He was greatly delighted with the spice and dash of a robber's life, so different from that of a hermit; and he determined, if possible, to change his business and enter the band. He had a conversation with the captain on the subject, and that individual encouraged him in his purpose.

"I am tired," the captain said, "of a robber's life. I have stolen so much, that I can not use what I have. I take no further interest in accumulating spoils. The quiet of a hermit's life attracts me; and, if you like, we will change places. I will become the pupil of your old master, and you shall be the captain of my band."

The change was made. The captain retired to the cave of the hermit's pupil, while the latter, with the hearty consent of all the men, took command of the band of robbers.

profession, I'll promise to do nothing but rob robbers."

"Very well," said the King, "if you will confine yourself to that, you may retain your position." The members of the band were perfectly willing to rob in the new way, for it seemed quite novel and exciting to them. The first place they robbed was their own cave, and as they all had excellent memories, they knew from whom the various goods had been stolen, and everything was returned to its proper owner. The ex-pupil then led his band against the other dens of robbers in the kingdom, and his movements were conducted with such dash and vigor that the various hordes scattered in every direction, while the treasures in their dens were returned to the owners, or, if these could not be found, were given to the poor. In a short time every rob

"I am willing to reward you," he said, "for assisting me in my recent undertaking; but I can not allow you to lead a band of robbers in my dominions."

A dark shade of disappointment passed over the ex-pupil's features, and his face lengthened visibly. "It is too bad," he said, "to be thus cut short at the very outset of a brilliant career. I'll tell you what I'll do," he added suddenly, his face brightening, "if you 'll let me keep on in my new

into some other business; and the victorious youth led his band into other kingdoms to continue the great work of robbing robbers.

The Queen never sent for the collection of curiosities which the robbers had stolen from her. She was so much interested in the new museum that she continually postponed the reëstablishment of her old one; and, so far as can be known, the buttons and the button-holes are still in the cave where the robbers shut them up.

LET me tell you of a series of matinées I attended this summer, which were given at three o'clock in the morning.

The windows of my bedroom opened toward the south on a beautiful lawn, bordered with elms. Year after year comes the golden, or Baltimore, oriole,- most delightful of singers. He loves best the swaying branches of the loftiest elm for his home, that old Dame Nature may rock the little ones to sleep with every breeze. Robin-Redbreast and Jenny Wren build lowlier homes in more accessible places. Then there is the linnet, who years ago forsook us for a southern climme, but, perhaps alarmed by the noise of war, returned to her northern home. These were some of the singers who gave the three o'clock matinées. They continued for two or three months, from May nearly through July, and the programme each day, for the first month, seemed precisely the same.

First came a loud, shrill, prolonged call, always repeated three times, which reminded me of a gong at a hotel. It was evidently intended for the rising-bell and for a call to order. After the last call came a feeble peep, as if one little fellow had managed to arouse himself just enough to answer. Then another replied a little louder, and another, until, in rapid succession, all the dwellers in the grove announced their presence, and answered to their names. Then followed a minute or two of entire silence; after which the prima donna, as it seemed to me, opened the concert. It was a loud,

clear, sweet strain, so unlike any heard in the day, that I can not tell what bird it was; I think only the oriole could pour forth that delightful music. It sang alone in a clear, ecstatic strain. At a certain part of the solo two other voices broke in as a trio, and at the end of the stanza all the voices joined in full jubilee chorus. This was repeated six times, so that I came to call it their hymn of praise in six stanzas. It was rendered every morning in exactly the same way. After it there was singing by the full choir, and it grew louder and more impassioned, as if each minstrel was inspired by the rest, like the singing of a vast concourse of people.

After this grand climax, the voices would die away, one after the other, and the principal concert was over. The parent birds went on their morning flight, and their birdies swung in their windrocked hammocks for another half-hour. At the expiration of this time came a call similar to the first, although by a different bird, often a whippoorwill. The summons was repeated thrice, then came a feeble little "peep, peep, twitter, twitter," and the juveniles joined to the best of their ability. This concert was much shorter than that of their parents, as befitted their tender age, and their hunger on first awaking. But it was never omitted in rain or sunshine until the fierce midsummer heats, parental cares, or the absence of the principal singers, caused them to be given up for the rest of the season.

lip; for sometimes this tooth is eight feet long. The animal itself, from head to tail, is seldom more than sixteen feet in length, so that such a tooth would be half as long as the whole body. Of what use such an enormous tooth is to the narwhal no one knows. Some persons say it is used for spearing fish; others, that its use is to stir up the mud in the bottom of the ocean in order to scare out the fish that may be hiding there; and one man says the tooth is for the purpose of breaking holes in the ice in winter; for the narwhal, like all whales, is obliged to come to the surface at intervals to breathe.

