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2 i-^*^**>^!r?ffrrTn^inii»B ~^^^^"^ tuuL )/^^4 L> m A - L i •• ■"v' V T^^iif' "*' •'-^'^^m -j***4^^ I ■ "V. \\\ r'' "■>^'3^ i *- i*^i*sts. XS^S 7 j ~*lk'V ' /Mf/iA I■' ' \ / -I m J BBJfl | «B»BB» .aB-BB B-BBKB^ I V^^^O E»3 m% . JmVm\ ißßi^^^^^^<<T^\^i Mf £1 BB / 4BMkB) jffNß' «■■■» V^Ol\^ oUt% lr*^»JSl BBBBBBBfiBBBy^ BBBk IT IS just as well that you were not there. Even a child of forty years, that is far too old to be lieve in witches and sorcerers, would have been frightened had he seen fourteen witches and seventy eight sorcerers sitting on tree stumps in the black middle of the Black Forest on a windy midnight. And that is just what you or any one else would have seen. These fourteen witches and seventy eight sorcerers had met to settle a bet. The bet was as to who was the best enchanter. And the losers in the contest had agreed to go forever out of the witch and sorcery business and let the winner monopolize it. So it was a most important occasion. They elected the great Wiz as chairman. Wiz was the grandfather of all the sorcerers, and that is why they are called wizards. Old Witch Moonskipper was elected secretary. "We have met," cried the president, "to decide who is the best sorcerer. To settle it, we shall run trial heats first, and the winners of these will compete with each other and so on. The first heat will be run between Old Witch "Mildew and Sorcerer Phos phor." Sorcerer Phosphor stepped out with vanity puffing his chest. He held out his arm and at once all his fingers burst into flame. With these flaming fingers he wrote fiery letters against the black tree trunks and on the dark ground and they shone in green and devilish fire. But Old Witch Mildew only laugh ed. She stuck out her right hand, The West Point of the Incas LONG before Columbus discover ed the Western Continent many interesting peoples lived here, having their peculiar cus toms and training their children care fully in the way they considered best calculated to make them brave and wise men. Not only the red Indians of the North, but the people of Mexico and Peru, who had a certain sort of civili zation of their own. trained their chil dren carefully and made them pass through a series of trials which the American boy of to-day may be thank ful he does not have to undergo. Men of to-day in digging in the ruins of the splendid cities of the Peruvians have found almost a com plete record of some of their educa tional systems. In Peru the King of the country was called the Inca, and his eldest son, who was always brought up to succeed him, received a training es pecially elaborate and trying. The Prince was sent to one of the big boarding schools where young noble men were educated almost as soon as he could talk; there he was treated in all respects as if he were not the heir to the throne, but just a com mon, ordinary boy, who would some day have to work for a living. The school at which the Prince was educated was a military school, which, according to records, was the Peru vian West Point. There, although many other things were taught, the chief stress was laid upon the art of war. All the Prince's relatives, boys of about his own age and called the Inca nobles, were at the school with him and had their final examinations at the same time. The literary part of their education was inquired into in private by the "wise men" which corresponded to the "Academic Board" of West Point; but these examinations were followed by public exercises. The public exercises were conduct ed by a board consisting of the most prominent of the old Inca nobles, and it corresponded to the Board of Visitors appointed by the President each year to preside over the gradua tions at West Point. The graduating exercises at the Royal Peruvian Mili tary Academy lasted for a month. The graduates were required to il lustrate by drills v hat they knew of and the bark of the trees fell off in flakes, so that the fiery letters fell off with them. She touched the ground and it turned white and sickly and be gan to shine in a way of its own, much more baleful than that of Sorcerer Phosphor. She touched branches and bushes and they all became tipped with a ghostly light. So old Phosphor had to retire, and he has been earning his living ever since in factories and places where they catch him and paste him to the ends of little sticks and sell him as matches. The next contest was between a witch named F.ldidore and an Arabian Nights sorcerer named AH Hassan. He sprinkled water on a tree and changed it into a camel. Then he blew into the air and at once an army of Bedouins with glittering spears came charging over the ground and formed in battle array on the plain. The witch pronounced mystic words over a gnome and changed him into a bug; but when the other witches and sorcerers ordered her to make an army like the Arabian Nights person she had to confess herself defeated. So she retired and went into the for tune telling business at Country fairs, where anyone may see her to this day. So one after the other, witches and sorcerers, contested. One would point his finger at a tree trunk and turn it into a crocodile, and another would make a man out of a lop. Some would do things that frightened even the other sorcerers, and others made such failures that everybody said: "Oh, go 'way back and sit down." At