a fir ^ ^ S3 o 8 * 3 S | 1 I 5 | 8 * ^ MJA ^OKAUFORto ^ -*1 ^\/y\s i =;! ITffi * *^ ^ ^JI I ? ^ ^ ' * ? I.^ N '^wwww^ "wwwn-i^- I I ^_ s 1 1 < 5 I 1 s a ^?Ssin^ i g s g i i * i 1 o '^ 1 ^ p g I T 1 O I 1 = 2 1 i ? ts* ^ . 1 I %-a IOS-ANCEI 5 & ^ % i v** & ^ L-UBRAR UfJHJU MARY, MARY QUITE CONTRARY CJjtlbren'g $oofe EDITED BY FRANCES HODGSON BURNETT ASSOCIATES: KATHARINE NEWBOLD BIRDSALL VIVIAN BURNETT Illustrated by FLORENCE E. NOSWORTHY, HARRISON CADY, HAROLD SICHEL, TONY NELL, CULMER BARNES, KATHARINE GASSAWAY, A'LBERTINE RANDALL WHEELAN, EMILY DUNHAM, LAETITIA HERR, DOROTHY FICKEN, ETHEL N. FARNSWORTH, JOSEPHINE BRUCE, LOUIS WAIN, AND MANY OTHERS NEW YORK CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY Copyright. 1907. 1908. by HOLIDAY PUBLISHING COMPANY? Copyright. 1909. by MOFFAT. YARD A COMPANY Copyrifbt. 1915. by CHARLES W. CLARK COMPANY COPYRIGHT, 1915, BY CUPPLES & LEON COMPAWY All Right RtJtrveJ Printed in U. S. A. THE CHILDREN'S BOOK THE BABY'S SECRET OH ! stupid grown-up people who think yourselves 10 wite, If you only saw what / see saw with a baby's eyes 1 You think the baby's laughing at the sunshine on the floor, But the baby sees the Little Folk dancing by the score. j(A baby's half a fairy and knows all fairy tricks, But he has quite forgotten by the time he' half-past iix.y You wonder why I'm smiling when the dimples come and go; I'm listening to the Little Folk singing soft and low. They climb up on my pillow when I'm in my cradle laid. When a Fairy sees a baby he's not a bit afraid. They tell me tales of Fairyland which grown-ups cannot hear. They make me coo and chuckle when they whisper in my ear. You say, " Just watch him playing with his funny little hands ! " But I'm playing with the golden toys they bring from Fairyland. You queer, big grown-up people who think yourselves so wise, If you only saw what / ee saw with a baby's eyes I FRANCES HODGSON BURNETT. By ELIZABETH C. WEBB TCE there were thirty-seven children who thought they would like to have a Fourth of July picnic. The reason there were only thirty-seven children was be- cause that was all the children there were in Brookville, where this story happened. They had planned to go down to Turtle's Wood and take their lunch, and in the afternoon they were going to set off fire- crackers and torpedoes, and in the even- ing they were going to set off more fire- crackers and more torpedoes, and fire- works besides. For weeks they had been saving up their allowances, and had brought a great supply of nice, noisy, bangy things for the Fourth. And on the third, all those thirty-seven children packed their lunch baskets for the picnic, and went to bed so excited they could scarcely sleep. Bright and early the next morning Wil- lie Pepper he was one of the thirty-seven children woke up, popped into his clothes, and ran down to the floor below. "Father! Mother!" he called, "it's the Fourth of July, so I'm going to set off ome firecrackers 1 " "Willie Pepper," said a sleepy voice from the closed room, " it is not the Fourth of July, it is the fifth, and much too early to get up." Willie Pepper thought his father was just teasing him. He frequently did. So he called cheerfully through the keyhole: " I know better ! To-day is the Fourth of July." Then he heard his father's voice again it was more awake this time : " It's the fifth of Jtly. Go downstairs and look at the morning newspaper, and see if it isn't." So Willie, much worried, slid down the banisters, and there on the door-mat was the morning paper with " July fifth " printed right across the top. Willie had not been so astonished since the day he got to the head of the spelling class ; that was the awfully rainy day when there were only two children in the class. He seized the newspaper and tore over to Billy B inks' house he was another of the thirty-seven children as fast as he could. Half-way there he met Billy Binks run- ning to meet him, with an expression of dismay on his Billy! "cried Willie. Willie! "cried Billy. It's the fifth of July ! " they cried both together. Then they simply looked at each other. The catastrophe was so great they couldn't think of anything else to say. Just then they saw another of the thirty- seven children running toward them. " All the lunch baskets are gone! " she cried. In a few minutes the rest of the children were assembled. They then all stood in a large circle and looked at each other sadly and solemnly and said : " The lunch baskets are all gone, and it's the fifth of July! " " But where's the Fourth?" cried Billy Binks. Nobody knew. " We certainly didn't sleep all through it," said a little girl, " and yesterday was surely the third. What has become of the Fourth of July?" " Somebody must have stolen it," said Willie Pepper. " What shall we do? " " Well," said Billy Binks, " I don't see why we can't set off our firecrackers on the fifth. They'll make just as much noise." At