not
wortty her little ones.

“As he turned his head to walk off, she recognized
him as a young student, who was attending the
college near her school, disguised in this black
mantle.

“The children were all glad to see him go, but
they tried hard to be good every day after that until
Christmas. :

“As the holidays drew near, the streets became
gay with toys and evergreens. Stores were set up
right out of doors, cold as it was, and children came
from all the country round to buy their Christmas’
presents.

“The American girls and boys would laugh to
Winter—Christnas in Germany. OF

see these little Germans buying gingerbread by
the yard, for that is the way they buy it in

Dresden.

“About five o’clock the night before Christmas,
GRETCHEN’S mother dressed her in her Sunday
gown, and gave her a little wax candle, for all the
children carry these little lighted tapers to the
churches.

“After sending GRETCHEN off she hurried to
dress herself, and soon followed her to the big
church.

“As the bells rang out to tell the people that the
‘Holy Night,’ as they call Christmas Eve, had
come every one hastened to church. The stores
were deserted, and the streets were as quiet as on
Sunday. In the dimly lighted churches choirs
of beautiful voices sang Christmas carols, and
prayers were offered to the Christ who had come
to the world so many years ago.

“Tittle GRETCHEN was very quiet, and almost
expected to see the lovely Christ child; it all seemed
so much like heaven to her.

“No work is done by any one after five o’clock
Christmas Eve in Germany.

“When the church service is over all hasten home
to their christmas trees, and before seven o'clock
in every home the trees are lighted, and as one
passes along the streets it is a beautiful sight to
see the rooms brightly lighted in every house and
98 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

groups of parents, servants, and children gathered
around the gay Christmas tree all singing—

‘Oh, Still and Holy Night.’

“Little GRETCHEN always talked about the Christ
child bringing her presents, instead of Saint
Nicholas, or Santa Claus, and as she looked at her
beautiful gifts she loved him very much.

“Her father and mother always gave many good
things to the poor at Christmas, and the servants
had Christmas trees in their own rooms.

“The kitchen in GRETCHEN’S home was a very
nice place. The servants had worked nearly all the
night before Holy Night to make things bright and
clean. —

“Instead of ugly black stoves like ours, theirs were
made of white tiles with shining brass trimmings.

“The shelves were covered with bright pans, and
by the windows they had their trees filled with gifts.

“One of the best things about the German Christ-
mas is, the spirit of the Christ child so fills their
hearts that all quarrels are made up; forgiveness is
asked of each other if cross words have been
spoken, and all is peace and joy.

“In all Germany there is hardly a person without
a presenton Christmas Day. No one is forgotten,
and to GRETCHEN this was the best part of the day,
for her father always took her a nice long ride to
help him distribute his presents.
Wrinter—Chvristinas tn Germany. 99

“It pleased her tosee the happiness of the children
in the poorer homes when they received their gifts.
She told her papa she felt like singing all the way
home—

‘Peace on Earth, Good Will to Men.’

“And in all the fatherland, as the Germans like to
call their home land, more than in any other country
perhaps, the good will to men is felt and the Christ .
child is remembered not only on Holy Night, but
all the blessed Christmas Day.”



Just as mamma finished the story a loud ring at
the door bell was heard, and in walked UNCLE
FRED.

He was ready for a good jolly romp before bed
time, then they sang Christmas songs about the
Christ child who was born so many years ago in
Bethlehem, and whose birthday is celebrated all
over the world by Christmas festivals.

“If you could fly over to Germany, to-night,”
said UNCLE FRED, “you would hear the boys and
girls of that country singing about the Christ child;
and in France and England and Scotland you would
find them remembering the child who came to
bring peace and love to the world.” :

“Mamma has just been telling us a story about a
Christmas in Germany; and one of my new books
100 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

is called ‘Christmas in Every Land,’ I know it will
be interesting to read how the children celebrate
Christmas in other countries besides our own,”
said MARGERY.