last the contest had narrowed down to the Queen Witch, old Mug glegubble, who was considered the most intelligent and successful witch in the profession, and the sorcerer Wigwag, who had the reputation of being the most progressive. Old Mugglegubble had been elected Queen by the other witches after they had carefully examined one another to make sure that she was the ugliest; and their keen eyes had made no er ror, for it would have given a rhinoc eros quite a pain in his horn to gaze attentively at Mugglegubble for any length of time. She stepped out into the open ring and sprinkled some magic powder on the fire. Immediately the forms of all the persons who had ever lived on earth appeared. The air was full of their hurrying forms. The remote corners of the sky were dark with rushing hordes. The very earth seem ed to groan as the armies issued from its caverns and pits. All kinds of persons appeared—beautiful and ugly, tall and short, rich and poor. The first beggars in the world appeared side by side with forgotten kings. The armies of Attila and Xerxes and Tamerlane came rushing down on phantom horses. All the beautiful women of the world passed by weeping. "Pretty good, pretty good!" sa*id old Wiz. "But it is something that T could do myself if I had time." "Huh!" said old Mugglegubble. "This is only the beginning. Wait till I show you the real thing." She threw more powder on the fire, and all the dqpd and gone animals of the world came rushing down, so that more nervous witches dodged behind military tactics. Then they had to give exhibitions of boxinjj and wrestling. Running was also regarded as a necessary accomplishment, for the Peruvians had no horses, and the men who were destined to lead their armies had to prove that they could move swiftly on foot over long dis tances and not tire. Therefore, long courses were laid out for the boys to run over, which taxed their endurance and strength to the utmost. Then for several days together the boys were compelled to fast, being carefully examined during the time to see how they bore going without food; for the Inca said that a soldier and a gentleman should always be willing and able to go without food, and not grumble when such absti nence was necessary. The cadets were also matched against each other in mimic battles, in which, though the weapons were blunted, many were wounded and some killed. When this sort of thing had gone on for a month those boys who had won the best marks in their examina tions and had best stood the test of the public exercises were selected for graduation, while the others were dropped or turned back into the next class. The King was always present at these graduating exercises and deliv ered an address to the graduates. Garcilasso, a descendant of the In cas, has left us an account of these addresses from which we know that they were almost exact counterparts of the addresses delivered to-day by prominent men at high school gradua tions and college commencements. Other things change, but the gradua tion address seems to have been the same thing in all ages. After the address something took place which does not happen at mod ern American graduating exercises. The King pierced the ears of each graduate with a golden bodkin, or large pin, which was allowed to re main there until the wounds healed, leaving a hole into which a round ornament was inserted. The size of this ornament was gradually increased until in the case of the Prince it was as large as an orange. Sandals were now bound on the feet of the boys, and they went barefoot no longer. Also a sash was tied a*bout their waists, and crowns of flowers placed on their heads. The Prince was now allowed to put on his royal robes, and though only sixteen, he was usually sent to command an army corps somewhere on the border, where the King almost always had a little war going on with the neighboring savages. SUNDAY MORNING, JUNE 12, 1904. the fattest sorcerers they could find. There were the megatherium, and the ichthyosaurus, and the glyptodon, and the megalosaur, and the dinosaur, and the mastodon, and the brontosaur, all bigger than any seventy-eight wiz ards put together. The sorcerers clapped their hands and said: "Fine! Fine! What else?" The old witch glared at them with a poisonous look in her eyes and said: "Tf this isn't good enough to crush that nincompoop Wigwag, I'll do something now that nobody living ex cept myself can do. I'll produce for you Nebuchadnezzar himself." At these words all the sorcerers laughed incredulously; for old Nebu chadnezzar was considered witch proof. Old Mugglegubble took two handful s of magic powder of extra strength and tossed it into the flames, saying quickly: "Sremraf fo tol a lla era uoy." Immediately there was a terrible sound as of tempests blowing north, east, south and west and other direc tions not to be found on the compass. Trees fell everywhere. The earth shook. Mountains began to fall down. The rivers ran dry and- the ocean? piled up and swamped the land. The fire leaped a thousand feet into the air and the magic powder began to explode. Bang! P>ang! Boom! And every time it burst a whole forest would crumble away in fire. At last, through all the commotion, the frightened witches and sorcerers could hear a faint cackling cough, coming nearer and nearer. Between coughs they could hear a quavering thin voice