ay
no. He is like a child in regard to wisdom. Why, I never heard of the
like! But I'll say no with perfect frankness.'

"Notice--Certain words in this sign form an old adage (11).

"A river in Russia (12) that is always all right was so high we had to
be ferried across, and the boatman told us this:

"'A well-known, useful guide am I;
I am both far and near;
I travel fast, slow, up, and down.
To naught do I adhere.
I'm daily sought by rich and poor,
My home's both low and high;
I'm sometimes seen, and yet unseen,
Sometimes in depths I lie' (13).

"Not being an island of Michigan (14) I was not taken in by his tale,
and guessed the answer quicker than river in Australia (15) believe I
could--with so many wives, and river of Cuba (16) children, not one of
whom is an island off the Mexican coast (17). One of my wives indulged
in a game of island off the Cuban coast (18). She lost heavily, and when
I chided her she was as short as pie crust made with lake in Iowa (19),
and she shut me up like a mountain in Utah (20).

"This last happened only yesterday. I tell you, if the road _to_ St.
Ives is as bad as that _from_ there, you have no envious journey. My
wives have fallen to quarrelling. I see one river of Tennessee (21)
another. I must box their ears with the island of Australia (22) of my
hand. Good-day, sir."

As I resumed my journey to St. Ives I early found the prediction of the
man of seven wives true. Here is a sample of one of the guide-board
signs:

"I once was seen in water, but by substituting one verb for another I am
now beheld on land." (23).

Do you wonder I never reached St. Ives?

* * * * *

In this story are four riddles and nineteen geographical names. Clews to
the former are given, and the latter are described in the text, the
catch being in the double meaning of the geographical name. Four prizes
are offered for best solutions: $10 to the first, and $15 divided
according to merit among the next ten. Put your name, address, and age
at the top of the sheet, and write the answers, one below another,
numbering each. Post solution not later than December 2, 1895. Address
HARPER'S ROUND TABLE, New York. Only persons may send answers who have
not passed their eighteenth birthday, but grown persons may help you
find answers. Names of prize-winners, with correct answers, will be
published in HARPER'S ROUND TABLE for December 31, 1895.