this a smile rippled all round the cir- cle, and the thirty-seven children clapped their hands and shouted with glee, " Of course we can set them off on the fifth just as well!" Then Willie Pepper drew a package of firecrackers from his jacket pocket, and he drew a piece of punk and a box of matches from another pocket, and all the children smiled. Then he unbraided the pigtails of the firecrackers, separated one, and set it up in the middle of the circle of children. Then he lighted the punk with a match, and he lighted the pigtail of the firecracker with the punk, and the children all stood back and waited. The little red spark at the end of the firecracker's pigtail glowed and glowed, and the pigtail got shorter and shorter, till at last it got right down to the firecracker itseK, and then then it went out! " Oh! " cried the children in disappoint- ment, " it wasn't a good one ! " " I'll try another," said Willie, and he did. But again the same thing happened. " You haven't left your firecrackers out in the rain, have you, Willie? " asked Billy. " Rain's very bad for firecrackers' health." Willie sniffed scornfully. "Of course not," he replied. " Guess I know enough not to leave firecrackers out in the rain, even if I am two months and a quarter younger than you, Billy Binks." " S'pose we try one of mine," said Billy, and he lighted one of his own firecrackers. But it went out, just as Willie's had done. Then the rest of the thirty-seven children took firecrackers out of their jacket pockets and their apron pockets, but they wouldn't bang. And they took torpedoes out of their jacket pockets and their apron pockets, and threw them down as hard as they could, but the torpedoes just broke to pieces as quietly as snowflakes. Then the thirty-seven children looked at each other again, and some of the littlest ones began to cry. Then Willie Pepper drew himself up and folded his arms. "Someone," he said severely, "has stolen our lunch baskets and the Fourth of July, and all the bangs out of our fire- crackers and torpedoes. Who is it?" And the thirty-seven children cried too together : " The gray elf of the mountain ! " Whenever anything went wrong at Brookville when the currant jelly wouldn't jell, or the cow kicked over the milk pail people always said "It's the gray elf of the mountain ! " And gener- V- ally it was. The gray elf was about as tall as a ruler, and he always dressed in gray velvet, so that's why they called him the gray elf. He lived in a cave on a high ledge of the mountain that overlooked Brookville, and whenever he came out of that cave and down to the village of Brookville things began to happen, and the people said, " Oh, that gray elf, that gray elf, that naughty, mischievous gray elf! What shall we do with him?" Now this was a silly thing to say, for they never got a chance to do anything to him, because they never could catch him, although the Brookville County Council had handbills printed offering a reward of $3.70 for his apprehension and conviction. But on the fifth of July, Willie Pepper de- cided to do something. " I'm going up that mountain," he said, " to the cave on the ledge of rock, and I'm going to make that gray elf give us back our lunch baskets and the Fourth of July and the bangs out of our firecrackers. Who's going with me ? " " We're going ! " cried all the rest of the children. So they set out, all thirty-seven of them, Willie Pepper marching at the head of the procession with the newspaper under his arm, the rest of the children walking be- hind, two by two, like a boarding-school. Up the mountain they marched, high up, till they came to the ledge of rock that spread out in front of the gray elf's cave like a piazza. Then Willie Pepper walked straight up to the front door of the cave, and knocked 'a good loud knock with his fist. The gray elf was very busy inside the cave. He had spread out all the thirty- seven lunch baskets in a long line and was just going to begin unpacking them when he heard Willie Pepper knock at the door. " I guess that's the postman," he said to himself. " Slip the letter under the door," he called out, for he was so excited about unpacking the lunch baskets that he did not want to stop to open the door. He had begun untying the first basket when Willie Pepper knocked at the door again, louder than before. "Oh bother!" said the gray elf. "It must be the grocery boy." He was in such a hurry to find out what was in the first basket that he hated to stop, so he called out, "I don't want any groceries to-day. I have thirty-seven lunch baskets full of things to eat." Thirty-seven lunch baskets! The chil- dren looked at each other. Then Willie took the newspaper from under his arm and rolled it up into a large cornucopia, and he called through it so that his voice sounded just as if he were a great big grown-up man : " I know you have our lunch baskets! That's what we've come all the way up