Page images
PDF
EPUB

PUZZLE.

Two travellers trudged along the road together,
Talking, as English do, about the weather;
When lo! beside their path the foremost spies
Three casks, and loud exclaims, "A prize, a
prize!"

One large, two small, but all of various size.
This way and that they gazed, and all around,
Each wondering if an owner might be found:
But not a soul was there-the coast was clear,
So to the barrels they at once draw near,
And both agree whatever may be there
In friendly partnership they'll fairly share.
Two they find empty, but the other full,

And straightway from his pocket one doth pull
A large clasp knife. A heavy stone lay handy,
And thus in time they found their prize was
brandy.

Tis tasted and approved: their lips they smack,
And each pronounces 't is the famed Cognac.
Won't we have many a jolly night, my boy!
May no ill-luck our present hopes destroy;
Twas fortunate one knew the mathematics,
And had a smattering of hydrostatics;

Then measured he the casks, and said, "I see
This is eight gallons, those are five and three."
The question then was how they might divide
The brandy, so that each should be supplied
With just four gallons, neither less nor more.
With eight, and five, and three, they puzzled sore,
Fill'd up the five-fill'd up the three, in vain;
At length a happy thought came o'er the brain
Of one: 't was done, and each went home content,
And their good dames declared 't was excellent.
With those three casks they made division true;
I found the puzzle out, say, friend, can you?

CONUNDRUMS.

1. Why is a nobleman like a book?

2. What is that which will be to-morrow and was yesterday?

3. Why is a drunken man like a windmill? 4. Of what profession was Adam?

5. Why is a bad wife better than a good one? 6. What word in the English language, of one syllable, which, if two letters be taken from it, forms a word of two syllables?

7. Why is a trunk, doubly tied, like a judgment of Court?

8. Why is the letter T like the tales of Brobdignag?

9. What is the word of four syllables, each syllable of which is a word?

10. What part of a vessel is like a hen's nest?

1. What is the difference between Shropshire and water thrown over?

12. What four letters will name an old woman's employment, a tailor's squeezes, and an article in use among women since the days of Anne of Bohemia?

CHARADES. 1.

My first is a measure by no means uncommon,
My second a weight that three letters express,
My whole an attendant on each man and woman,
Forming a requisite part of your dress.

2.

A part of my dress;

The wearer; its colour, transposed,

Will name, you'll confess,

An entrance quite snug with doors closed.

RIDDLES. 1.

I help to boil a gipsy's kettle, I delve in the ground, the haymaker wants me, and I came into genteel company with King Harry.

2.

What is the longest and shortest thing in the world; the swiftest and the slowest, the most divisible and the most extended, the least valued and the most regretted; without which nothing can be done; which devours all that is small, yet gives life to all that is great?

ENIGMAS.

Like eastern monarchs, screen'd from vulgareye,
With triple wall secured, at ease I lie;
So grand my station, title so elate,
E'en kings, submissive, my precedence wait.
Awful's my presence, form exceeding bright,
Emitting broken rays of borrow'd light;
Which, when collected, in a focus end,
A speedy flight, or instant death portend;
To me the hero bends the stubborn knee,
And dignifies remote posterity;

The scourge of tyrants I, the patriot's guard,
The city's glorious prize and just reward;
In point of honour nice, but friend sincere ;
The badge of bravery, but the tool of fear.
But why should I attempt to veil my pride,
Or longer my perfections strive to hide?
When naked, I command respect aloud,
And strike a terror in the obsequious crowd!
But gaily clad, I figure for your sport,
And shine a harmless bauble at the court.

ANSWERS TO FAMILY PASTIME. PAGE 60.

PUZZLE-99%.

CHARADE-Battle-axe: a tool by Bruce so strikingly employed.

CONUNDRUMS-1. Because he makes people steel pens, and then persuades them they do write (right). 2. By tying a knot in his tail, and that would make a pig's-tye. 3. Because

all his thoughts are on the rack, and his greatest bliss is woe (wh-o!) 4. It comes before T. 5. S X (Essex). 6. A coro-net. 7. XTC (ecstasy). 8. Because it is the universe I tie (university). 9. Because it makes old metal into G-old metal. 10. Reviver. 11. Civil. 12. A hole in a stocking. 13. Re-nown. 14. It forms our habits. 15. It is breaking through the sealing (ceiling). 16. His foot. TRANSPOSITION-Blink-Link-Ink.