saying: "Oh, dear me; oh, dear me! It will be the death of me to be out at this time of night with my rheumatics." And then, while Mugglegubble danced in glee around the fire, a little old man came into view through the smoke. He limped along with a cane and a great Babylonian crown sat on his head. It was too big for him, and would have fallen clean down to his shoulders if his large and conven ient ears had not held it up faithfully. His little old bald head stuck out through the open top and he com plained: "Dear me! Dear me! I will surely get cold in my head." "Yes," said old Wiz, who had lived in Babylon when it was a thriving town. "Yes, that is Nebuchadnezzar, sure enough!" "Thank you kindly, my dear sir," replied Nebuchadnezzar. "I have not the pleasure of knowing you, but I would be obliged if you would now tell me the way home." "This way." said old Mugglegubble. She picked up a broomstick, held it in front of Nebuchadnezzar and help ed him climb on it. Then she whis pered a word to it, and immediately it rose into the air and disappeared. "Hooray!" cried all the witches and 1 /yfiflvHflßi ?. AJUIb „ * • •. i»- — p *^^ H\Vn\«:n "I" m P mill tiff ll'Mli' (>t TnilfH sorcerers. "You win! Bringing old Nebuchadnezzar here was almost enough in itself. But to revive the old art of riding the broomstick is a real triumph. Nobody else can do it." Old Mubblegubble looked around proudly. The art of riding a broom stick had been lost in the early ages, and ever since then the witches and magicians had to take the train just ike other people. So, of course, they all thought she had won. "Give me a chance first," said Wig wag. "Maybe I can beat her after all." He brought out a long piece of wire and held it into a glass receptacle filled with a bluish fluid. Bright green sparks began to leap at once from one wire to the other. Then he attached the wires to coils of more wire and handed two tin handles to old Wiz. He took hold of them and immediately commenced to yell and dance. "Why don't you let go?" asked Wigwag, grinning. "Because I can't. I'm enchanted," gasped Wiz. ''Maybe Mugglegubble can break the charm," suggested Wigwag. Mugglegubble advanced and said hastily: "Ti tsniaga pit ma I." But it didn't do a bit of good; and old Wiz had to quiver and jump till Wigwag released him by doing some thing to the wires. "Now," said Wigwag, "look up into the air." He waved his wires, and far away a bell tinkled. "Now," said he to old Mugglegub ble, "you can do so much, suppose you race me to see who can send a message to the confines of the earth the quickest and get an answer." Mugglegubble grinned with delight. It was one of her specialties. "One, two, three! Ready! Go!" shouted old Wiz. Mugglegubble threw some powder on the fire. Immediately a green imp appeared in the smoke. In another instant he was at her ear and, pop! off he went with the message. Almost before the witches could take another breath, they saw the green imp Tar, far away, hurrying back with the re ply. But the bell tinkled again at that moment, and Wigwag's reply came, clear and distinct, right out of the end of the wire that he held in his hand. Old Mugglegubble nearly fainted. "What charm do you call that?" asked old Wiz respectfully. "I call the thing 'telephone,'" said Wigwag. "Do you give up?" he ask ed, turning to Mugglegubble. "No!" she shrieked furiously. "I challenge you to beat this!" She waved her crooked stick and immediately the clouds came from everywhere, and they spread out their black wings till the place was as dark as pitch, so that nobody could see' anybody else, and the more prudent sorcerers and witches put their hands on their pocket-books and watches. Wigwag laughed merrily and rub bed his two wires. At once a light shot from them, so blinding that the black clouds seemed to be afire them selves. Every wrinkle in old Mug glegubble's face stood out so clearly that all the other witches were deep ly pleased. "You win!" said old Wiz. "No, no!" yelled Mugglegubble. "I challenge him to a race." She jumped on a broomstick and off it went, straight as a wild goose and champing at the bit like a war horse. Wigwag looked at her and did noth ing till she had almost disappeared. The other witches and sorcerers cried out to him to hurry, or he would lose. But he waited until old Mugglegubble was only a speck in the sky. Then he waved his wires, and far away a glowing spot of light appeared. It approached and grew till it was as big as a big face. From behind it came a strange noise, like the fine concert that would be made if the police were to permit a mowing machine, and a sewing machine, and a printing press, and a rapid-fire gun to play their music together in the same place. It was a red thing with huge rub ber wheels. It had brass levers and handles and tubes all over it. Wigwag jumped in, pulled the biggest brass lever, and rang a terrible gong that shook the air so that old Wiz jumped twenty feet, and whoof! away he went. Almost at once the waiting enchan ters heard a terrible skirling and screaming in the sky, and the next moment old Mugglegubble came fly ing on her broomstick, shrieking: "Save me! Save me!" Immediately behind her came Wig wag in the terrible witch thing. The gong was ringing and the wheels were going rattlety bang, and the rapid guns seemed to be firing, and everything was roaring and