the mountain for. You must give them back to us right away ! " " Shan't! " cried the gray elf in a great state of excitement, gathering the lunch baskets about him. " I want to keep them myself, and I never took them, and I don't know anything about them, and I'm asleep anyhow, so go away as quietly as you can or you'll wake me up." " You must give us our baskets, and the Fourth of July, and all the bangs out of our firecrackers and torpedoes," repeated Willie. " I didn't take them, and I won't give them back, and you couldn't possibly find them because you don't know where I put them," said the naughty elf. " If you don't open the door before I count ten," Willie continued, unmoved, " we will break it down. One, two, three " he began counting slowly. " I'll open it. I'll open it ! " cried the " 0AT ELF," HE SAID, " YOU HAVE BEEN /J8T AS NAUGHTY A3 YOU COULD POSSIBLY BX " gray elf in a great fright, and he tumbled locked the cupboard door, put the key in all the baskets into the big hide-away cup- his pocket, and opened the front door, board in which he kept all the things he " Do you know," he said, " I thought I knevr he oughtn't to have. Then he heard someone knocking. I hope I *uven't kept you wait " But ht didn't get any further, for just at that moment Willie clapped the big newspaper cornu- copia over him, and there he was caught last and tight, and he couldn't get out again. The gray elf kicked and the gray elf squirmed, but Willie held the cornu- copia firmly. Then the elf tried to make a hole in the cornucopia, but Willie heard the paper tear, and he slipped his hand quickly underneath, caught the gray elf round the waist, and dragged him out. Then he held him at arm's length between his hands, but gently, so he should not hurt him. " Gray elf," he said, " you have been just as naughty as you could possibly be, and the Brookville County Council has offered a reward of $3.70 for your appre- hension and conviction " Willie had read the handbills " and that would be ten cents for each of us, so we will take you to them and get the $370 to buy new fireworks unless you give us back our old ones and our lunch baskets and the Fourth of July." " I don't care," said the gray elf, kick- ing one heel carelessly, " I'd like real well to be taken to the Brookville County Coun- cil ! " He just said that, he didn't really mean it, for he didn't know what an ap- prehension or conviction was ; they sounded a little uncomfortable. " Very well," said Willie, and he turned to go down the mountain. "I guess," said the gray elf, clinging rather tightly to Willie's arm, " I guess- maybe after all I won't go to-day. Th lunch baskets and things are in th hide- away cupboard. Here's the key." Then all th"e children went into the cave and un- locked the cupboard, and got the baskets. " The Fourth of July is wrapped up in that pink tissue paper package," said the elf, " and the bangs are in that tin cracker- box. I wish I could keep them, because I haven't anything to play with and it is so lonely up here just by myself." " If you were a nice, good gray elf you could play with us," said Willie. " I'll be good ! I'll be good ! " cried the elf. " I'm only naughty because I haven't anything else to do." " All right," said Willie. We're going to have a picnic in Turtle's Wood, and you can come to it," and he sat the gray elf on his shoulder. So the children trooped down the mountain to the woods. When they got there it was late afternoon and the sun was getting low in the western sky. But as soon as Willie untied the string of the pink tissue paper package and the Fourth of July flew out, the sun jumped back to the east, and it was morning again the morn- ing of the Fourth of July. Then the children opened the tin cracker- box, and as soon as the cover was lifted all the bangs went off one after the other bang ! bang Ibang ! bang ! so loud that Wil- lie's father, way back in the village, woke up and rubbed his eyes and said, "Dear me ! It is the Fourth of July after all ! " AN ILLUMINATION HE moon was home A little mouse One summer night, Who saw the sight. And made her house Went back to bed So round and bright In great affright. J. F. CBOWBLL. VICTOR'S DRAGOON TROUSERS By JANET THOMAS |NCE upon a time, many years before Jackie or Mabel or Dorothy or any other child whose bright eyes are reading these pages were born, there lived across the big ocean in sunny France a very little boy, who at times was quite naughty. His poor mother was at her wits' end to know what to do to make him a well-behaved child. Not that Victor meant to be a bad boy! Oh, no! What little boy or girl does mean to be naughty ? But it did seem as though the little French laddie found very many things to do that his mother wished him not to do. One day when she felt that he had been altogether too naughty, and had come in from play with his clothes badly torn (for it was one of his big faults to spoil