The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1880-11-18
OUR LITTLE FOLRS,



The pouters and nuns, who had serious reason
10 give for thus sighting the ball of the season.
Then came the Cock Robin with sweet Jenny Wren,
The Blackbirds, fsmily party Of ten,
The Thrushes In brown, and the Jaybird in blue
With wild Bob-onkum who makes such ado.
The King bird and suit next arrived, I am told
With the Orlole dressed all in velvet and gold;
While the Cardinal thought It no shame to be seen
In humble attendance upon the gay queen.
The sweet Meadow Lark was the hostess that day,
Ot manners 30 gentle and temper gay;
Though It's whispered discreetly, half earnest,
half fun,
That her grGc2s were learned at the court OF
the SUM-
In strutted the Peacock, vain, gaudy bird,
And rendered himself by his airs quite absurd
But the DAVIS in a co ner just whispered together,
And soon the poor creature had scarcely feather.
In bower of ivy screened off from the day,
The Owl and the Bat dozed the morning away;
While the Woodpeckers tap and the Catbird's wild
scream
Failed to rouse the dull souls from their indolen,
dream.
Meath widespreading locust the banquet was
spread.
Whose clustering blossom a rich odof shed,
Where, seated on couches by Nature designed
On the sweetest of berries they merrily dined.
kbut aleS lOr the plans OF the children OF clayl
The farmer that moment remembers his hay.)
The dessert had been placed, and in bumpers of
dew
Many toasts had been given, when over there few
pert little Sparrow whom nobody knew.
Farmer seedwel," he cried; ladies' fly for your
Then into sheltering thicket he dives.
The birds gave a futter. and off they all few
without even bidding their hostess "AdieuN
LAURA ). HAGNER.
Children Under the Snow.
Far away up in the north, on the
shores of that great frozen ocean lying
beyond Europe and Asia, you may
sometimes catch sight Gas did once)
of huge, gray, pointed thing, standing
all alone in the midst of the snowy
plain, just like an immense pear with
the stalk upward. L should have been
puzzled had l not seen a thin curl
creeping from the top of it; but that
let me into the secret. This queer-look-
ing thing was Samoiede tentl
The tent of Samoiede is almost as
simple an affair as that of an Arab. All
you have to do is to plant dozen long
poles in the ground, slanted so as to
let their tops meet; cover this frame
work with reindeer skins, leaving hole
at the top to let out the smoke; pile the
snow high up around the lower part to
keep off the wind-the "house" is COM
plete.
But, outlandish as it looks, this little
burrow is worth something in q red
Russian frost, which freezes the very
breath on ones mustache; so go right
mp to the door (Which is simply thick
skin hanging over a hole in the side),
lift it, and step in.
The inside is certainly warm enough
rather too warm, in fact, being almost
RS hot and choky as bake-house
There is fire burning in the middle
the smoke going anywhere to every
whero; and beside it sat three things
one can hardly call them human figures
--one deal larger than the other two
There being no light but the glare O.
the fire, it is not easy for me to SEE
where am going; and the first thing
do is to stumble over something which
seeIuS lIhe Skill UaS, unusually full
But it is mott is a child, wrapped OF
rather tied up in huge cloak of deer
skin, and rolling about the floor like 6
log.
In these out-of-the-way places, where
man may go for days without seeing 6
human face except his own, people cal
upon each other without waiting to be
introduced, and my sudden entrance
does not seem TO disturb my new
friends in the least They greet mt
cordially enough, and bid me welcome
in Russian, which most of the Samoiede'
speak q little; and, seating myself on t
chest, 1 look about me.
As my eyes get used to the half-light
I see that the group by the fire consists
of woman and two little girls, mutlle(
in skins from head to foot. Papa il
away somewhere with his sledge ant
his reindeer, leaving mamma to mint
the house and take care of the children
Funny little things they are, with grea
round heads, and dark. brown skins, arC
small, restless black eyes, and faces as i
somebody had sat down upon them
but, queer as they look, they have learne,
TO make themselves useful already, TO
they are hard at work stitching thei
own clothes. They are not q bit shy
and in another minute [ have then
scrambling up into my lap, and wonder
ing at the ticking Of my watch, which
take out to show them, while they clal
their hands and shout, Pa, pal u" whicl
is their word for "good."
The tent is not very large one, bu
every inch OF its space has certainl,
been made the most of. The floor i
carpeted with thick sheets of gray felt
and Uttered with chests, sacks, baskets
bark shoes, and bits of harness; Will,
hanging from the tent poles, or thrus
into the folds of the skins that cove
them, are a perfect museum of thing
OF every sort caps, pouches, fish
spears, knives, hatchets, whips ant
last, but certainly not least, the face 0
a baby, which has been thrust into
kind of pocket in the skin, like knit
into the sheath. / stoop to stroke th
little brown face, while the round eve
stare wonderingly at me out Of the fold
of the skin.
Meanwhile the lady of the house (o
rather tent), hospitable like all Sa
moiedes, hastens to set before me SOM
black bread mixed with bark, and
lump of terrihcalIy strong cheese, mad
of reindeer milk.
The reindeer supplies the Samoiedel
with plenty of other things besid,
cheese; indeed, almost everything thai
they have got comes from it in somt
form or other. They eat reindeer
meat, they drink reindeer milk; theil
fish-spears are tipped reindeer horn
their clothes, and the very tents il
which they live, are made OF reindeer
skin; the needles wherewith they
e L