God’s help what will not love and a brave heart do?
Up the bank, his own clothes heavy with the water,
he drags the helpless child. He gains the top, his
foot is already on the bank, when poor, unconscious
Willie slips from his loving embrace, and once more
sinks.

This time there is no cry; he rises, and is drifting
down the stream. O the agony of that moment!
‘He was trusted to me!’ cried the poor boy; ‘I must
save him!’ Swift as an arrow he outran the floating
form, and once more sprang in; clutching the bough
of an overhangipg tree. Againhe tried. Alas! alas!
the bough so rudely strained snaps, and now two are
drifting, drifting to their death.

The screams of their frightened playfellows soon
brought help, but too late. Oh, who can tell the
anguish of the parents in their saddened coming
home? Never again shall those dear children’s glad
looks make their sunshine ; their voices the music of
their toilworn lives. That brave, noble-hearted boy,
that little merry child, now rest together in the village
churchyard. There loving hearts have chronicled
this deed, as brave a deed and unselfish as ever won
the Victoria Cross, and have added these words:
‘They were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in
their death they were not divided.’ H. M. B.

 

 

A VOICE FROM
AMERICA.

EAR children, your Chatterbox
comes across the ocean to
us very regularly, and I
have often looked to see if
any one on this side of the
world had written anything
for it; but I have only seen
pictures of some of our
wonderful things. We are
very much interested in the

= wonderful things of other
countries just now, for you must know that we have
been having our first International Exhibition. It
was in Philadelphia, one of our large cities, and also
one that is very prominent in our history. For
two or three years we Americans were preparing for
this World’s Fair. ‘The people of Philadelphia have
a very beautiful pleasure-ground, called Fairmount
Park; and a large tract of this was fenced off and
used for the Exhibition. There are a great many
buildings in this enclosure, and all were filled with
interesting things—things that would interest chil-
dren, too.

When I visited this Exposition I thought I never
before had had such a delightful time. The grounds
and many of the buildings were crowded with people;
every one was there to learn, and all were as happy
and as good-natured as could well be imagined.
There were English, Spanish, French, ‘Turks,
Russians, Germans, Chinese, Japanese, Americans,
and so forth, all proud of their own countries, and
all interested in one another’s country. In the great
hall used to exhibit machinery I saw half-a-dozen
negroes preparing tobacco as they do down South.
They were singing as they worked, ‘And Pharach
to Moses said,’ while a Turk and two Japanese were

   

 

watching them and smiling at the scene. And we
white folks, used to the sight of the negro at work,
were just as much interested in the Oriental exhibits.

The building called the Main Building was the
largest one. It was filled with things from every
country. There were carpets, jewelry, and tiles,
and silverware, and ‘ precious things in abundance,’
from Great Britain. There was a chest made from
beams six hundred years old, taken from Salisbury
Cathedral, which made me think how very modern
all our things are. It would seem very strange to
me to look at buildings some portions of which are a
thousand years old; for, when I look around my
home in this great city, I can think that, less than
four hundred years ago, it was a forest—the home
of the Red man, the scene of bloody encounters of
savages, a ‘happy hunting-ground.” We have a
street in the older part of the city, ‘way down town,’
called Wall Street; now it is the business place of
bankers and brokers, but a little over a century
back it had a wall running along it, which protected
the citizens from Indians. We do not see any of
these people here now, except very seldom, when
some chief comes from the Far West to see how the
‘pale-faced people,’ as they call us, live.

But I am not telling about the Exhibition. In a
white marble building, which is to stand as a memorial
of this fair, were paintings from nearly all the civilised
countries. In a corner room were a number of pic-
tures lent by your good queen. There was a
painting of herself, dressed as she was when crowned,
nearly forty years ago; there was the ‘Marriage of
the Prince of Wales, and in the corridor was a por-
trait of the Princess. In the rotunda of this building
was a terra-cotta copy of the group representing
America, in a monument erected to Prince Albert in
London. Prince Albert is highly thought of here ;
perhaps you remember he was the first person who
proposed an International Exhibition. Some noted
people asked him to support by his name the attempt
to start an English Exposition, and he instantly asked,
‘Why not make it international?’ and it was made
so, and a number have followed it.

We Americans have greatly enjoyed the presence
of the foreigners here this summer. They were from
all parts of the world, and we liked their expressions
of good-will towards us and our country. We wish
they had brought theiy families with them; it would
have been delightful to see the children of Europe
meeting with the children of the New World. All
the school children of the United States that possibly
could went to Philadelphia, and their bright faces
and animated expression showed their enjoyment
of this collection of the world’s work and skill. You
have many opportunities to see the great buildings
and monuments, prominent people and places, that
we have not: every child here lonks forward to a
trip to Europe some time. We wish you would
come here, and we would show you our great moun-
tains and rivers, rolling prairies and fine sea-coasts,
wonderful sunsets and rich autumnal foliage; for
what we lack in certain advantages of Europe we
have made up in a great and wide ‘roominess.’ And
now, good-bye. Some time, if the Editor permits,
I may chat with you again.

AN AMERICAN CousIN.

 

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