Near by, the earth lay full of rest, And ere the perfect day was done Slowly crept on the listening night, The sinking moon shone pale and slender; We hailed the cotton-woods, in sight, The home-roof gleaming near and tender, Guiding our quickened steps aright. Soon darkened all the mighty hills, The gods were sitting there in shadow; Lulled were the noisy woodland rills, Silent the silvery woodland trills— 'Twas starlight over Colorado. THE TWO MYSTERIES. We know not what is, dear, We know not what it means, dear, This dread to take our daily way, We know not to what other sphere Nor why we're left to wander still, But this we know our loved and dead, Life is a mystery as deep As ever death can be ; Yet oh! how dear it is to us This life we live and see! Then might they say-these vanished ones- Ye cannot tell us, if ye would, The child who enters life comes not So those who enter death must go That God is overhead; And as life is to the living, So death is to the dead. DODGSON, CHARLES LUTWIDGE, an English clergyman and writer on mathematical subjects, born in 1832; died in 1890. He was lecturer at Christ Church, Oxford, from 1855 to 1881. His principal works are A Syllabus of Plain and Algebraical Geometry (1860); Guide to the Mathematical Student, etc. (1864); Elementary Treatise on Determinants (1867). He wrote, under the pseudonym of "Lewis Carroll," two very popular tales for children, entitled Alice in Wonderland (1869), and Through the Looking-glass (1875). He also published The Hunting of the Snark (1876); Rhyme? and Reason? (1883); A Tangled Tale (1886); Euclid aud His Modern Rivals (1886); Game of Logic (1887); Curiosa and Mathematica (1888); Syler and Brund (1890). THE MOCK TURTLE'S STORY. "Once," said the Mock Turtle at last, with a deep sigh, "I was a real Turtle." These words were followed by a very long silence, broken only by an occasional exclamation of "Hjckrrh!" from the Gryphon, and the constant heavy sobbing of the Mock Turtle. Alice was very nearly getting up and saying, "Thank you, sir, for your very interesting story," but she could not help thinking there must be more to come, so she sat still and said nothing. "When we were little," the Mock Turtle went on at last, more calmly, though still sobbing a little now and then, we went to school in the sea. The master was an old Turtle-we used to call him Tortoise--" 66 "Why did you call him Tortoise, if he wasn't one?" Alice asked. "We called him Tortoise because he taught us," said the Mock Turtle angrily; "really you are very dull." The Mock Turtle went on. "We had the best of educations-in fact, we went to school every day——" "I've been to a day-school too," said Alice; "you needn't be so proud as all that." "With extras?" asked the Mock Turtle, a little anxiously. "Yes," said Alice, "we learned French and music." "And washing?" said the Mock Turtle. "Certainly not!" said Alice, indignantly. "Ah! Then yours wasn't a really good school," said the Mock Turtle in a tone of great relief. "Now at ours they had at the end of the bill, 'French, music, and washing extra.'" "You couldn't have wanted it much," said Alice; "living at the bottom of the sea." "I couldn't afford to learn it," said the Mock Turtle, with a sigh. "I only took the regular course." "What was that?" inquired Alice. "Reeling and Writhing, of course, to begin with," the Mock Turtle replied: "and the different branches of Arithmetic-Ambition, Distraction, Uglification, and Derision. There was Mystery-Mystery ancient and modern, with Seaography: then Drawling-the Drawling-master was an old conger-eel, that used to come once a week he taught us Drawling, Stretching, and Fainting in coils." "What was that like?" said Alice. "Well, I can't show it you, myself," the Mock Turtle said: "I'm too stiff. And the Gryphon never learnt it." "And how many hours a day did you do lessons?" said Alice. "Ten hours the first day," said the Mock Turtle, "nine the next, and so on." "What a curious plan!" exclaimed Alice. "That's the reason they're called lessons," the Gryphon remarked; "because they lessen from day to day." -Alice in Wonderland. THE WALRUS AND THE CARPENTER. The sun was shining on the sea, The sea was wet as wet could be, The Walrus and the Carpenter "O Oysters, come and walk with us!" "A pleasant walk, a pleasant talk, We cannot do with more than four, The eldest Oyster looked at him, But four young Oysters hurried up, All eager for the treat; There coats were brushed, their faces washed, Their shoes were clean and neat And this was odd, because, you know, They hadn't any feet. |