Whatever the tooth is intended to be used for, it is certain that when the narwhal wishes to play it finds another narwhal of a like mind, and away they charge at each other till the long toothswords clash together.

They are active as well as frolicsome, and sailors tell of seeing them crossing swords in this way, thrusting and parrying, and rolling and darting about with marvelous agility and grace, as if combining sword-play and acrobatics in the same game.

There is something very soldier-like, too, in their mode of traversing the ocean. They form in ranks, in good order; and with similar undulations of the body and sweeps of the tail, they proceed by the thousand together

to the part of the ocean world that has been decided upon as a sojourning-place.

The narwhal is light gray in color, and covered with black spots. For a great many reasons it is valued by the Greenlanders. It furnishes a very

fine quality of oil, its flesh is used for food, and its skin, made into a jelly, and called mattak, is considered a dainty too choice for ordinary occasions.

NARWHALS FENCING.

This "swordsman of the deep," as I have called him, is a warm-blooded animal, and must not be confounded with the saw-fish or the sword-fish, both of which are entirely different in their species and habits from the narwhal.

THIS fascinating entertainment can be prepared by children, at short notice, with very little trouble or expense. The articles required are two sheets of large card-board, two sheets of pink tissue-paper, and two sheets of white cotton wadding, one ball of white and one of pink velvet chalk, a leadpencil, a pair of scissors, six yards of black cambric, a few tacks, and a little paste.

One sheet of card-board is fastened on the side wall of a darkened room, so that the shadow of the face of a person with large and regular features will fall upon the center of it when a lighted candle is held in front of the side of the face at a distance of three feet. A cup should be placed between the face and the card-board and kept in position by the pressure of the head, in order, so far as possible, to prevent any movement on the part of the sitter. The candle must be so placed that the shadow of profile is in the center of the card-board; the outlines are then to be traced with a pencil. The card-board can then be taken down and the profile carefully cut out; the back of the head usually being enlarged, so that various methods of dressing the hair may be permitted. This white card-board will be ready for the bas-relief after the outer edge has been cut into the form of a circle, and made thicker by several rings of pasteboard of the same diameter, but only three inches wide. When cameos are to be exhibited, the outer surface should be covered with pink tissue-paper.

A curtain of cheap black cambric or any plaincolored material, reaching from the ceiling to the floor, is then hung at a distance of about two feet from the back wall of the room where the exhibition is to take place. The card-board is fastened into a hole made in the curtain, so that the center of the opening is about six or seven feet from the floor,

and a chair or small table is placed close behind this curtain and another small piece of black cloth is tacked to the wall behind the opening..

The person whose face is to form the bas-relief stands upon a chair or table so that the head fits into the opening in the card-board, about one-half of it projecting in front of the surface of the frame thus formed. The side-face thus exposed is chalked and the hair is covered with white wadding, which conceals it, and also can be fastened in waves, plaits, or classic knots; for cameos, pink chalk, and tissue-paper take the place of the white. Very pretty art studies can thus be made by inexperienced persons.

When it is desired to show several of these art studies consecutively, it will be well to have a pink and a white frame placed side by side about one foot apart, as then they may be shown together or separately; the one not in use being covered with a little curtain of black cambric. Thus a pleasing variety can be produced by showing either a cameo or a bas-relief or both together. Faces of children or of grown people can be used as desired, as it is not absolutely necessary that the features should exactly fill the cut profiles in the card-board. The eyes are always closed, and a little chalk should be rubbed on the eyelids just before the face is shown to the spectators.

The frames may be placed between thick windowcurtains draped above and below them; this will save the trouble of a black curtain, as the performers can stand in the window behind the curtain. The best manner of lighting them is from the top; and when the room has no chandelier, a lamp can be held at the left side as high as can be done conveniently by a person who stands upon a chair or short step-ladder.