“Well, one morning, when my brother Nat and I were all ready, the lamb could not be found, and, supposing that it had gone out to pasture with the cows, we started on.  I used to be very fond of singing, and the lamb would follow the sound of my voice.  This morning, after we had gone some distance, I began to sing, and the lamb hearing me, followed, and overtook us before we got to school.  As it happened, we were early; so I went in very quietly, and took the lamb into my seat, where it went to sleep, and I covered it up with my shawl.  When the teacher and the rest of the scholars came, they did not notice anything amiss, and all was quiet until my spelling-class was called.  Hardly had I taken my place when the patter of little hoofs was heard coming down the aisle, and the lamb stood beside me ready for its word.  Of course, the children all laughed, and the teacher laughed too, and the poor creature had to be turned out-of-doors.  But it kept coming back, and at last had to be tied in the wood-shed until school was out.  Now, that day, there was a young man in the school, John Roulston by name, who had come as a spectator.  He was a Boston boy and son of a riding-school master, and was fitting for Harvard College.  He was very much pleased over what he saw in our school, and a few days after gave us the first three verses of the song.  How or when it got into print, I don’t know.

“I took great care of my pet, and would curl its long wool over a stick, Finally, it was killed by an angry cow.  I have a pair of little stockings, knitted of yarn spun from the lamb’s wool, the heels of which have been raveled out and given away piecemeal as mementoes.”—­Yours truly,

J.M.D.

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  Bolinas, Cal.

DEAR ST. NICHOLAS:  Were the “Arabian Nights” written by an Englishman or translated from the Arabic?  In either case can you tell us the name of the author?—­Yours sincerely,

ESTHER R. DE PERSE AND JIMMIE MOORE.

The “Arabian Nights” were collected and translated into English by Edward William Lane, an Englishman; but no one ever has found out where or by whom the tales were first told.  On page 42 of ST. NICHOLAS for November, 1874 (the first number), is an article on the subject by Mr. Donald G. Mitchell, which you would do well to read.

* * * * *

  Geneva, Switzerland.

DEAR ST. NICHOLAS:  Perhaps some of your American readers have visited this far-away city, and even attended school here.  Pupils come here for schooling from all parts of the world,—­from America, Cuba, England, Germany, Russia, Greece, and even from Egypt.  But many of the ST. NICHOLAS children never have been here; so I will tell them about the country and the people.