rattling. Bang! Biff! it hit the tail end of Uncle Sam's Battle Trophies UNCLE SAM has in his curiosity shop many relics of former wars in the shape of flags and guns captured from nations with whom it has been his reluctant duty to fight from time to time. On Governor's Island is a Korean flag, the standard of the Royal Tiger Hunters, the King of Korea's crack regiment in former times, and also some curious Korean guns of ex tremely ancient make. Flag and guns were captured by Uncle Sam's sailors and "marines in 1871, when we had a war with Korea which was called at the time, "our little war with the heathen," and is now almost forgot ten. The Koreans captured and de stroyed an American schooner and enslaved such of the crew as they did not kill. As they refused all repar ation, Admiral Rodgcrs was sent with a fleet to .see about it. Tfte fleet en tered the Ping Yang river and the Korean forts fired on it. Admiral Rodgers landed a brigade of 648 blue jackets and marines and stormed the forts. A Korean army of several thousand men was in the forts, but the Yankees carried them with a rush, defeating the Koreans with great loss and suf fering themselves a loss of only three killed and seven wounded. This flag of the Tiger Hunters and the curious guns were captured at the time. The Hag is triangular and bears the representation of a fierce, winged tiger. Some of the guns, though manufactured probably hun dreds of years ago, are breech-load ing, showing that ordnance of that description was common in Korea be fore it was used in Europe and America. At West Point are preserved two British army battle flags, said to be the only ones of their kind in the possession of a nation which captured them in battle. Of course many Brit ish standards have been taken in the course of the long wars of the Eng lish, but- somehow, by hook or by crook, the British have managed to get them all back again except these two, it is said. At Trophy Point, West Point, is a fine collection of ancient Spanish guns, captured by the Americans in the war with Mexico. Many of these guns are elaborately ornamented and are more valuable as works of art than as pieces af ordnance. They were captured from the Spanish by the Mexicans when Mexico gained her independence, and in turn were taken from the Mexicans by the Yankees. Uncle Sam also has some British the poor frightened broomstick, and down fell Mugglegubble. She started to run as soon as she touched the ground, but Wigwag was after her and his magic steed went just as fast on the ground as it did in the air. Old Mugglegubble flung her arm above her head, darted into the w and was never seen again. Thus Wigwag became the one and only sorcerer of the world. And that is why all the enchantments that ar> so plentiful to-day are done solely with his magic, which consists of wires and push-buttons and queer fluids in glass receptacles. And the beauty about it is that these enchantments are always ar< you, and you can have them to use at any time. Such are the vast mod ern improvements made in sorcerers and witches by the great Witch Con test. JULIUS MULLER. guns captured in the Revolutionary War and in the War of 1812, and an interesting collection of Spanish guns captured during the receYu war with Spain. There are some curious Chinese guns, taken when our sailors and marines stormed the forts of Canton in 1856. There were four forts, built of granite, mounting 176 guns and garrisoned by an army of 5,000 men. Nevertheless, a landing party. consi>t ing of 287 Americans. a>sisted by the fire of the fleet, carried all the forts in turn with a loss of only 12 killed and 28 wounded. Uncle Sam has also many trophies captured in wars' with the Indians, such as spears and war bonnets; and guns and flags captured in our wars with the Barbary States, Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli in the early part of the last century. These piratical States levied tribute on all ships sailing the Mediterranean, capturing ships of all nations and en slaving sailors, until the Yankees, after paying tribute for a while, went there and chastised them. There are also relics of the naval war with France, which lasted two and a half years, coming to an end in tßot. In this war the United States captured 84 armed French vessels and practically stopped for a time all French commerce in the West Indies. Tucked away somewhere, also. Uncle Sam ought to have some of the many British naval ensigns which have been captured in the two wars with England. Somewhere else should be the trophies taken in the war with the natives of the present Dutch East Indies, where we also had a little naval trouble that made some very hot fighting. At present Uncle Sam's war trophies are scattered about at West Point, at Governor's Island, at Washington and at other places. If they were all collected together in one place they would form a historical curiosity shop well worth seeing. A Boy Complaint. Now comes the hardest time of year. When every time we disappear The grown-up folks are sure to state: "Those boys arc swimming! Just you wait!" It's hard to be suspected so By everybody that we know; And, though we dry and dry our hair,' The old folks hardly ever care. But holler loud and say: "What? 1 Him! Of course he sneaked and took a swim!" That's how they talk, both day and night. And the worst thing is that they're right!