his clothes), his mother said in a vexed tone: "Victor! Victor! How shall I keep clothes on you, child? Now, I shall dress you again, and if these new clothes are torn I shall give you dragoon trousers." "Dragoon trousers! And what are those? " thought Victor. Some new kind of clothes surely; perhaps made of some kind of cloth that he could not tear. He had never heard the word before, and it so lodged itself in his little pate that he re- peated it many times to himself during the next few hours. " Dragoon trousers ! " he would say thoughtfully. " If I tear these I have on, mother will give me some dra- goon trousers." It so happened, as he was playing about the garden that afternoon, that he heard a great burst of music and the noise of cheering. Hurrying to the wall, he climbed up and peeped over. Such a surprising sight met his eyes. It almost caused him to lose his balance and fall back from the stone wall. There, almost opposite him, was a troop of French soldiers dressed in gay uniforms a.nd mounted upon splendid, prancing horses. Such gay, beautiful clothes Victor had never seen before; and as the trimmings and firearms flashed in the sunlight, and tiie handsome soldiers marched to the beat of the drum, it was enough to awaken the soul of boys little and big. Who were they, Victor wondered; and just as he was thinking this, an old Frenchman who walked with a cane hob- bled by and as he reached Victor he said to his companion: hard against a stone. But he did not evSB notice the pain, for he was saying to him- self: "Dragoons! Dragoons! And such beautiful clothes with such beautiful YOU SHALL HAVE DRAGOON TROUSZES ' ' " Why are the dragoons out to-day ? " Then, in great amazement and without even hearing the reply, Victor did tumble O ff his perch and bumped his shins very trimmings! And if I tear my clothes mother says she will give me dragoon trousers! Surely it is worth tearing them!" When Victor wanted a thing at all he wanted it very much and right away. And the more he thought of the splen- didly dressed soldiers, the more he wished that he might think of some way to tear his clothes so that his mother would keep her promise. Bei^g anxious to tear them, he had better luck than in a whole week of Sundays when he tried with might and main to get into no mischief; and not a rent appeared in his clothes. They stayed beautifully whole and neat. In vain did he run and climb. The more he fell the better his suit looked and he despaired of ever tearing his clothes \ and the coveted "dragoon trousers" seemed very far away. At last he could stand it no longer, and running into the house he took a big pair of shears from his mother's sewing table and slashed the trousers in many places until the suit was in rags. Then he ran to his mother, crying: " Mother, mother, give me some dra- goon trousers. See, I have torn my clothes 1 " " What ! " cried his mother, scarcely believing her eyes, "the new clothes I but just put on you, torn? And cut to pieces at thatl Indeed, Victor, you shall have dragoon trousers ! You drv ^ and it may teach you a lesson." Thereupon she seized th little fcotf, took him across her knee and gave him the hardest spanking he had ever known. Then she led him to another room and put upon him an old pair of patched trousers. In his disappointment at not receiving the new clothes he expected Victor was very near to tears, but he managed to blurt out: " But you said you would give me dra- goon trousers, mother, and these are my very oldest that you had thrown away." " Tut, child," said his mother, tried be- yond all patience, "would you have me believe that a French boy does not know that 'dragoon trousers' means nothing but a good spanking? And that I have just given you." Then little Victor's heart was like lead. Who would ever have supposed that " dra- goon trousers " could mean those beauti- ful clothes of the gay soldiers and also a whipping? Now if an old Frenchwoman should tell any little American boy or girl that he or she will be given " dragoon trousers," re- member what is in store and be on your best behavior. A CHRISTMAS HOLD-UP By ARTHUR RENWICK O'HARA OMMY MORRIS sat in the manger of his father's stable while Biddy, his little white bantam, ate grains of wheat from his chubby hand. " Just think, Biddy, you old dear," said Tommy, " to-morrow is Christmas and to- night I'll hang up my stocking, for Santa Claus is coming." He hoped that they would feed their pig and go away without knowing that he was there. Pretty soon he heard the younger Hen- nesey say : " That was shure a fine letter ye writ to ould Santy. The worruk of it must have fair sprained yer head Mickey, jist read it agin, won't ye? " " All right," returned Mickey, unfold- Just then the door of the adjoining stable opened, and through the cracks Tommy caught the gleam of a round red head of one of his young neighbors, Policeman Hennesey's sons. Tommy sat