to him, and, never fearing the lurking sharks with which he had played in childhood, kept bravely on. The little spiny crabs clung to him as he battled along, piercing his skin with their tiny claws. With the help of a couple of boards he kept on undaunted, and in the gray dawn saw Lanai looming up golden in the sunrise. With a new zeal he went forward, the very waters themselves buoyantly bearing their old friend to safety. At noon he rose from the surf and wearily climbed the At the word "refuge" we cheered up, and walked as fast as we could to reach it. The water rushed after us wickedly, and seemed bent on surrounding us. However, we arrived, and quickly clambered up into the little box standing on its thin legs. We were just in time, for that same moment the water rushed up and swirled round the legs, causing the refuge to shake visibly. But we were saved, and after waiting many weary hours, till the tide went out again, we returned home, tired and hungry. A SONG OF THE WOODS COME, Mab, of woodland fairies queen, We sing of our immortal race, And Orpheus' lyre of charming grace: We think not of Eurydice, We sing until the even shades THE REFUGE. FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY THE AUTHOR. Its population is composed mainly of sturdy fisher- TING ROOM men, and its simplicity and primitiveness make it most attractive. My family and I were spending our summer vacation there a few years ago, and it was then that we experienced a most exciting "seaside adventure." To cross from the mainland to the island it is necessary to wait for the tides and to drive over the sands in very high carts. However, we preferred walking, and set out for a long tramp across the sands. We had been walking for some time, when we noticed, to our dismay, that the tide was coming in rapidly, and that we were caught. What were we to do? The tide was, meanwhile, coming in still faster. It became serious, and we shuddered at the idea of being surrounded by water. But suddenly, as I looked around, I saw a dark, square-looking object perched on its thin legs. I pointed it out to my father, who immediately recognized it to be a refuge, though rather a quaint one. "AT WORK." BY DOROTHY E. HANDSACKER, AGE 13. (GOLD BADGE.) BY ELIZABETH FINLEY (AGE 13) THE seaside has always held a great attraction for me, On this occasion, I lay basking on the sand after a brisk swim. The beach was almost deserted, and on such days, I generally had my bathing-suit on all morning, and ran in and out of the water continually. The only bathers were a couple of children and a young lady, but I paid no special attention to them. Sud I rose slowly and started toward the water. denly one of the children, a boy, ran up to me and cried: "Quick, quick, there's a lady drowning out there!" Of course I was much excited as I looked where he pointed. Sure enough there was a gloved hand and arm reaching far out of the water. I never stopped to think how a woman with gloves on could be in the water, for she was too near the shore to have fallen out of a boat. Besides, if I had taken time to consider it, I would have known that the water was almost too shallow for her to drown in. However, I did not think, and away I started on my heroic journey. As I swam on, for the water was too deep for me to walk in, it struck me as rather odd that the arm neither rose nor fell to any great extent; but I was too busy to think of it then. I reached her! I grabbed her! Bracing myself to be clutched with the clutch of the drowning, I was almost thrown backward by the lightness of her. I pulled! and up came-a stick!! Realizing that I was fooled, I turned indignantly toward the shore. The children and lady had vanished. VOL. XXXIX.-132. A SONG OF THE WOODS BY HOWARD BENNETT (AGE 17) THE whispering leaves Have a secret to tell. The brook overheard The secret is sped! And the chickadee said; The secret is sped! That sly little brook Has been chuckling all day! He's a regular crook, That sly little brook. And the willow-trees look Very grumpy, and say, "That sly little brook Has been chuckling all day!" A SEASIDE ADVENTURE BY BETTY HUMPHREYS (AGE II) (Honor Member) THERE was going to be a race. A codfish, a blackfish, and a flounder were the swimmers. A lobster had agreed to be the judge, and the oysters were going to watch. The time came. They all met in a little cove by the beach. "On your marks!" said the lobster. The fish got in line and waited for the signal. "LEFT BEHIND." BY HELEN M. ROTH, AGE 15. (SILVER BADGE.) "One, two, three, g-" "May I race, too?" asked a little herring, swimming up to the racers. "You?" said the flounder; "you 're nothing but a herring." "I know it." The herring looked hurt. "But can't I race?" "Yes," said the lobster. "Where's the harm? Get into position at the end of the line. One, two, three, go!" Off darted the fish, while the oysters cheered. On and on they swam, till they were near the goal, then it was all spoiled. The herring, who was in the lead, suddenly felt herself being lifted up. She tried to swim, but something held her. Then she knew what had happened. "Help me!" she cried to the others. "I'm caught in a net!" But they could do nothing. Soon she was on a pile of dead fish, with two men bending over her. "Huh!" said one, "nothin' but herrin'!" "I'll pitch him overboard," said the other, and once more the herring was in the water. She soon caught up to the others, who had given her up for lost, and were swimming slowly back to the cove. (They had stopped racing as soon as she was caught.) A SONG OF THE WOODS BY MARGARET L. SHIELDS (AGE 15) NIGHT in the forest! A whisper of leaves at play, A wind that sobs and sighs-to stray Far from the brooding shelter of the woods. A scud of some shy creature to its burrowed home, A