124

THE YOUTH’S CABINET.

 

pened, as much as to say, “Here, Mas-
ter George, hop on to me again ; I won’t
serve you another such a trick, I do as-
sure you.”

A little while after this, I was sent
with Madam Dolly after the cattle, that
had strayed away in the woods. Away
we went, as happy as two friends could
be; for we delighted very much in each
other’s company. I loved her, because
she was so gentle; and I believe she
loved me, because I was kind to her ; be-
sides, | presume she would rather have
carried me on her back than a heavy
man, for I was only seven years old, and
not very large at that. I had not been
gone a great while, before I lost my way;
and to make matters worse, Doll ran un-
der a young tree, and knocked my hat
off. This may seem a small matter; but
when my hat was off, and I off after it,
and had no way to get on again, it was
a serious difficulty, after all. I led my
pony, then, some rods; and at last found
a log, from which I soon got mounted
again. Pretty soon, I saw the cattle
coming, and my father driving them;
and right glad I was, for I did not know
the way home, although Dolly did, and
would have taken me home if I had let
her, but I did not know it then. Dolly
was a wonderful mare, though I must
not say any more about her now.

At another time, a fawn jumped out
of the boughs of a fallen tree, and ran
directly under my pony’s head. It was
the first fawn I had ever seen. I had
seen deer before, but this was the most
beautiful thing I ever beheld. Away
he scampered, and jumped over a fence,
and bounded off into the woods, as much
as to say, “I am not afraid of pony or
rider to-day.” GEORGE,

 

Water-Spouts.

HAVE seen many water-spouts, but

the very biggest of them was off

the coast of the Canaries. We

were sailing easy, at about half-a-
dozen knots, the weather gloomy, whena
man from the mizen sang out, “ A spout
ahead!” And sure enough, there was
a spout. The water of the sea was
gathered up, like a hillock with a sharp
point ; from this point, it seemed to run
upward, as smoke runs up a chimney,
to a heavy, dark cloud that stood over
it; but the cloud was white enough on
the upper side of it. There was a loud
hissing noise, and a commotion in the
sea; and we thought, that if the spout
should burst when we were under the
cloud, we should soon be food for the
fishes.

We laid the sails aback to prevent our
running into danger, and fired a gun or
two at the spout; but we could not hit it.
The water went up with a swift, whirling
motion, making a noise like a mill; and
all at once, when we were only a couple
of cables apart, the spout broke off at
the bottom, and down came a flood
enough to swamp a seventy-four. It
was a narrow escape—one of the narrow-
est, indeed, I ever had in my life. [I
would not like to be caught so again,
though.

We pitched about for some time, but
thought right little of God’s goodness,
in saving us from destruction. Sailors
are a sad, thoughtless set of people.
Often are they singing songs in praise of
themselves, when they ought to be prais-
ing him who has snatched them from the
jaws of sudden death.—Old Sea Cap-

tain.