“UNCLE FRED, don’t you know about Christmas
in some of the countries over the sea besides
Germany,” asked HELEN.

“T really do not know very much, and shall be
glad to read MARGERY’S book myself,’ answered
UNCLE FRED.

“T have heard that in Holland, where the Dutch
people live, the children talk about Saint Nicholas
coming to give them presents, but he is very
different from our ‘Jolly Old Saint Nicholas’ with
his merry face. Their Saint Nicholas looks like a
saint and comes dressed in a bishop’s robe; instead
of coming Christmas Eve, he appears on Saint
Nicholas Eve, which is the fifth of December, and
the sixth is called Saint Nicholas Day.”

“Then when Christmas comes the wildness of
their joy over their presents is all past, and they
are ready to go to the church festivals and to visit
with the older folks.”

“In England the boys and girls do much as the
children of our own land. Early, Christmas morn-
ing, they go from house to house singing Christ-
mas carols, and their clear sweet voices seem like
the voices of angels softly sounding in the still
night.”
Winter—Christnas in Bethlehem. 101

“Some of the boys and girls in our church went
out singing this morning,” said MARGERY.

“Yes, nearly all the Christmas customs of Eng-
land are practiced in America, now,” said UNCLE
FRED.

“There is one thing they do in Sweden I must
tell you, which will please you, for I know in all
your joy to-day you have remembered your little
bird friends. The Swedish country folks raise a
tall pole in the farm yard, and hang sheaves of corn
from the top, and sometimes nuts and stalks of bar-
ley and rye upon the limbs of young trees to make
a special feast for the birds and animals of the
forest.”

“That is very good in them,” said HARRY. “We
gave our birds a feast this morning, too, and I believe
they knew it was an extra happy day, for they
chirped so merrily all the time they were eating.”

“Everything is so interesting about Christmas, I
wish you could tell us more about the different
customs, and there is one thing I would like to
know so much: How do they celebrate Christmas
in the little town of Bethlehem, so far away, where
JESUS was born? do you know, UNCLE FRED?”
asked MARGERY.

“Tam glad youasked that, MARGERY. I can tell
you a little about it. The Catholics have built a
large church over the place which they think is
the very spot where JESUS was born.
102 Three Little Lovers of Nature.

“Large crowds of people gather there all day
- before the Holy Night, and there is much chanting
and praying, and just as night comes on, curtains
are drawn aside from the sacred altar and a wax
image of the beautiful baby, or ‘‘ Bambino,” as they
call it, is revealed. This is an image of the Christ
child, and it seems so real to these people that
some of them sob and cry just as if they thought
the beautiful “Bambino” would smile upon them

as perhaps JESUS did upon the Wise Men in the
lowly stable so many hundred years ago.”

“If 1 ever go to the Holy Land I want to go at
Christmas time, so I can see this ceremony,” said
mamma.

“Perhaps we may all go together sometime.”

“One of the best things about Christmas to me -
is that the spirit of the Christ child has spread over
every land, until there is almost no country in the
world where they are not celebrating His birth
to-day,” said UNCLE FRED.

“Tam sure our Christmas Day has been as happy
as could be,” said HELEN, “and we will remember
it all the year.”

BABY TONY gave a little cry just then, and
they all said he was the best present of all,
and had made this Christmas the happiest of their
lives.

Just one week after Christmas, on New Yeatr’s
Day, two letters came to the children, one from the
Winter—The End. 103

men at the life saving station, the other from the
children at the lighthouse..

They were full of kind words telling how much
good the boxes of comforts would do for them
through the cold winter, and what a happy Christ-
mas it had been for them.

They sent best wishes for a Happy New Year to
the “Little Lovers of Nature,’ and a kiss to BABY
Tony, saying they could hardly wait for next
summer to see him.

And so the year closed. They all said it had
been such a glad year, because they had been busy
little workers and had tried to make other people

happy.

THE END.




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