brook that, murmuring, threads its starlit way To where a bank of drowsy daisies sway, asleep. A hush of silence through the forest gloom, And then-a thrill of rapture, trill of joy, But hark! in the crowded haunts of man, To the hurrying world-wide throng, The master's wondrous violin Is singing the woodland song! A SONG OF THE WOODS Oн what so gay, on a summer day, When sultry and hot the hours, As a forest scene, with its pine-trees green, And carpet of fairy flowers? When the zephyrs sigh in the tree limbs high, With the leaves aloft, and the mosses soft Oh what so rare as the forest fair When autumn brings frosty cold; The pine-trees green, with a bush between Aflame with crimson and gold? Louis Ellis Helen Gould Edith Townsend Alice Card Berenice G. Hill d'Arcy Holmes Thelma Williams Elizabeth Howland BY DOROTHY (SILVER BADGE.) Louis L. De Hart Mildred Thorp Kathryn Fagan Lois Hopkins Dorothy von Olker Helen G. Rankin Louise J. Spanagle Joseph B. Kelly Helen L. Eckel Walter Halrosa Emily M. Bennett PROSE, 2 Roger V. Stearns Belle Miller Katherine Kitabjian Albert Bayne Illa Williams Edith G. McLeod Nell Upshaw Helen Curtis Elizabeth Conley Peyton Richards Dorothy A. Fessenden Elsie Terhune Isabel Browning Henrietta Shattuck J. Frederic Wiese Lena Turnbull Mildred Weissner Barbara Orrett Edna Arnstein Alden Chase Ida C. Disbury Frances D. Pennypacker Paulyne F. May Mary Hall Frederick S. Whiteside Gerald W. Prescott Helen A. Dority Thurston G. Mirick Dorothy Duggar Frances Weil Frederick R. Schmidt Edith Brodek Albert C. Kringel Katherine Kelly VERSE, I Harriet A. Wickwire Bertha E. Walker Bernice L. Kenyon Gwendolyn Steel Anita L. Grannis Margery S. Amory Gladys M. Miller Forest Hopping Dorothy C. Snyder Helene M. Roesch Katharine Balderston Ellen Lee Hoffman Lilly Ruperti Ruth E. Sherburne Marian Shaler Marion Ellet Ellen B. Lay Florence W. Towle Katherine E. Read Flora McD. Cockrell Peggy Miles DRAWINGS, 2 Charles H. Grandgent, Margaret Grandgent PUZZLES, 2 L. Chernoff ROLL OF THE CARELESS A LIST of those whose contributions were not properly prepared, and could not be properly entered for the competition. INCOMPLETE ADDRESS. Louis Cohen, Helen M. Lancaster, Florence G. Clark, Charlotte C. Starr, Irene Herrinton, Meredith Fitch, Margaret Brooker, Oscar Pitschman, Phoebe Harris, Lilian Goldstein, Stella Bloch. LATE. Beryl Margetson, Louise van B. Douglas, Meta E. Lieber, Margaret F. Foster, Marie Piquet, Adeline A. Rotty, Joseph A. Smith, Margaret L. Ayer, Charlotte Tougas, Louis F. Adams, Jr., Adelaide F. Kohn, Ruth Simonds, Margaret C. Bland, Bertha Dempster, Beatrice H. Robinson, Robert R. McIlwaine, Clara Leav, Arthur V. Metcalfe. NOT INDORSED. Saul Werber, Elizabeth Griffiss, Novart Mosikian, Marie L. Faxon, Hannah Ratisher, Olivia Doane, Kenneth B. Jaffray, Hester Sheldon, Myrell Armstrong, Elizabeth B. Dudley, Barbara Kerley, Bella Pursin, Jessica B. Noble, Ethel Cox, Geo. Milne. THE ST. NICHOLAS League awards gold and silver badges each month for the best original poems, stories, drawings, photographs, puzzles, and puzzle answers. Also, occasionally, cash prizes of five dollars each to gold-badge winners who shall, from time to time, again win first place. Competition No. 155 will close September 10 (for foreign members September 15). Prize announcements will be made and the selected contributions published in ST. NICHOLAS for January. Verse. To contain not more than twenty-four lines. Subject, "The Awakening Year." Prose. Essay or story of not more than three hundred words. Subject, "The Greatest Invention." Photograph. Any size, mounted or unmounted; no blue prints or negatives. Subject, "Around the Curve." Drawing. India ink, very black writing-ink, or wash. Subject, Through the Window," or a Heading for January. Puzzle. Any sort, but must be accompanied by the answer in full, and must be indorsed. Puzzle Answers. Best, neatest, and most complete set of answers to puzzles in this issue of ST. NICHOLAS. Must be indorsed and must be addressed as explained on the first page of the "Riddle-box." Wild Creature Photography. To encourage the pursuing of game with a camera instead of with a gun. The prizes in the "Wild Creature Photography competition shall be in four classes, as follows: Prize, Class A, a gold badge and three dollars. Prize, Class B, a gold badge and one dollar. Prize, Class C, a gold badge. Prize, Class D, a silver badge. But prize-winners in this competition (as in all the other competitions) will not receive a second gold or silver badge. Photographs must not be of "protected" game, as in zoölogical gardens or game reservations. Contributors must state in a few words where and under what circumstances the photograph was taken. Special Notice. No unused contribution can be returned by us unless it is accompanied by a self-addressed and stamped envelop of the proper size to hold the manuscript, drawing, or photograph. RULES ANY reader of ST. NICHOLAS, whether a subscriber or not, is entitled to League membership, and a League badge and leaflet, which will be sent free. No League member who has reached the age of eighteen years may compete. Every contribution, of whatever kind, must bear the name, age, and address of the sender, and be indorsed as "original" by parent, teacher, or guardian, who must be convinced beyond doubt that the contribution is not copied, but wholly the work and idea of the sender. If prose, the number of words should also be added. These notes must not be on a separate sheet, but on the contribution itself— if manuscript, on the upper margin; if a picture, on the margin or back. Write or draw on one side of the paper only. A contributor may send but one contribution a month not one of each kind, but one only. Address: The St. Nicholas League, |