and since we agreed to construct the kite's tail on the principle of that union and consistency of which they are the approved model— surely we may, like them, diversify the monotony of our labour by an occasional sally of humour and a spice of pleasantry."

The classical spell, thus skilfully worked, speedily did its bidding; -the waters of strife were tranquillised—the vicar was appeased. "Pray, Tom," quietly asked the vicar, can you tell me whence the name of the kite originated?"

"From the bird of that name, I suppose," answered the boy; "for being a bird of prey, he soars to a great height, and in that respect, at least, my paper kite may be said to resemble him."

or it may,

"That is a very good explanation,” said the vicar; perhaps, have derived its name from the circumstance of its having been originally constructed in the shape of a bird of this description. In China the flying of kites is much more practised than in this country; and I understand that their shape is always that of some bird."

"In the London toyshops you may constantly meet with them in such forms, as well as in many other fantastic shapes," observed Mr Seymour; "and," continued he, "I remember to have seen, some years ago, a kite which resembled a man. It was made of linen cloth, cut, and painted for the purpose, and stretched on a light frame, so constructed as to resemble the outline of the human figure. It stood upright, and was dressed in a sort of jacket. Its arms were disposed like handles on each side of its body, and its head being covered with a cap, terminating in an angle, favoured the ascent of the machine, which was twelve feet in height; but to render it easier to be transported, it could be folded double, by means of hinges adapted to the frame. The person who directed this kind of kite was able to raise it, though the weather was calm, to the height of nearly five hundred feet; and, when once raised, he maintained it in the air by giving only a slight motion to the string. The figure, by these means, acquired a kind of libration, like that of a man skating on the ice. The illusion, occasioned by this spectacle, did not fail, as you may readily suppose, to attract a great number of spectators."

"I believe, however," observed the vicar, "that the figure commonly adopted is the one best calculated for the purpose."

"Undoubtedly," replied Mr Seymour, "and for obvious reasons; the curvature of the bow enables it to escape the resistance of the air as it rises; which, after having struck it, slides off, just as the current is more effectually turned aside by the gently-curved prow, than by that which has a sharp outline. This shape of the kite, moreover, presents the largest surface at the point upon which the wind can act with the greatest effect, while the whole is lightened by the removal of parts that would obstruct its action. The tail has also a greater control over a figure of such a description."

Mr Seymour asked the vicar, whether he could explain the origin of the French term for the kite, viz., cerf volant, or flying stag. “I never can believe," continued he, " that the kite could ever have been constructed in the shape of that animal."

“I am unable to clear up the difficulty,” replied the vicar; “and yet I have bestowed some pains upon the subject. The earliest notice of the kite, which I have been able to discover, is in a short English and French Dictionary, by Miege, which was published in the year 1690, and it is there described under the name of cerf volant.”

"I wonder," cried Tom, "who invented the kite?"

*

"In that again," answered Mr Twaddleton, "I am unable to furnish you with any satisfactory information. Strutt tells us that its introduction into England cannot be dated farther back than about a hundred and fifty years. It is, however, supposed that we are indebted for it to the Chinese, in which country the pastime would seem to be of very ancient date, and from which it was probably introduced into Europe. In the present day kite-flying is a very popular game amongst these extraordinary people, and they excel as well in the curious construction of their kites as in the height to which they make them ascend. The ninth day of the ninth moon is a holiday especially devoted by them to this national pastime; on which day, numbers may be seen repairing to the hills for that purpose. They also, by means of round holes, supplied with vibrating cords, make them produce a loud humming noise, like that of the top."

Mr Seymour here remarked, that he had lately read, in “Abbot's Journey to Moscow and St Petersburgh," of a kite so constructed that every passing breeze gave a vibration to a tight cord, which, being communicated to the highly sonorous frame of the kite, produced an effect most musical and melancholy-an aerial music warbling through the air, like the wild sounds of the Eolian Harp; the same whispering breeze now awakening joyous notes, and anon, sad and pensive wailings.+

ment was flying kites;" and in the legend of the immigration of Turi to New Zealand, the boys are related as whipping their tops and whirling their whizgigs.

It is a curious fact that the toys | one Whatakau, a little lad, whose amuseand games, so familiar to the English should be found in most distant and various parts of the world. Dr Hooker, in his Himalayan Journal, tells us that he was amused by watching a child playing with a pop-gun made of bamboo, similar to that of quill, with which most English children are familiar; and that on the plains of India men may be often seen, for hours together, flying kites. Chess, dice, draughts, battledore and shuttlecock, are all Indo-Chinese or Tartarian; but it is still more extraordinary to find the kite mentioned in Sir George Grey's "Polynesian Mythology." In the legend of Ratu, we there read "of

+ Under a favourable breeze, the wires of the Electric Telegraph will yield the same unbidden strains, which are rendered more audible by placing the ear against the pole, and thus obtaining the aid of resonance. It is impossible, under any circumstances, to view, without emotion, these widely-extended wires, with the consciousness that human thoughts are rapidly passing along them: but should the wind, at the same time, excite them to Eolian sounds, our

66

"Even so," said the vicar, even so, my dear Mr Seymour, is it ever with the human heart: in the midst of gaiety there is always sadness, since the chords of pleasure are so interwoven with those of melancholy, that it is difficult to touch the one without causing the vibration of the other."

