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I am the lad in the blue and white-- Sing hey! the merry sailor boy.

My head is steady, my eyes are bright, My hand is ready, my step is light, My brave little heart, all right, all right-- Sing ho! the merry sailor boy.

I am the lad in the blue and white-- Sing hey! the merry sailor boy.

I sit in the shrouds when the soft winds blow, The light waves rock me to and fro; I run up aloft or down below-- Sing ho! the ready sailor boy.

I am the lad in the blue and white-- Sing ho! the merry sailor boy.

When the skies are blue and the sea is calm, The air is full of spice and balm, And the sh.o.r.e is set with shadowy palm, Oh, glad is the merry sailor boy!

"What will you do when the great winds blow?

What will you do, my sailor boy?"-- When great winds blow, and are icy cold, Never you fear, for my heart is bold: I'll watch my captain, do what I'm told-- Sing ho! the ready sailor boy.

"If a foe should come--in such a plight, What would you do, brave sailor boy?"-- Run up the "Stars and Stripes" in his sight, Stand by my captain, wrong or right, And give the foe an up-and-down fight-- Sing ho! the gallant sailor boy.

I am the lad in the blue and white-- Sing hey! the merry sailor boy.

I carry my country's flag and name; I never will do her wrong or shame; I'll fight her battles and share her fame-- Sing ho! the gallant sailor boy.

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EVERETT STATION, GEORGIA.

I want to tell you about a pet squirrel I had. My uncle was having some trees cut down, when the men found three young squirrels in one of them. One of the squirrels got killed, and one ran away, but my uncle caught the other and put it in his pocket, and forgot all about it. After a while he put his hand in his pocket for something, and the squirrel bit him. We tamed it, and it would run all over the trees in the yard, until one day some boys pa.s.sing by shot it, thinking it was wild. My little brother cried, and I came near crying too. We buried it in the flower garden.

CHESLY B. HOWARD, JUN.

_February. 15, 1880_.

I am nine years old. I was born in Boston, but for the last three years I have been living on a farm in Lakeville, Ma.s.sachusetts.

There are a number of lakes near here, and some of them have long Indian names, such as a.s.sawampsett and Quiticus. Yesterday was a warm, spring-like day, and I saw two robins, and I heard the bluebirds singing.

LOUIS W. CLARK.

MACHIAS, MAINE.

I like YOUNG PEOPLE very much. I have a summer-house, and in the summer I found a little humming-bird, with its wing broken, all tangled up in the flowers. I took it into the house, and fed it. It ate sugar and water. It had a funny little narrow tongue, and it put it out when it ate. It lived in the house two days, and then it died.

NELLIE LONGFELLOW (8 years old).

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA.

My papa told me of a pretty way to designate the long months from the short ones. He learned it from a little girl when he was travelling in Oregon, and I think a good many little readers of YOUNG PEOPLE might be pleased with it. This is the way: close your hand, and point out the knuckle of the forefinger for January, and the depression between that and the middle knuckle for February. The middle knuckle designates March, and the next depression April; and so on to the small knuckle, which stands for July. Then go back to the forefinger for August, and proceed as before until all the months are named. It will be found that all the short ones fall between the fingers, while the knuckles stand for the long ones.

PHEBE C. BROWN.

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

I want to tell you about a young alligator and a water turtle papa had. He kept the turtle in the cellar, and the alligator in an earthen tank; but when it came winter he put that in the cellar too, in a tight box with air-holes. Some time afterward he went to look at the turtle and the alligator, and they had both disappeared. Where do you think they could have gone?

PUSS.

DIXON SPRING, TENNESSEE, _February 18_.

I am a subscriber to YOUNG PEOPLE, and I like it very much.

I am ten years old. The creeks are in the way, so I can not go to school now, but I will go in the spring. Some of our flowers are in full bloom, and the weather is very pleasant. But we had a snow-storm last week, and I enjoyed it so much!

FANNIE M. YOUNG.

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

I know some little girls who live in the country. They set a little table in the yard, and put on it tin dishes with chicken food in them. Then they ring a toy bell, and the chickens have learned to come and stand round the table and eat. If a chicken hops on the table, it is not allowed to eat any more, and in this way they are taught to behave very nicely.

SADIE.

DECORAH, IOWA.

I am a little Norwegian girl, though I was born in America. I am twelve years old. Not all the Norwegian ships in which Leif Ericsson and his company sailed to America were as small as the one described in "Ships Past and Present," in YOUNG PEOPLE No.

14, for one of them had sixty men and five women on board. Some of the ancient Norwegian ships were quite large. I have read in _Traditions of Norwegian Kings_, by Snorro Sturrleson, about _Ormen Lange_ (the Long Serpent), a large and handsome ship which belonged to King Olaf Tryggveson. That part of the keel which touched the ground when the ship was being built measured 112 feet.

The ship carried a crew of more than 600 men. It was Leif Ericsson, not Olaf Ericsson, who sailed to America.

E.

Tryggveson, who reigned in Norway A.D. 995-1000, had ships which were the wonder of the North. His largest war ship was the _Long Serpent_, supposed to be of the size of a frigate of forty-five guns. In a great sea-fight with the Kings of Denmark and Sweden, King Olaf Tryggveson was conquered, and is said to have sprung overboard from the famous _Long Serpent_ into a watery grave.

DANVILLE, ILLINOIS.