very still. He and the Wetmeseys were not good friends. ing a piece of dirty, crumpled paper, " but ye'll have to shell the pig's corn if I do, for my hands will be busy." Tommy had been taught that eaves- dropping was very wrong; io he closed his eyes and stopped his ears; but this is what he heard : M Dear Sandy Claws, we air seven pore orflings that live in pleeceman henneseys stable an we hop youl bring us sum presents or me littul bruthers harts will be broke we like kandy toyes ornges an everthin cum erly before you goes anny- wears else so no more at presen from >even pore orflings." " Are ye shure we can overpower 'im ? " inquired Patsey, as his brother refolded the letter. "Ye see, he's bound to thrip over thim strings we'll have tied in front of the dure, an' sind his pack a tumblin' an' thin " And then Tommy's round grey eyes grew yet more round with horror as he listened to the dark plot unfolded by Mick and Patsey. Good gracious! What vil- lainy ! Who would have believed that so much rascality and cunning lurked within those round red heads? Tommy could scarcely believe his ears the Henneseys were going to decoy Santa into the stable by means of that letter, rob him of his pack, and if he resisted perhaps mur- der him. Tommy put Biddy down and made for the house as fast as his fat little legs could carry him ; and he shook his bank with all his might till at last he shook out the dime which was all the money he had, and then he hurried out and boarded a street car, for he felt that there was not a moment to be lost. " I never did tell on them before," he reflected, "no matter what they did to me, for I don't like to be a tattler; but this is too awful to keep." " Let me off here, Mr. Conductor," he said, politely, as he caught sight of Mr. Hennesey just outside of the police sta- tion, and rushing up to that astonished gentleman he told him of the crime con- templated by bf5 i "When 6uf rasTed- from to a^y " IJ' -Jishea Arc 4hy thould b ilon a I've & And French And umberell- W U An AmeriCAn'? for ifl 1K,T. And ( wear them To look swell ' Now dont be lon AoThsy SM marching along, down the rowis* two by two, drill Mid they camp, &nd wh^tdont they do i the wonderful Uttle ne's |^nd i rxe' \ou may walk through the forests AS iaar &s j^ou. pte*.^ * gut you'll find only^vyly decked (|rislmd.s trees j|jl loaded wilh play thlntfa thai swrn^ In iKe ^ftlhich blows overMle One's &d.v^ |ne fences are built up of peppermint creams, Sweet lemonade flows from the springs to the streams $nd chocoUte bubbles from c&verns.it seems. In the MHa of the little @nes l^nd. put the best tKWof allthe dood . __ Of the fairy- like band, where plum-c^ke "h bre<^ |s tha.1 children are never sent early to bed In tha,t wonderful J^ttle ne^ ^r\d Howlwishlcouldthmkdfsome puct..^, lb find the lost md I I will if ithinklsh^l^k the The way to the ^ph A POEM FOR ARBOR DAY WHAT TREES SPEAK ? MY bark is rough, my wood is strong, My prickly burrs enclose The fruit which children love to find When frosty tempest blows. I build the ships so stout and strong, I live unto great age ; I feed the Yuletide mistletoe, \nd shine on history's page. JUM^JSmfaftftfiMCi O'ertopping high the lordly oak, In green I always stand And, trimmed with lights at Christmas time, Send joy throughout the land. The sap that runs along my trunk, Is plenteous and sweet, And turns into a sugar brown When warmed by woodfire heat I'm noted for my stately grace, My bark is ashy gray; My wood is hard and closely grained, T he wheelwright owns my sway. In Solomon's temple I was used, The Arabs love me well ; My red wood is most durable, My grandeur all can tell. Pale-faced and restless are my leaves, Alert to lightest breeze. Of rapid growth, I soon outstript The more deliberate trees. The sabots and the wooden shoes Which peasant children wear Are made, in France, of my stout wood, Which holds no moisture there. I am a forest beauty and My form is straight and slight And many an Indian's swift canoe My light bark covers tight. The archers looked to me of yore To make their mighty bows, And plucked me from the windy dales Where hard wood often grows. CHARLOTTE BREWSTER JORDAU LITTLE GIRL'S ODD COLLECTION By M1LLICENT OLMSTEAD | HEN Genevieve started to Eng- land last year with her mother and two brothers, she felt quite distressed because she had not planned anything to collect. Bob, you see, was collecting stamps; and Alfred post-cards. On being interviewed about collecting, mother said that Genevieve might collect anything she liked, provided it did not cost more than her own pocket money could buy and did not take up more room in the trunks than the stamp and post-card albums. So you may imagine that the little girl felt rather discouraged. Foreign dolls, souvenir spoons, pretty bits of china all such things were clearly out of the ques- tion. It was the stateroom steward on the teamer who decided for her