| Summary: | Newsletter of the North Dakota School for the Deaf. TH:E NORTEC D^KICTii. IB-ZXXTXTIErEX FOR THE __ CHILDREN. A Willing Captive. One winter a party ot' Indians burnt the town of Deerfield in Massachusetts. They killed forty-seven persons and carried off one hundred and twelve. EuniceJWitliams and her little daughter were among the captives. They put the mother to death because she was too feeble to travel, but they carried the child, who was only seven years old, to Canada. The whites wished to ransom her, but the Indians refused to give her up. They adopted her as their child and she wore the Indian dress. When she grew up, she married an Indian chief. Many years afterwards she visited her friends in Deerfield. They tried to persuade her to remain with them, but she preferred the Indian mode of life and returned to her home in the forest in spite of the remonstrances of her friends.— Mich iga n Mirror. Nutting. Saturday morning Walcott and Mary went to the woods for chestnuts. Rover, the Newfoundland dog, and James Lane, a large boy, went with them. They took baskets of lunch. It was a cool, sunny day. The leaves on the trees were all red and yellow, they walked to the woods two miles away. They sat down on the ground to rest and eat lunch. Then they picked up nuts to fill their baskets. James climbed up the trees and shook the branches. The nuts fell down. Mary found two quarts ot nuts. Walcott found thiee pints and James Lane had a large ba? full. They cracked some of the nuts with a stone and picked out the kernel to eat. Rover played in the leaves and chased squirrels. They enjoyed the lovely autumn day.—Alabama Messenger. *_______ John’s Live Present. John Porter was sick in bed for a long time with the measles. At last he became better, but he was not strong at first, and his eyes were weak. John had to stay in bed all day. He wanted to go to school again, and sometimes he felt impatient. One evening John’s grandmother sent him a present. It was a pretty green parrot. John was delighted. John taught the parrot to speak. She learned to say, “ Poor John,” and Dinner's ready.” At last John could get up and walk about a little. When he went to dinner, Poll)' always perched on his shoulder and went with him. She hopped on the tabic and became excited and screamed. Then John’s mother put a napkin over her. Polly learned to be quiet, and then she sat in the middle of the table perfectly still till the meal was over.—Minnesota Companion. A Duty of Girls. What a good thing it is for girls to know how to do housework! To keep their rooms clean and tidy, know how to cook, wash dishes, clean floors and do all sorts of work like this. Many servants are so careless, untidy and wasteful that housekeepers cannot keep them. Girls and women ought to depend on themselves and not on hired help. Girls may have to go out and support themselves. Their parents are not rich. It may be necessary for them to help support the family at home. Whatever may happen, they ought always to do their work well. Be clean. Be careful and waste not. Never throw away good food. Never break up dishes. Always scour their pans and kettles. Clean out the corners. Be on time and rest when their work is done. Then they will always be well-treated, for good girls are respected and in demand. Oscar’s Fish. There is a brook which flows past Oscar's house in the spring and autumn, but in summer it runs dry. One warm June day Oscar found a fis'n in a little brook, everywhere else the channel of the brook was empty, and soon the small pool would be dry too, and then the poor fish must die. Oscar was sorry for him; he carried him home in his dinner-pail and threw him into the well. The little fish lived there, and Oscar liked to watch him as he swam around in circles. Oscar kept him several days, but once there was no one to take care of the fish while he was gone. So he thought he would put him into the lake into which the brook flowed. After Oscar had thrown him in, he stood on the shore of the lake and watched to see what the fish would do when he found himself free. The water was clear and still and Oscar could see the fish through the water. What do you think this silly little fish did? The lake was large and he could go where he pleased, but he did not swim from place to place like the other fishes, he only swam around in small circles, just as large as the well in which he used to live. — Mt. Airy Wot Id. A Peculiar Town. Falaise is an old town in the northern part of France. William, Duke of Normandy, who conquered England about eight hundred years ago, was born in this old town. Many years ago there were no street lanterns or lamps in Falaise. Therefore the streets were very dark at night, and people often stumbled over stones, or walked into mud-puddles. Sometimes the mayor thought he ought to make a law to light the streets. He told the people that a lantern must be hung over every house door at night. The people promised to obey the mayor, and he felt very proud about his new law. But at night the streets were as dark as ever. The people had reallyr hung out a lantern over every door, but they had put no candles in them. The mayor was mad, but it was his own fault because he had not made his law plain enough. So he changed his law and told the people that they7 must hang out lanterns with candles in them. The people promised to obey' him and the mayor felt satisfied. He thought he was wise. But that night Falaise was still as dark as ever. The people had hung out their lanterns and put candles in them, but they' had not lighted them. The mayor was in a great rage, but he could not scold the people for they had really obeyed his law. So he had to change hi? law again. He said to the citizens: “ You must hang a lantern with a lighted candle in it, over your door every evening at six o’clock.” The people said they would do so. and the mayor felt sure that the streets of Falaise would be lighted that night. He felt like patting himself on the back. But F’alaise remained as dark as Egypt. The mayor was furious. He raved and swore at the people and called them bad names. But it was again his own fault. The people had not disobeyed him for every citizen had hung up a lantern with a lighted candle in it at six o'clock, and had then blown the candle out. The mayor had forgotten to tell them to keep the candles lighted all night. So the poor mayor had to change his law7 again. This time he was very careful. He said to the citizens: “ You must hang up a lantern over your front doors and keep a lighted candle in it from sunset to sunrise." The people obeyed him and after that the streets of Falaise were lighted at night, and there were no more broken necks or broken bones from stumbling over unseen stones.—Colorado Index.
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