St. Nicholas Magazine for Boys and Girls, Vol. 5, July 1878, No. 9 | Page 3

now missing was very dear to them all, and, moreover, was deemed a sacred charge, as he was one of the orphan children of Mr. Gibbes's sister, intrusted to him on her death-bed.
The wailing ceased; there was silence, broken only by sobs, and the master asked:
"Who is willing to go back for the child?"
No one spoke. Mr. Gibbes turned to his wife for counsel. As the two talked in low tones, Mrs. Gibbes called her husband's attention to Mary, who was kneeling with clasped hands, in prayer, at the foot of the bed. In a moment, the little maid rose and came to them, saying, calmly:
"Mother, I must go back after baby."
"Oh, my child," cried the mother, in agony, "I cannot let you!"
"But, mother, I must," pleaded Mary. "God will care for me."
It was a fearful responsibility. The guns yet roared constantly through the darkness; the house might now be in flames; it might be filled with carnage and blood. Mrs. Gibbes turned to her husband. His face was buried in his hands. Plainly, she must decide it herself. With streaming eyes, she looked at Mary.
"Come here, my child," she called through her sobs. Mary fell upon her mother's neck. One long, passionate embrace, in which all a mother's love and devotion were poured out, and the clinging arms were opened without a word. Mary sprang up, kissed her father's forehead, and sped forth on her dangerous mission of love.
The rain had now ceased, but the night was still dark and full of terrors, for through the trees she saw the frequent flashes of the great guns. The woods were filled with the booming echoes, so that cannon seemed to be on every hand. She flew on with all speed. Soon she heard the crashing trees ahead, and knew that in a moment she would be once more face to face with death. She did not falter. Now she was again in the fierce whirlwind! All around her the shot howled and shrieked. On every side branches fell crashing to the earth. A cannon-ball plunged into the ground close beside her, cast over her a heap of mud, and threw her down. She sprang up and pressed on with redoubled vigor. Not even that ball could make her turn back.
She reached the house. She ran to the room where the little child usually slept. The bed was empty! Distracted, she flew from chamber to chamber. Suddenly she remembered that this night he had been given to another nurse. Up into the third story she hurried, and, as she pushed open the door, the little fellow, sitting up in bed, cooed to her and put out his hands.
With the tears raining down her cheeks, Mary wrapped the babe warmly and started down the stairs. Out into the darkness once more; onward with her precious burden, through cannon-roar, through shot and shell! Three times she passed through this iron storm. The balls still swept the forest; the terrific booming filled the air.
With the child pressed tightly to her brave young heart, she fled on. She neither stumbled nor fell. The shot threw the dirt in her face, and showered the twigs down upon her head. But she was not struck. In safety she reached the hut, and fell exhausted across the threshold.
And the little boy thus saved by a girl's brave devotion, afterward became General Fenwick, famous in the war of 1812.

FORTY--LESS ONE.
BY JAMES RICHARDSON.
Over by the tangled thicket, Where the level meets the hill, Where the mealy alder-bushes Crowd around the ruined mill, Where the thrushes whistle early, Where the midges love to play, Where the nettles, tall and stinging, Guard the vine-obstructed way, Where the tired brooklet lingers; In a quiet little pool, Mistress Salmo Fontinalis[A] Keeps a very private school.
Forty little speckled beauties Come to learn of her, each day, How to climb the foaming rapids, Where the flashing sunbeams play,-- How to navigate the eddies, How to sink and how to rise, How to watch for passing perils, How to leap for passing flies,-- When to play upon the surface, When beneath the stones to hide,-- All the secrets of the water, All brook learning, true and tried;--
"That's a good-for-nothing skipper;" "That's a harmless yellow-bird;" "That's the flicker of the sunshine, When the alder-leaves are stirred;" "That's the shadow of a cloudlet;" "That's a squirrel come to drink;" "That--look out for him, my darlings!-- He's a fierce and hungry mink;" "That's the ripple on the water, When the winds the wavelets stir;" "That--snap quick, my little hearties!-- That's a luscious grasshopper."
[Illustration]
So the clever Mistress Salmo Gives her counsel, day by day,-- Teaching all the troutly virtues, All life's lessons, grave and gay. Well she knows the flashing terror Of King Fisher's sudden fall! Well she knows the lurking