348 ABOUT THE HERMIT OF NIAGARA FALLS. dog was found guarding the door, and was with difficulty removed; his cat occupied his bed; his guitar, violin, flutes, music books, and port-folio, were scattered around in confusion; but not a single written paper of any kind was found (although he was known to compose much) to throw the least light on this extraordinary character. He was a person of highly cultivated mind and manners, a master of languages, deeply read in the arts and sciences, and performed on various musical instruments with great taste; his drawings were also very spirited. Island and Moss Island was his favorite retreat for bathing; here he resorted at all seasons of the year, even in the coldest weather, when ice was on the river. On the bridge to the Terrapin Rocks, it was his daily practice to walk for hours, from one extremity to the other, with a quick pace; sometimes he would let himself down at the end of the projecting timber, and hang under it by his hands and feet over the terrific precipice, for fifteen minutes at a time, and in the wildest hours of the night he was often found walking in the most dangerous places near the Falls. It is now ascertained that this Abbott was the son of the late John Abbott, (of Plymouth, England,) a member of the Society of Friends. His guitar, that beguiled so many of his solitary hours, He had travelled over Europe and many parts of the East, possessed great colloquial powers when inclined to be sociable; but at times he would desire not to be spoken to, and communicated his wishes on a slate; sometimes, for and soothed him in his sorrows, is still ONE of our young female readers says, that she thinks we do not have so many articles in the magazine for girls as we do for boys. Now the truth is, that we intend almost every article we write for the young of both sexes; though sometimes, as in the case of the Letters of Uncle and Aunt Newbury, we have an eye to girls and boys respectively. However, to gratify our young friend and to present something, for once, to amuse very young girls, we will introduce from the "American Girl's Book," the subject of PINCUSHIONS. Here they are sitting around the table making them. There are a great many sorts of pincushions. The following are a few of them. A CORDED PINCUSHION. Cut out two round pieces of linen. Sew them together, and stuff them with bran, so as to form a round ball. Begin on the very centre of each side, and with a large needle lay coarse thread or cotton all across down to the middle of the pincushion where the binding is to come. These threads must spread out from the centre in every direction like rays; the space between them widening of course as it descends. Make them very even, and do not allow them to be loose or slack. Then take a needle threaded with sewing silk or fine crewel, and, beginning at the centre from which all the coarse cotton threads diverge, (they may be called cords,) work the pincushion all round by passing the needle twice under each cord, taking the stitches very close, even, and regular, and completely covering with the sewing silk both the cords and the space between them. The stitches, of course, become gradually longer as you go down towards the seam that divides the two 350 AMUSING NEEDLE-WORK. sides of the pincushion. Supposing that you begin with pink silk, you may, after a few rounds, take another colour, for instance green, then yellow, then blue, and then brown. In this manner your pincushion will be handsomely striped, and the cords will give it a very pretty appearance, if evenly laid and well-covered. When both sides are finished, cover the seam with a binding of darkcoloured ribbon, and put on a string and bow of the same. Always begin and fasten off in a place that is afterwards to be worked over. them all together on the wrong side, and then sew the top to the bottom, leaving an opening for the stuffing. Stuff it hard with bran. Then sew up the opening. The points of the gores must all meet in the centre, the broad ends going to the outward edge, on which, at the end of every seam, you must put a little tassel or bow, and also one in the centre. The tassel may be made of tufts of ravelled silk. These pincushions are generally for the toilet, and are made large. A HEART PINCUSHION. "Cut two pieces of linen into the shape of a half handkerchief. Sew them together, leaving a small open space at the top, and stuff them very hard with bran or wool. When sufficiently stuffed, sew up the opening and cover the pincushion with silk, sewed very neatly over the edge. Then make the two upper corners meet, and fasten them well together. This will bring the pincushion into the shape of a heart. Put a string to the top. |