The Nursery, February 1878, Vol. XXIII, No. 2 A Monthly Magazine for Youngest Readers

Excerpt

EBONY AND LUCY.

BONY is the name of Lucy's black dog. I will leave you to guess why he is so called.

On a bright, cold winter day, when no wind was stirring, and the ice of the pond was smooth as glass, Lucy went out, followed by Ebony. Such joyful barking as there was!

Her father knew that the good dog would pull her out of the water, if the ice should break through. But the day was so cold, there was little danger from thin ice.

A bright idea occurred to Lucy when she had put on her skates. She had scarfs and handkerchiefs with her, and, tying three or four of these together, she made a noose, which she threw over Ebony's head. Thus she held him, so that he could pull her on her skates over the ice.

"Now, Ebony, let us see how fast you can go," said Lucy. Ebony started at a full gallop; and she began to sing,—

"We issue no tickets, we close no gate,
We blow no whistle, and nobody's late;
Our train is off as soon as we're in it;
We go at the rate of ten miles a minute,
(And that is six hundred miles an hour!)—
For ours is an engine of one-dog power;
But that dog's Ebony, bold and fleet,
A dog, you'll find, that is hard to beat:
So look out, stragglers and tramps! I guess
You'd better not trifle with our express!"

Hardly had Lucy finished her song, when Ebony, who had been going at great speed for some distance, slipped on his haunches, where the ice was very smooth, and, sliding along, fell over on his side.

Lucy fell too, but she was not hurt. "You good Ebony," said she. "You have done well. But it is too bad to make you play the part of a locomotive engine. And so, old fellow, I will take off your harness, and let you go free."

Then Lucy took the scarf from the dog's neck, and darted off alone on her skates to a part of the pond where her brother Felix had just had a tumble on the ice.

But Ebony would not forsake her. He kept close at her heels; for he knew there was water underneath the ice, and he meant to be near at hand, should any accident happen. I am glad to say, that, after a good frolic on the ice, they reached home safely in time for dinner.

Uncle Charles.
Theseare the robbers,—the terrible three!
In showing no mercy they all agree;
They fill the woods with their war-whoops dire:
Policemen and soldiers, beware, retire!

Rinaldo's the name of the captain: you learn
His rank from his cap, and his frown so stern.
The next is Grimaldi, a desperate fellow!
His eyes they are blue, and his hair it is yellow.

The youngest but dreadfulest of them all
Has a terrible name that I cannot recall:
'Tis hard to pronounce; and it's well, perhaps,
That memory here has suffered a lapse.

Oh! doesn't it make you all shudder to look
At their likenesses even, all here in a book?—
Rinaldo the fierce, and Grimaldi the grim,
And that young, nameless bandit, so bold and so trim.

But if you should meet with this terrible band,
Now don't run away, but come quick to a stand:
Be humble and quiet, and don't act amiss,
And all that they'll rob you of, will be—a kiss...!