finally, when he was busy in their room one day and found Genevieve sitting dejectedly on the edge of the steamer trunk, considering the subject of collections. He began to chat with her and at last ****- "xchanged names and residences. " Mine's Genevieve Alicia Palmer, Cleve- land, Ohio, United States of America," she announced. "Mine's Gotobed," said the friendly steward. Genevieve promptly demanded the spell- ing of it, and when he spelled Go-to-bed very distinctly, she could not help laughing and commenting quite rudely: "What a queer name ! " Mr. Gotobed was not in the least of- fended by the exclamation, which he evi- dently expected. " But that's nothin', miss, to what you'll find at 'ome in England, I mean. You'll find many other queerish names if you'll only look out for 'em. Now I knows a man whose name is Cake- bread, and 'is father's a baker, been bakers for generations. And there's Port- wine, the butcher; and Dr. Coffin, who practices in Peopleton, where I was born. You just keep your eyes open, little lady f and you'll see." "Oh, thank you / " said Genevievt. Upon arriving in London, Genevieve's first purchase was a pretty little note-book, bound in red Russia leather, with a place for a pencil in the side. Each night she wrote down in it the names she had col- lected that day, and when she came home the little book was nearly full. She de- clares she had more fun with her collection than the boys had with theirs. It cost people nothing to tell the little girl the odd names they knew ; in fact, it amused them to do it. The top of a London 'bus was a grand place from which to spy all the signs ; and every newspaper and book af- forded her material, so that Genevieve pursued her hobby with zest. She thought the name of an organist, Mr. W. Field Flower, very quaint, and classed it with that of Miss Pansy and A. W. Poppy. Everybody who goes to Lon- don knows the odd firm of Giddy and Giddy, real estate agents, and the frivolous title does not seem to have imperiled their success in business. " Strong-i'-th'-arm " is a famous goldsmith's house in London, too. The Messrs. Cutbush proved to be a firm of landscape gardeners who displayed various figures of cocks, hens, lambs, pea- cocks, etc., cut out of box-bush. A grocery shop that Genevieve collected somewhere had the sign " Dear & Sons " over the door, and as " dear " in England means expensive, Genevieve felt little con- fidence in the justness of their prices; but another grocery conducted by Losemore was even less to her liking. She kept her pennies to buy chocolate and sweet biscuits from the shop of Mr. L. Greatbatch. In a little old, old volume where every $ was an / she discovered this quaintly humorous advertisement of a book : " ' The Beauties of History; or Pictures Drawn from Real Life,' by the Rev. Mr. Stretch,** and wondered if anyone had ever called it a " stretch of the imagination." One of her greatest favorites was the name of a widely known surgeon-dentist near Banbury, Mr. J. Shipley Slipper. She loved to get the boys to say it over very fast, five times running, and hear their tongues trip over the Slippery Ship- ley. She also especially liked Mr. Freder- ick Steptoe ("I think he must be a dancing teacher," she confided to her mother), Mr. C. Yells, and Mr. Finefrock. On her way down the Thames she found that Mr. Bossom was in charge of the sand scows dredging at different points. And have I mentioned Mr. Gosling the poul- terer, and the shop of Rabbits & Sons, that Genevieve also added to her col- lection ? Some interested friends assured her that a Dr. Death had once been a physician at St. Mary's Hospital, and these same friends had been attended by Mr. Jaw, a dentist. Pinecoffm is the name of a well-known old family of Devonshire. Mr. Voice is a watch and clock maker at Evesham. A. Trout was a school manager; and a Miss Wiseman, very properly, a schoolma'am. At Ventnor, on the Isle of Wight, Mr. Digweed was a photographer. Samuel Guest, Mr. Household, W. Sal- mon, Mr. Sidebottom, Mr. Such, Mr. Cattle, and Mr. Sarah were other names that went in between the red leather covers, and when Genevieve pulled forth her little book to give us specimens from her collec- tion, no one doubted that she had enjoyed every minute spent in making it. " It cost me only one-and-six, and I can put it all in my very own pocket, mamma ; and that is more than the boys can say, she crowed exultantly. THE FOOLISH LITTLE GIRL By GEORGE PHILLIPS ONE time there was a foolish girl, Who worried all the day For fear the sun should come too close And burn the earth away ; For fear the stars should leave their homes And tumble from the sky ; For fear the moon should draw the tides A little bit too high! She quite forgot to ieed the cat And shut the pantry door fc Because she was so occupied In worrying some more. And then she worried dreadfully For what she hadn't done, While thinking of the sea and