was not dispelled in
the back row, when the Barnabee Boy stealthily held up to Johnny's
vision a slate, whereon was inscribed this fearful message:--

[Illustration]

Johnny got it "put down in writin'" this time!

After a hasty glance at the slate, the General went on with his studies
composedly enough. Eleven o'clock came, and with it came recess, and
with recess the inevitable battle.

Now I do not intend to describe the details of this brilliant action,
for the sufficient reason that, though there were seven young gentlemen
(connected with the Primary School) on the field as war correspondents,
their accounts of the engagement are so contradictory as to be utterly
worthless. On one point they all agree,--that the contest was sharp,
short, and decisive. The truth is, the General is a quick, wiry,
experienced old hero; and it didn't take him long to rout the Barnabee
Boy, who was in reality a coward, as all bullies and tyrants ever have
been, and always will be.

I don't approve of boys fighting; I don't defend Johnny; but if the
General wants an extra ration or two of preserved pear, he shall have
it!

* * * * *

I am well aware that, socially speaking, Johnny is a Black Sheep. I know
that I have brought him up badly, and that there is not an unmarried man
or woman in the United States who wouldn't have brought him up very
differently. It's a great pity that the only people who know how to
manage children never have any! At the same time, Johnny is not a black
sheep all over. He has some white spots. His sins--if wiser folks had no
greater!--are the result of too much animal life. They belong to his
evanescent youth, and will pass away; but his honesty, his generosity,
his bravery, belong to his character, and are enduring qualities. The
quickly crowding years will tame him. A good large pane of glass, or a
seductive bell-knob, ceases in time to have attractions for the most
reckless spirit. And I am quite confident that Johnny will be a great
statesman, or a valorous soldier, or, at all events, a good citizen,
after he has got over being A Young Desperado.

REVIEWS AND LITERARY NOTICES.

_The First Canticle_ [_Inferno_] _of the Divine Comedy of_
DANTE ALIGHIERI. Translated by THOMAS WILLIAM PARSONS. Boston:
De Vries, Ibarra, and Company.

While we must own that we have no sympathy with the theory of free
translation, we recognize the manifold merits