ENIGMAS-1. Jack Catch-pronounced as spelt. 2. The Merry-thought. 3. The letter H.

EDITED BY HERR HARRWITZ.

PROBLEM XIV.-By A. G. M'COMBE, Esq. White playing first, mates in four moves.

[merged small][graphic][subsumed][subsumed][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]
[graphic]
[ocr errors]

commended for his attainments classic scholar, which also had not much to do with the purposes for which he was to live; Philip-she could not say much for Philip's character at school, to be sure, for he had fallen under heavy penalties for disobedience and conduct generally

VOL. IX.-NO. CII.

bad; but he was a fine fellow, the mother thought, notwithstanding, and would do exceedingly well at another school, no doubt. She had just heard of one where the discipline was much more strict, and to that he was about to be sent. Then there was Helen, growing every year more beautiful,-a fine, tall, noble - looking creature. To be sure, her manner was far from easy, but that was owing to the school she had been at, this time, for one whole year and a-half; she, also, was about to make a change. And Kitty -the mother could not in her conscience even whisper to herself that this, her youngest child, was walking, or likely to walk, in the way she was intended to go; for, instead of poring perpetually over learned books, as had been designed and expected, Kitty was much more frequently detected with a kitten in her lap, or her canary let loose that it might perch upon her head, or even with a doll, carried out to take an airing, when she had no better company. Kitty, in fact, was nothing,

H

and seemed as if she could be nothing of and by herself. Like a flitting shadow, she moved about the footsteps of others, now reflecting one form of character and then another; but almost vanishing away when there was no sphere of sympathy to live in, no other life to exist upon besides her own. And this little girl was to make a learned woman-to stand alone-to create a foundation for herself!

Could the two sisters, as well as the two brothers, have changed their minds and persons, the mother's schemes might have answered better for them, for Helen, quite unexpectedly to Mrs. Clifton, and for some time unknown to her, evinced a tendency to what are called dry and abstract studies, rather unusual in a girl of her age. Indeed when these attainments were first spoken of in a letter which Mrs. Clifton received from the principal of the school to which Helen had been sent, the mother did not believe it, but thought it must be a mistake. She had never read of any beauty having this propensity, unless it was Lady Jane Grey and her fate was not the most encouraging-certainly none of those fictitious characters which figure in romances. There the plain-looking are the clever, and such books are said to afford the truest representations of real life. The thing was unnatural-it could not be. At all events, if it was so, learning at that rate would spoil Helen's figure as well as her complexion. Mrs. Clifton called to mind a good many learned people, who were all bilious and heavy-looking. This would never do for Helen; she must apply more to her music and her dancing. Mrs. Clifton believed a good deal of the fault was there. Helen must be sent to another school, where her dancing would be more attended to. As for Kitty, she was very young yet; but Mrs. Clifton was already in treaty with a master, who was to come to the villa three times a week to teach the youngest Miss Clifton Latin.

So, on the whole, the Cliftons were getting on quite hopefully, the mother thought; and a hopeful family they certainly would have been, had a little more rational attention been bestowed upon the eapabilities which Nature had so kindly, and, in some instances, so lavishly bestowed upon them. They were certainl

getting on in the usual way, by growing up to men and women,-and very much taking their chance as to what kind of men and women they would be,-when a change, at first slight and little thought of, came across their family arrangements.

Mr. Clifton, like many other gentlemen immersed in business, was in the habit of fasting all the day, and returning late to eat a hearty dinner, at which he sometimes did eat rather more than inclination dictated, on the principle that, having fasted so long, he must make up for it by double duty at his own table. Mrs. Clifton held the same opinion, and if anything could be got to tempt his appetite, or to awaken an agreeable surprise, under which he might be induced to eat a little more than usual, both were of opinion that a great good had been attained, and the experiment was tried again with renewed assiduity. In process of time, artificial aids were resorted to. Popular pills, of infinite variety, were taken; but still Mr. Clifton did not feel himself quite the thing. In fact, a sort of vertigo frequently attacked him when stooping or turning quickly round. This was said to arise out of sheer weakness;-he wanted more support, more nourishment must be got into the system. So Mrs. Clifton set about, with great alacrity, to devise schemes, for having this extra nourishment provided, and conveyed in such a manner as that her husband might eat often, just when he felt fant, or in want of support. He did so, and he ate his late dinner, provided in great abundance, too, and he was no better.

