e. There was a
pause. Perhaps that would be better than foot-ball; besides, Joe never
got mad, and little Bob was crying hard. "Let Bob go home, fair and
square, and I'll run," repeated Joe.

"All right," they shouted. "Come on, then."

[Illustration: "FIRE AWAY!"]

Joe helped to uncover Bob, shook the snow off his clothes, wiped his
eyes with the cuff of his coat, and sent him on his way. Then the boys
formed two lines, each with as many snow-balls as he could hurriedly
make, and Joe prepared for the run. Blinky was furious, and as Joe
shouted, "Fire away!" and started down the line, he barked himself
hoarse. Hot and heavy came the balls, or rather cold and fast they fell
on Joe's back and head and school bag. But he was a good runner, and
tore like mad from his pursuers, screaming, as he ran, "Fire away! fire
away!" until he reached a cellar door, where he knew he could take
refuge. Here he halted; but Blinky was in a rage at having his master
thus used. Joe did not mind it in the least, and was as full of fun as
he could be. When he got home he found his mother making apple pies; she
had baked one in a saucer for him. It looked delicious, but as he was
about to bite it, he said, "Mother, may I just run over to Mrs. Allen's
for a minute?"

"Oh yes," was the reply.

Wrapping up the pie in a napkin, he carried it with him. By the side of
the stove, with his head aching and bound up in a handkerchief, he found
poor little Bob. Without a word, he stuffed the nice little pie in Bob's
hands, and then rushed out again.

It is hardly necessary to say that in the future Blinky had a rival, and
that rival was Bob.

A SAIL ON THE NILE.

BY SARA KEABLES HUNT.

Did you ever go sailing on the Nile? Come, then, and imagine yourselves,
on a clear warm January day, afloat on the river of which you have so
often heard. What a sensation we should create if we could go sailing up
the Hudson some sunny morning, our broad lateen-sail swelling in the
breeze, and the Egyptian flag flying behind!

Let us take a walk over the boat which for two months will be to us a
floating home, and to which we shall become really attached before we
leave its deck, and the shores of the Nile. It is a queerly shaped
vessel, entirely different from any other which has ever carried you
over the waters. The length is about seventy-two feet, and the width
between fourteen and fifteen feet at the broadest part; it has a sharp
prow, and stand