The "big girls" wondered how came they there-- "The prettiest thing in the children's fair!"

Then out stepped May, with her cheeks so red: "You said there was nothing that _I_ could do, 'Cause I was little; but _I_ made those, And now, I guess, I'm as big as you!"

So little May at the fair that day Was the reigning queen, it is fair to say.

=The White Pebble Pit.=--It has frequently happened that miners have discovered curious traces of former workings, hundreds of years ago, and tools have been found which belonged to the ancient miners, and many other relics.

A singular discovery was made, a few years since, by some workmen engaged in the Spanish silver mine known as the White Pebble Pit. Whilst digging their subterranean pa.s.sages they suddenly found a series of apartments, in which were a quant.i.ty of mining tools, left there from a very remote period, but still in such good preservation that there were hatchets, and sieves for sifting the ore, a smelting furnace, and two anvils, which proved that the earliest miners had great experience in their operations.

In one of the caverns there was a round building, with niches, in which were three statues, one sitting down, and half the size of life; the other two were in a standing position, and about three feet in height.

This building is supposed to have been the temple of the G.o.d who was believed, in pagan times, to preside over mines. Several objects of art, and some remarkable instruments, were also found, which have led scientific persons to think that the workings might have been made by the Phoenicians, the people who, as is well known, were, in the time of Solomon, famous for their manufacturing and commercial genius.

In 1854 a discovery was also made by some miners excavating on the other side of the mountain on which the White Pebble Pit is situated; this was a fine figure of the heathen G.o.d Hercules, which was found in an old working.

In digging for copper on the sh.o.r.es of Lake Superior, in this country, the miners have made many similar discoveries, showing that the mines were worked ages ago.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

GRa.s.s-FISH (NEMICHLHYS).

The curious fishes with the tremendous name, the last part of which means snipe-billed, are very long and defenseless, and are invariably found among the leaves of a long sea-gra.s.s, which very nearly resembles them in form and color. Their head is quite long, and they always seem to stand on it, and when a hungry fish comes along, he would have to look long and well to tell which was the gra.s.s and which the fish. These gra.s.s-fish well earn their right to be called "mimics." These strange features in such low animals teach an interesting lesson: they show more strongly the wise governing of the great Maker, and correct the mistake, often thoughtlessly made, that the lower animals have no feelings, thoughts, or pleasures. If they do not show them as we do, it is none the less true that they possess them, but in different degrees.

=Little Jack Horner.=--The origin of the nursery rhyme has been said to be as follows: When monasteries and their property were seized, orders were given that the t.i.tle-deeds of the abbey estates of Mells, which were very valuable, should be given up to the commissioners. The mode chosen of sending them was in the form of a pasty to be sent as a present from the abbot to one of the commissioners in London. Jack Horner, a poor lad, was chosen as the messenger. Tired, he rested in as comfortable a corner as he could on his way. Hungry, he determined to taste the pasty he was carrying. Inserting his thumb into the pie, he found nothing but parchment deeds. One of these he pulled out and pocketed, as likely to be valuable. The Abbot Whiting of Mells was executed for having withheld the missing parchment. In the Horner family was discovered years afterward the plum that Jack had picked out, one of the chief t.i.tle-deeds of Mells abbey and lands.

[Ill.u.s.tration: OUR POST-OFFICE BOX.]

Our heartiest thanks are due to our youthful readers who have sent us pretty and gracefully written New-Year's wishes from all parts of the United States. We would like to print every one of these welcome letters, but they are so numerous it would be impossible. Our young friends, however, may be sure that whether we print them or simply acknowledge them, they are alike pleasing and gratifying to us.

Robie Lozier (eleven years) writes that he punches a hole in his _Young People_, and ties the numbers together with a ribbon, adding the new numbers as fast as they come. This is an excellent suggestion, as it preserves the numbers from getting scattered and lost.

SOUTH EVANSTON, ILLINOIS.

I have a little canary-bird. He is quite young, but is a beautiful singer, and almost always when he sings he says, "Pretty, pretty,"

so plain you could not mistake it. He is also very tame, and when I let him out of his cage he comes and stands on my shoulder, and hops around me. If I put my finger in his cage, he gets very cross, and waves his wings and pecks at me, and makes a queer noise as if he were scolding.

EFFIE T. (twelve years).

I am a little girl nine years old, and I live in Southbridge, Ma.s.sachusetts. I see that one little girl has written about her pet pigeon. I have a pet squirrel. He is so tame he will run all over me. Last summer we let him run out in the front yard, and papa put him in a tree, but he would not climb it. Papa has subscribed for _Young People_ for me. I like it very much, and look forward with pleasure to the time for it to come. Thank you for making it larger; it is just nice.

JOSIE S. E.

FORT WAYNE, INDIANA.

I received _Young People_ for Christmas, and like the stories very much. I like "Photogen and Nycteris" so much that I can hardly wait till the next number comes. The engravings are very nice. I think that there was never a paper so interesting. I thank you for the "Wiggles" and other games. Happy New-Year.

WALTER C.

ROCHESTER, PENNSYLVANIA.

I am ten years old. I like _Young People_ the best of any paper I ever saw. It is the first paper my papa has ever taken for me. He takes the _Weekly_. I think the _Young People_ is just the right size for binding, and I am going to have it bound at the end of the year.

BERTIE SHALLENBERGER.

I am very much interested in your paper. I am going to save up my money to take it. I am nine years old. I have a pony named Coby. I enjoy him very much. He is a Texas pony. I live in Richmond, Kentucky, where the gra.s.s is so blue.

BIJUR WHITE.

Letters are acknowledged from Maude J. W., Dayton, Washington Territory; Dannie Bullard, Schuylerville, New York; Lurean C., Mazomanie, Wisconsin; Fred E. B., Cambridge, Ma.s.sachusetts; Harry R., Winona, Minnesota; H. W. Singer, Cincinnati, Ohio; Minnie W. Jacobs, Indiana, Pennsylvania; Percy W. Shedd, Attlebury, New York; Lizzie C., Utica, New York; Willie Hamilton, Alleghany City, Pennsylvania; Zella Thompson, Boston, Ma.s.sachusetts; O. R. Heinze, Allentown, Pennsylvania; Frederick L. B., Brooklyn, Long Island; and Lyman C., M. C. S., and William F. B., New York city.

"DEL," Zanesville, Ohio.--Flat cribbage-boards can be bought at a very low price, and folding ones which hold the cards are not expensive. You might make one from a piece of thick pasteboard, but as there must be sixty-one peg-holes for each player, it would not be easy to cut them neatly.--It is more customary to leave a card for each person called upon, especially where the visit is formal.

GEORGE H. H.--Harper's new School Geography gives Wheeling as the capital of West Virginia.

FREDIE G.--Even if you are only seven years, you are old enough to read a boys' book about wild animals. Lions will catch and eat nearly all beasts that come in their way. They will even overpower a giraffe or a buffalo. The elephant and rhinoceros are almost the only quadrupeds a lion dare not meddle with.

OUR CHRISTMAS PUZZLE.