Mrs Seymour here observed that the effect must be exceedingly fine, since she understood that numbers of such musical kites were kept constantly flying during the night.

reason is fairly taken captive by fancy; and so readily do we pass from the real to the ideal, that it is scarcely possible to evade the question which spontaneously arises in the mind, as to their possible sympathy with the intelligence they are transmitting, or, on the contrary, whether they may not be directly

antagonistic with it; whether, in short, their pensive wailings may not be the soft whisperings of love, or their gay syren notes the throbbings of anguish, and the notes of despair? Mr Willis, in his "Out-doors at Idlewild," has indulged in some such reflections with much poetical fancy.

CHAPTER XV.

On the following day, before the wings of the lark had brushed away the morning dew, Tom and his sisters, buoyant with expectation, had descended into the garden, in order to ascertain the state of the weather and the direction of the wind; but the sky was sullen and calm; not a breath disturbed the susceptible leaves of the aspen; all was repose" a dread repose."

"No kite-day this," sighed Tom, with a countenance as lowering as the morning clouds.

"Have patience," said Louisa; "the wind may yet rise; it is only just six o'clock."

Thus did the minds of the children continue to hover between hope and despair, until after breakfast, when they determined to seek the gardener, and hold a grave consultation with that acknowledged judge of the elements; he told them that showers might be expected, but he thought it probable that the wind might rise after mid-day. "I will, however," said he, "consult my oracles (37); after which, I shall be able to give you a satisfactory opinion." So saying, he left them; and, on his return, observed that " as the Siberian sow-thistle had closed itself the preceding evening, and the African marigold continued shut after seven o'clock in the morning, he had thought there would be rain; but," he added, "that upon inspecting the poor man's weatherglass, the Anagallis arvensis, or red pimpernel, two hours ago, he had found it open, from which he concluded that the day would have been fine."

66 There, Louisa; it will be a fine day after all," exclaimed her delighted brother.

66

No, indeed," continued the gardener; on returning just now to the flower, which never deceives us, I found it had closed itself; so that rain is inevitable."

Nor was this opinion erroneous; for before the brother and sister could reach the lodge, the heavy clouds began to discharge their watery burthen, and the rain continued in one incessant shower for more than two hours; it then gradually abated, and the children, who had been anxiously watching it at the library window, were suddenly relieved from their anxiety by the appearance of the vicar whom they espied slowly winding his way through the dripping shrubbery.

"Heu! quianam tanti cinxerunt æthera nimbi!'

as Virgil has it," exclaimed the vicar, as he approached the portico, where Mr Seymour and his family had assembled to salute him.

"We are under the influence of St Swithin, vicar," said Mrs Seymour, "and I fear there is but slender hope of its becoming fair." "Psha! who cares for St Swithin? (38.) My barometer is rising rapidly, and I place more confidence in that classical deity, Mercury, than in a saint of so very questionable a character."

At this moment Phoebus, as if delighted by the compliment thus bestowed upon his heathen brother, cast a sly glance from behind a dark cloud, and illumined the spot upon which the vicar was standing. In short, after the lapse of half an hour, the sun broke through the gloom, and a brisk gale followed; the countenances of the children sympathised with the face of the heavens, and the expression of hope lighted them up, in proportion as the sun illumined the departing clouds with its radiance.

"It is now quite fair, papa," cried Tom, in a voice of triumph, "and there is a most delightful wind; shall we not proceed at once to the common?"

wet."

Presently," answered his father: "the ground is yet extremely

In the course of an hour this objection had been removed, and the party prepared to set off on their kite-flying expedition.

66 Bring me the kite, and let me sling it properly over Tom's shoulder," said Mr Seymour.

"I will carry the string,” exclaimed Louisa; “how nicely it is wound round the stick!"

On the arrival of the party at Overton Heath, the weather was found propitious to their adventure; the kite impatiently fluttered in the breeze, while Tom was eagerly engaged in unwinding its streaming tail, and preparing the paper machine for ascent.

"Is the string fixed to the belly-band ?" asked Mr Seymour.

"All is ready," replied the vicar; "and I will hold it up, while Tom runs with it against the wind. Had King Eric set his cap for us, we could not have had a more favourable breeze."

"There is not the least occasion to raise the kite from the ground," observed Mr Seymour: "let its point rest on the grass, and place its tail in a straight line in front of it; I warrant you it will rise, as soon as Tom begins to run."

Tom immediately set off, and the kite rose majestically into the air.

"Give it string-give it string-gently, gently-now stop; there is no occasion for your running any farther, but let out the cord, as long as the kite carries it off vigorously, and keeps it fully stretched; but wind it up the moment its tension is relaxed."