"I see; big cavity in
it; must be hollow; you'll need to have it filled."
And, seeing his mistake, young Mr. Cipher apologized and went out,
and told it all around as a capital joke on the dentist.

[Illustration: JOHNNIE'S FIRST FISHING EXCURSION OF THE SEASON.

What he caught at the pond.

What he caught when he got home!]

OUR LETTER BOX.

DECLINED.--A Sad Catastrophe--A Stage-Driver's Story--My Dog Carlo--The
Children's Celebration--Flossie's Letter--The Scotch Yacht
Thistle--Brave Dog Nero and his Friends--Our First Boat Ride--Little
Sam, a Tale of Long Ago--Penny.

Q. K.--The first fire insurance office in the United States was
established at Boston in 1724; the first life insurance at Philadelphia
in 1812.

J. E. M. AND R. B. G.--Every requisite for admission to the West Point
Military Academy was fully detailed in No. 12 of the last volume, which
will be mailed to any address upon the receipt of 6 cents.

OLD READER.--1. The oldest daily newspaper in this country is the North
American and United States Gazette, founded in 1771, and still published
in Philadelphia. 2. There may be some curiosity dealer in your city who
would be willing to purchase the ancient paper in your possession.

YUM YUM.--Boulak is the port of Cairo, Egypt, being situated on the
right bank of the Nile, one mile northwest of that city, of which it
forms a suburb. A noble museum of antiquities is situated at Boulak,
and the latest additions to its treasures are the mummies described in
No. 22.

F. E. N.--Level is a term applied to surfaces that are parallel to that
of still water, or perpendicular to the direction of the plumb-line; and
when it is desired to ascertain the altitude of any specified locality,
the level of the ocean's surface is always taken as the standard from
which such reckoning is made.

ALEX.--The easiest and most skillful methods of killing setting and
preserving insects were set forth in Nos. 18, 27, 47, 48, 49 and 50 of
Vol. III. The process of making the "killing bottle" is too lengthy to
be reproduced here, but is given in full in the first-mentioned issue,
under the heading "Herme's Museum."

W. B. W.--By closely studying the construction and solution of the
puzzles printed from week to week in this paper, any boy of average
intelligence will have no difficulty in mastering them in a
comparatively short time. A very interesting article on this subject was
presented under the t