Mr. Clifton made no complaint. He was thinking about his business all the while. The giddiness in his head was teazing to him; that was all. One of his doctors for, like the schools to which his children went, they were many-one or his doctors said that he applied too closely and wanted relaxation. So Mr. Clifton dined out more frequently, and had more company at home, and still he was no better.

Indeed, whether the wines were unsatisfactory, or whether it was from some strange dish, or some other unknown cause, Mr. Clifton felt usually the worse for these dinners, and for two or three subsequent days suffered more from the giddiness in his head. But what could he

do?-this was the only relaxation he knew of, as lying within his reach. What could he do?

In a lucky moment for the children, some one suggested the sea-shore; so away the family all went to the southern coast for one whole month, and all were to be together, except Robert, now a fixture at his desk in the office; but even he was to spend his Sundays with his brothers and sisters, and sometimes even the Saturday or Monday too.

The sea, Mr. Clifton secretly thought, was well enough for those who had nothing to do; but how was he to get the time over, strolling about idle on a sandy shore? However, he made the best he could of his circumstances, and only returned to his business for three days in each of the weeks that he professed to be away.

To the children these four weeks afforded a very happy time to look back to in their after lives,-not the less happy, even at the moment of enjoyment, for the conviction, felt by each, that they were not very likely soon to meet all together, in the same manner, even if they ever should meet again on earth. With a good deal of external freedom and familiarity of manner, a good deal of roughness, at times, on the part of Philip, the young Cliftons were still warmly and faithfully attached to each other, and wanted no other companions, unless when something had gone wrong with them in temper, or some accidental trial had occurred. That things did go wrong with them sometimes it is scarcely necessary to say, for out of the very familiarity of childhood and youth there almost necessarily arises some jarring or irritation of temper. It is experience alone which remedies this evil, by teaching us to judge by our own feelings, in the many wounds they have received, how far it is desirable or safe to go with others. Hence, those families who are early separated by what the world calls misfortune, and who are thus sent out each to work his separate way amongst strangers, generally learn this lesson soonest, and come back, whenever they can meet beneath a parent's roof, with the most lively affection, good nature, and forbearance.

The Cliftons had never been separated yet; but they were all looking into a future, in which a wide separation, indeed,

was to take away from them one whom all loved, though he was understood by none. Whatever there might have been at times, in the temper or morbid sensitiveness of Seymour Clifton, to vex or disappoint the rest of his family, he was now so near departing from the paternal roof, so near being consigned to a hard, severe, and, at best, a very precarious fate, that a more than usual amount of tenderness was called forth at times towards him; and while none but Philip suffered the subject so much as to escape their lips, there was a marked attention shown by all towards this brother, which often brought unbidden tears into his eyes, while

had the melancholy effect of making his separate doom appear more hateful and more terrible than before.

SO

These fits of sadness, however, scarcely could be long or frequent, under present circumstances. The children were young, and youth is so happy when roaming at large amongst rocks, and waves, and shells, and sea-weed, with a bright sky overhead, and a great towering cliff, shutting them off from all the world, and making them feel to be the undisputed possessors of a whole world of their own.

There was nothing in this kind of life not even the little rural conventicle, to vex or annoy the happy family. The cause of their being where they were, was no trouble to them, for none amongst them had the slightest apprehension of anything serious in their father's indisposition; so they enjoyed themselves to their hearts' content, only that Seymour felt sometimes a sudden gasp of apprehension respecting his approaching fate, like what a bather feels who does not like the water, but knows that in a few moments he must plunge in.

Still, though outward circumstances were so pleasant, Seymour found his personal troubles even here; where would he not find them? It happened one day-it was a great day to all, for Robert was allowed to remain-it happened that on his account, chiefly, a long ramble had been planned, in which Robert was to be the conductor. Mrs. Clifton felt no fear as this was to be the case, and her husband being that day in town, she granted full permission to the juvenile party to go wherever Robert might choose to lead

« PreviousContinue »