Adventure of a Kite | Page 3

young rooks; two are fluttering among the golden
pippins, and three are hopping and gaping among the
gingerbread-nuts."
James White scarcely looked at the rooks; he said he had more
important business to attend to. He took off his jacket, and immediately
began to climb up the tree. In less than twenty minutes he succeeded in
bringing down the Kite, with only two small rents in its left shoulder,
and the loss of one wing, all of which he said he could easily repair.
We took the five young rooks home with us, and had great amusement
in rearing and feeding them, and as soon as they were old enough, we
took them out into their native fields, and let them fly directly under the

tree where they were born.

An Autumn Flood.
"I am going," said Mary's mamma, on another evening, to tell you a
story about Scotland, and about some children who went there by sea,
in a large steam-ship.
Their names were Charlotte, Helen, and Robert, and they went with
their papa and mamma to visit their uncle and aunt. They went in
August, when the weather is fine, and the days are long. They left home
in the evening, for the steamer was to start at ten o'clock at night. There
was a great bustle when they came to the place where the ships lie in
the river Thames. Many people were getting their trunks and boxes in,
and hurrying about. They liked to see all this bustle, and to see their
own trunks and boxes put in. Then they stepped on board, across a
wide, firm plank, and jumped for joy to find themselves really in the
ship, and going to Scotland.
It was such a large steamer! They were surprised to see what a length it
was. Then they went into a handsome cabin, called the saloon,
beautifully lighted, with a great many people in it; and after being there
a little while they grew very tired, and their mamma took them to the
cabin where they were to sleep. When they saw their beds, they all
began to laugh. They looked just like beds made on shelves, one above
another. Two were on one side and two on the other, of a kind of closet.
But they soon crept in, Charlotte and Helen one above another, and
little Robert opposite. The fourth bed was for their nurse, who was
going with them. They were all soon asleep. They never knew when the
steamer began to go fast down the river towards the sea.
In the morning when they awoke, first one and then another heard a
constant "thump, thump! bump, bump!" going on. This noise was made
by the great engine that turned the paddle-wheels, and moved the ship
on. And they felt the ship shaking, and trembling, and rocking, and then
they were surprised to hear that they were already out of the river

Thames, and had got into the salt sea. They were in a great hurry to be
dressed, and when they ran up on the deck they saw the land on one
side of them, and numbers of ships all round them, with their white
sails shining in the sun, for it was a very fine morning. They tried to
count them, but it was very difficult; Charlotte counted a hundred, and
Helen a hundred and ten. As to little Robert, he was too delighted to
keep steady enough to count, and after trying once or twice, declared
that there must be a thousand.
Very soon they were called to breakfast in the saloon, and sat by their
papa and mamma very happily; but they ran away before they had
finished, to see a town called Yarmouth, by which they passed so
closely that they could see the houses, and bathing machines, and
people. All the morning they had plenty to look at. They met other
steamers, and fishing-boats, and ships, and saw different places on the
coast. But before dinner-time they had lost sight of land, and saw
nothing all round them but sea, and did not meet so many ships and
boats. Their papa then took them to see the engine, and the great fires
down in the engine-room, and made them look at the paddle-wheels,
that go foaming round and round. Then came dinner-time, and they
were very hungry; and afterwards they amused themselves with
running about on the deck and reading story books. Soon after tea they
went to bed and fell fast asleep.
Next morning they were glad to see the coast again. They were passing
high cliffs and dark rocks, and they saw many sea-birds; gulls, with
large flapping wings, that gave a strange, wild cry; and divers--pretty
little creatures, that swam, riding along