stars And bothering 'bout the SUQ. And while she thought, she never heard Her busy father say : 1 wonder if there's anyone Could mend my gloves to-day?" And dreaming of the stars, she stood Nor heard her mother call, " Ok, daughter ! fetch the broom at once And come and sweep the hall." And wasn't she a foolish child To worry all the day, When, if she hadn't worried so, Her fears had flown away? For if she'd left the skies alone, She might have swept the hall And mended gloves and fed the cat. And had no fear at all. I HEN the father of Chung and Choy returned from the big city where lived their uncle, he brought each of his little girls a present of a pretty painted porcelain cup and saucer. Chung's was of the blue of the sky after rain, and on the blue were painted a silver crane and a bird with a golden breast. Choy's cup was of a milky pink transparency, upon which light bouquets of flowers appeared to have been thrown ; so beautiful in design, form and color that there seemed nothing in it to be improved upon. Yet was Choy discontented and envied her sister, Chung, the cup of the blue of the sky after rain. Not that she vented her feelings in any un- seemly noise or word. That was not Choy's way. But for one long night and ooe long day after the pretty cups had been brought home did Choy remain mute and still, refusing to eat her meals or to move from the couch upon which she had thrown herself at sight of her sister's cup. Choy was sulking. On the evening of the long day little Chung, seated on her stool by her mother's side, asked her parent to tell her the story of the picture on the vase which her father had brought from the city for her mother. It was a charming little piece of china of a deep violet-velvet color, fluted on top with gold like the pipes of an organ, and in the center was a pagoda enameled thereon in gold and silver. Chung knew that there must be a story about that pagoda, for she had overheard her father tell her mother that it was the famous crocodile pagoda. " There are no crocodiles in the picture. Why is it called a crocodile pagoda?" asked Chung. "Listen, my Jes'mine-flower," replied the mother. She raised her voice, for she wished Choy, her Orchid-flower, also to hear the story. "Once upon a time there was a big family of crocodiles that lived in a Rip- pling River by a beach whose sands were of gold. The young crocodiles had a merry life of it, and their father and mother were very goo* nd kind to them, But one day the young crocodiles wanted to climb a hill back of the beach of golden sand, and the parents, knowing that their children would perish if allowed to have their way, told them ' Nay, nay/ " The young crocodiles thereupon scOoped a large hole in the sand and lay down therein. For half a moon they lived there, without food or drink, and when their parents cried to them to come out and sport as before in the Rippling River, they paid no attention whatever, so sadly sulky their mood. " One day there came along a number of powerful beings, who, when they saw the golden sands of the Rippling River, exclaimed, ' How gloriously illuminating is this beach! Let us build a pagoda thereon.' They saw the hole which the young crocodiles had made, but they could not see the hole-makers at the bottom thereof. So they set to work and filled the hole, and on top thereof they built a great pagoda. That is the pagoda of the picture on the vase." " And did the children crocodiles never get out?" asked Chung in a sad little voice. " No, daughter," replied the mother. " After the pagoda was on top of them they began to feel very hungry and frightened. It was so dark. They cried to their father and mother to bring them food and find them a way to the light ; but the parent crocodiles, upon seeing the pagoda arise, swam far away. They knew that they never more should see their children. And from that day till now the young crocodiles have remained in dark- ness under the pagoda, shut off forever from the light of the sun and the Rippling River." "Please, honorable mother," spake a weak little voice, " may I have some tea in my pretty pink porcelain cup ? " THE SUPERVISOR'S MISTAKE By LOUISE OCTAVIAN 'M coming into your room this morning, girls," said the School Supervisor to his twin daugh- ters. " O, please don't, papa," said Rena. " O, please don't, papa," echoed Lena. " Why, children," said mamma, " I should think you would love to have papa visit your school." " Well, mamma, we would," said Rena, "if only he could tell us apart. But he always calls upon me when he means Lena, and looks at Lena and says ' Rena.' " "And then all the children laugh, and Miss Francis laughs, too, and it's dread- ful exbarrassing," added Lena. " But you must remember, girlies," said papa, "that I'm very near-sighted, and when you look exactly alike, and dress exactly alike " " O, papa," interrupted Rena, " haven't we told you, and told you, and told