IF the readers of ST. NICHOLAS would like something curious in figures, here it is:

Choose any number, either in hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands, and write it down. Add the figures composing this number together. Subtract their sum from the first number written.

Now add together the figures of this remainder: you will find that they always amount either to 9, or to a multiple of 9. Let us take a number by way of example: Suppose you take.

These figures, added together, make .

8357

23

8334

Now add these last figures, and you get 18or twice 9.

This curious fact is the basis of a very pretty puzzle, with which one can mystify those who are not acquainted with it.

It is done thus: Ask any one to write down a number without telling you the figures. Then tell him to add the figures and to subtract, as above. Now ask him to strike out one figure from the answer last obtained. Ask him to add the remaining figures, and give you the sum of them.

You will be able at once to name the figure struck out, in this way: Take the sum just given, for example. Suppose the 8 was struck out; then the sum of the other three figures is 10. When you are told that 10 is the sum of the figures remaining, you know that 8 is the figure that will bring the whole amount to the

Mrs. Knous assures us it is not a mere tradition, but a historical fact that the charter was abstracted from the council-table by Captain Joseph Wadsworth, on All Hallowe'en (October 31), 1687, and was hidden in the oak known to the Indians as the "Treaty Oak," and since called the "Charter Oak," where the precious document remained until news came to America, some time in 1689, of the accession of William and Mary. The oak fell August 21, 1856; but two young trees in Bushnell Park, Hartford, have been grown from its acorns.

Mrs. Knous, who traces her ancestral line to Captain Joseph Wadsworth, and also to John Allyn, Secretary to the Council, both actors in the stirring drama of the Charter, also says that John Wadsworth, Joseph's halfbrother, was one of the Council.

WEST POINT, N. Y. DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I was born and live in West Point. Of course your readers know about West Point. My father is professor of drawing, and he is teaching me to draw. There are nearly 350 cadets here, and I know many of them. I am nearly twelve now, and I have been here all that time, except in the summer. I belong to the "Junior League Club" in New York, and last year I drew a picture for a prize in a competition, but I did not get the prize; a boy of fifteen got it.

I have been taking you for nearly four years, and I like you very much. I have read nearly all the continued stories, and I like "A Boy of the First Empire best so far.

PASADENA, CAL. DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I have just had an interview with our Chinese cook, and I succeeded in persuading him to tell me the legend of the pretty narcissus flower, or Chinese lily, which perfumes my whole room, and which he presented to me a short time ago. This is what he told me:

Once upon a time, there was a very rich Chinaman who had two wives, and each wife had a son. At the father's death, instead of being equally divided, his property was taken possession of by his elder boy, son of

the head wife. The younger received only a very small, stony valley, which he could not possibly sell or do anything with.

The boy's mother wept and prayed for months continually, which conduct at the end did some good; for Confucius had pity on her, and scattered from heaven some lily-bulbs through the little valley. These took root and grew, and they were the first ever seen on earth.

It was just before the Chinese New Year when the flowers came out in full bloom, and the boy took some down to the market for sale, and in a short time they were in great demand.

In a few years he became very rich, and lived happily all the rest of his days with his mother.

It is needless to say that the bad brother lost his property and died in misery.

With best wishes, I remain your interested reader, LEONORA SCOTT MUSE.

COTATI RANCH, CAL.

MY DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I am a little girl eleven years old, and I and my brothers and sisters live on a big ranch that my grandpapa owned before my papa was born. All of us except three were born on the ranch.

My oldest brother took ST. NICHOLAS until he was twelve years old, and now my brother Roy takes it. Last winter we lived in San Francisco, but we were all glad to get back to the ranch again, and to see our pony and our dogs. We love our pony "Dot". very much, and we often take rides on his back or drives in the little "Dot-cart."

This is the first letter that I have written to ST. NICHOLAS, and I hope you will like it.

EDITH ANITA PAGE.

ATLANTA, GA.

DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I have never written you before, but I love to read you, and am always very glad to see you come to our house. I have a new puppy -a Scotch terrier. He is as fat as a butter-ball. He did not receive a Christmas present, so the next day he got even with the world by eating two chickens the cook had prepared for dinner.

On Christmas Eve I had a beautiful tree, and about twenty of my little friends were present, and the tree bore fruit for each guest. We had a fine time. Santa Claus surprised us very much by coming in through the window, and I think he was just the nicest, jolliest old fellow in the world. Mama said he was a success in every sense of the word.

We had a flash-light picture taken of the tree, Old Santa, and all the children.

I have a beautiful doll about as large as myself, so you may know I am a girl. My doll's name is Beatrice, and papa built such a nice play-house, just like a sureenough house; but someway I never use it- - I like a make-believe house better. I mean, papa had carpenters

CHARLESTON, S. C.

DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I am a little Southern girl nearly thirteen years of age. I have often visited the North, and I like it very much; but the South is so warm and sunny that the cold, bleak North does not make me feel at home.

I have two brothers, both younger than myself, and one little baby sister one year and a half. My brothers and sister are very fond of pets, but I do not care much for them.

I love to read and practise on the piano. I have been taking music-lessons for four years, and I am very fond of it.

Charleston is a queer old town, very much like English towns, my father says. The streets are narrow, and the city is not very big, still it holds many things that we Charlestonians love.

My grandmother has been giving you to me for nearly two years, and I just love you. My brothers also enjoy you very much. Wishing you success, believe me to be, as ever, your true reader, MARGARET A. WILLIAMS.

NILES, O.

DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I have decided to tell you something about our town, as it is the birthplace of our new President, William McKinley.

The town is much larger and busier than it was when McKinley was a boy. It is a manufacturing town, and contains about 7000 inhabitants.

The old frame building in which our President was born was situated in the business part of the city. It has been torn down and taken to a beautiful little summer-resort called Riverside Park, a few miles out of town.

One old gentleman loves to tell stories about the boyhood of young William, and tells how he used to play "I-spy "in his woodshed with the other boys of the neighborhood. Your interested reader,

MARY C

CABOONBAH, NEAR ESK, QUEensland. DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: One of my sisters wrote to you some time ago, and as she told you nothing about our home, I thought you would like to hear a little about it. We came down here in 1890, just after a big flood, and had been here only three years when there was another big flood, and it broke over a flat on one side of us, and ran into the same river again on the other side of us; so that we were on an island.

I did not tell you that we lived on the Brisbane River, just below where another river, called the Stanley, joins it; and the Brisbane River comes down on one side, gives a bend, meets the Stanley, and comes down on the other side of us. It was the Stanley that was the highest in the first 1893 flood; and it could n't get away down the Brisbane River, so it went up it, and we could see them fighting from the house. At last the Brisbane had to give in, and rushed right across the flat quite close to the house. We went out to see it falling over a cliff into a big gully called Sapphire Gully; and the water shook the ground that we were standing on just as if it was going to fall. The gully was called Sapphire Gully because our grandfather found a sapphire there. There are six of us- five girls and a boy. There are two older than myself, and three younger. Doris, the youngest little girl, was born in the beginning of the 1893 flood. The Christmas before last " Dadda" put up two swings and a giant's stride for a present to us all, and we have had a lot of fun on them both. Perhaps you don't know what a giant's stride is, so I will try to explain. It is a long post standing straight up, with any number of ropes you like hanging from the

FORT ADAMS, R. I. DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I have been taking you ever since I was able to read, but have never written to you. I like all the stories in ST. NICHOLAS; but I think I like mama's story- -"Danny and the Major'"-and "June's Garden" best. At Christmas-time we each had to learn a Christmas piece or poem; and I chose “The Picture," from ST. NICHOLAS, for I thought it was very pretty. I read about Helen Keller, and I think she must be lovely.

With a great deal of love, I am your constant reader, ANNA GREBle.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia. DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I don't know whether you accept letters from non-subscribers or not; but this Christmas I bought a ST. NICHOLAS, and was so delighted with it and so interested in the letters that I thought I would like to write one too. I intend to become a subscriber very soon. I am a native of Manitoba, having lived there all my life, with the exception of the last two years, which I have spent in Vancouver; quite a change from the former country, with all its ice and snow and skating, tobogganing, and snow-shoeing, while here the weather is always mild, we having snow but seldom; and the principal amusements are sailing and bathing. During all the summer, every day the beach at English Bay is thronged with pleasure-seekers bent on bathing or rowing; and great fun we have splashing about in the water, for not many can swim. I am learning, and can go a little way. In the summer I go down at six o'clock every morning with my father and brother. I collect stamps, but have not many yet. Your devoted admirer,

KATHLEEN HOOPER.

AREQUIPA, PERU, S. A. DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I have never seen any letters to you from Peru, so I think I will tell you about this place.

It took us about twenty-five days to get here by steamer from New York. We are at an American observatory, a branch of Harvard College Observatory. It is about 8000 feet above the level of the sea. We are two and one half miles away from the city of Arequipa. There are three great mountains near us. The highest is about 20,500 feet high. Another is a volcano, about 19,000 feet high. The third is about 17,000 feet high, and is named Pichupichu. El Misti, the volcano, is the most interesting. It is a perfect cone, and has two craters, one inside of the other. The inner one is slightly active; but the other is dead. Once in a great while a little smoke rises from the inner crater. On the very summit this observatory has a meteorological station which is the highest in the world.

The people here call themselves "The Children of the Misti." The lower class live in stone huts with thatched roofs. The huts have neither windows nor chimneys. The chickens and dogs live in them with the people.

There are only a few animals here that are not familiar to the readers of ST. NICHOLAS. The llamas are