That is what the Deacon says; but, for my part, I never knew a goose that hadn’t two legs.

A CITY UNDER THE WATER.

In past ages, as the Deacon once told some of his older boys in my hearing, the people of some parts of Europe used to live above the surfaces of lakes, in huts built on spiles driven into the water.

Well, now I hear that some one has found, under the water of Lake Geneva, a whole town, with about two hundred stone houses, a large public square, and a high tower; and, from the looks of the town, the shape of the houses, and the way the stones are cut, some say that the place must have been built more than two thousand years ago!

Now, I can understand how men were able to live in the way the Deacon described, but it strikes me that this other story has something in it that’s harder to swallow than water.

Who ever heard of men living in cities under the water, as if they were fishes?

REFLECTION.

    The Red School-house.

My Dear Jack-in-the-Pulpit:  Many thanks for putting into your April sermon the picture and letter which I sent to you.  Now, I must let you know about the explanations that some of your bright chicks have given.

Arnold Guyot Cameron, S.E.S., O.C.  Turner, Louise G. Hinsdale, and the partners E.K.S. and M.G.V. guessed the right word, which is “Reflection”; and, of course, it needed some “reflection” to find it out.  The lady in the picture is absorbed in “reflection” upon something she has been reading in her book; but, besides this, the water is represented as sending back a “reflection” of nearly every other object in the picture.

Several others of your youngsters wrote, but they were not so fortunate in their attempts.  “Mignon” suggests the word “Heads,” for the reason that the guessing has given employment to many heads.  John F. Wyatt thinks that “Beautiful” is the word.  Alfred Whitman, C.H.  Payne, and Nellie Emerson, though writing from three places far apart, agree in giving the word “Reverie” as their notion of the right one.  George A. Mitchell thinks it is “Study”; Arthur W. James guesses “Meditation”; and Hallie quietly hints “Calm.”  “P.,” however, believes that the word is “Misrepresented,” which he inclines to write, “Miss represented.”  But Nathalie B. Conkling puts forward the exclamation “Alas!” as the proper solution, spelling it “A lass.”

Now, puns are not always good wit, and these two are not puns of the best kind; but they, as well as the other guesses, show that your chicks have lively minds, able to see a thing from more than one point of view, even although their conjectures do not hit the very center of the mark in every instance.  I am much obliged to them all for their letters, and to you, dear Jack, for your kindness.—­Sincerely your friend,

    THE LITTLE SCHOOLMA’AM.