g, you know. We made puns on each other's names, and whistled and
sang, and oh! carried on like sixty. One man with a black beard laughed
at us ready to kill himself, and a brakeman on the back platform was
grinning from ear to ear.

"Well, we did have a day of it, I can tell you--but won't we all be as
stiff as bricks to-morrow!"

I will only add that I do wish I had been one of those boys; but--I am
glad that I wasn't that hotel-keeper.

THE SCHOOL-CHILDREN'S WELCOME.

Saturday, December 20, was a splendid holiday for the school-children of
Philadelphia. All through the week they had been reading of the
receptions given to General Grant in honor of his return from his
journey around the world, and now they were to take part in a welcome of
their own.

There was, in the first place, a grand street procession of boys, to the
number of nearly four thousand--quite an army, in fact--who marched in
four great divisions, each headed by a band. The boys were well drilled,
and stepped gayly to the music, with soldier-like bearing and precision.
As the General rode between their lines he was greeted with enthusiastic
cheers. No doubt he was as much gratified by this boyish welcome as by
the grand military display that attended his entry into the city.

After reviewing the lads, General Grant was escorted to the Academy of
Music, where almost as many school-girls as there were boys in the
procession were assembled to give him a reception of a gentler kind. It
must have been a pretty sight--more than three thousand lassies, all in
their teens, and all in their best attire. As soon as he appeared, two
thousand sweet voices joined in the grand melody of "Hail to the Chief!"
which was sung with enthusiasm and fine effect. The General acknowledged
the courtesy in a short address. Several other speeches were made,
interspersed with patriotic songs.

Of all the festivities of the week, the one General Grant will probably
remember with most pleasure will be the reception given him by the boys
and girls of the public schools.

"OLD PROBABILITIES."

The next time the Professor came, it was in a dense fog. The morning was
so damp and disagreeable that we hardly expected to see him. He did not
disappoint us, but seemed to have come almost before the sun was fairly
up, it was so dark.

"What makes a fog?" asked Gus.

"I meant to have talked about something else, Gus," answered the
Professor; "but you have chosen