you that Lena sits next to the window, and / sit beside the red-headed Murray girl ! " " Well," said papa, " I'll make one more effort to remember." " I've been thinking," said Rena on the way to school, " we might change seats to-day, and then if papa forgets, it will be all right." "But what will Miss Francis say?" asked Lena. " She'll never know," said Rena. " But, O, Lena Wells, be sure you answer to my name ! " Just then papa whizzed past them in an automobile. "Let us see, girlies," cried he, "it's Lena who sits beside the red-headed Mur- ray girl, isn't it ? " "There," sighed Rena, "I knew he'd get it wrong ! So we'll change seats, and you answer for me, and I'll answer for you." Just before recess Mr. Wells came in, and all the other children sat up very straight and kept very still. To them he was the rather stern Sunervisor of Schools, but to Rena and Lena he was just papa an absent-minded, near-sighted papa, who was always getting them into trouble. The class was reading selections from " Hiawatha." " Some of the songs from ' Hiawatha's Childhood ' have been set to music," said the Supervisor. " One of my little daugh- ters knows them." He looked around the room in search of the two curly heads adorned with red bows, and for once he remembered that Lena sat beside the window ! He walked down the aisle, and patting the little girl on the shoulder, said: " Stand up, Lena, and sing ' Hia- watha's Lullaby.' " Poor Rena, who couldn't sing three notes correctly, squirmed desperately in Lena's seat. O, how did papa happen to remember! And, O, why, why had they changed seats! " I can't, papa," she whispered. " Perhaps you would like to have your sister accompany you," said Mr. Wells. Then he walked down the next aisle, and stopped in front of the other little twin. " Rena, go to the piano, and play for your sister," said he. " I can't, papa," said Lena. " Go to the piano, my daughter," said the Supervisor of Schools very sternly; and the little girl hastened to obey. " Now, children, begin the song," said the Supervisor. Then Lena, who hated piano practice, and whose playing was really disgraceful, struck two of the wildest, most horrible discords, and poor Rena, who was unable to carry even the simplest tune, began in a funny, quavering voice, two tones off the key" Wah-wah-tay-see "then both broke down. Then Miss Francis began to laugh. "Mr. Wells," said she, "if you will send Rena to the piano, and ask Lena to AUTHE CHU.DH*H SM MF VCTV 3TK/UWIV sing, I think the result will be more satis- factoiy " How everyone laughed! Then Rena went to the piano, and from her flexible little fingers the accompani- ment rippled gently, and Lena, in her sweet, clear soprano, sang: " ' Wah-wah-tay-see, little fire fly, Little, flitting, white-fire insect, Little, dancing, white-fire creature, Light me with your little candle, Ere upon my bed I lay me, Ere in sleep I close my eyelids ! ' " After school Rena and Lena told Miss Francis why they had changed seats. " It's dreadful to be twins," said Lena. "It's dreadful to have your papa a Supervisor" said Rena. "I think it must be!" laughed Miss Francis. HER REASONS sometimes when folks would say, " Don't touch ! " " Don't listen, run along ! " Or, when I had been naughty and every- thing went wrong, I'll whisper you a secret I used to really wish I wasn't bora a little girl, but just L bird or fish. Or else a little kitty-cat, with one black coat or fur (For when I'm all dressed up so clean, I'm most afraid to stir). But when I think about it now I really don't wish that, I truly wouldn't like to be the daughter of a cat ! I used to wish I was a bird, so I could fly and sing, And never be obliged to dust, or sew, or anything. But then, I just remembered what the birdies feed on, ugh ! I really couldn't live on worms, or even bugs, could you? To be a fish would be as bad; I've thought of flowers, too. But, surely, they can't have much fun, just staying where they grew. And I can run, and jump, and laugh, and eat the nicest things! Then there's the doll and playhouse; the rowboat and the swings. So I say, "'Member, Helen," when I'm feeling cross or sad, " 'Cause you were born a little girl, you'd better just be glad 1 " CHRISTMAS SONG OING a song of Christmas, the good time is here; ^ \V*?lcome, cheery Yule-tide, once every year : Trees bright with candles, stockings full of toys, Boxes full of bon-bons, hearts full of joys. Let the happy bells ring ! Blow, bugles, blow ! Let the nimble bob-sleds glide o'er the snow; Set the Christmas table, cut the Christmas pie ; Tell the Christmas story 'round the fire, by and by. Don't forget the poor folks who have less than we; They love the good things, too, we must agree ; Share your toys and candy, pudding and the rest On a jolly Christmas, sharing is the best. THE STORKS, THEY KNOW ONCE a jolly and wise old stork, they say, Flew out of his nest in the far-away, And traveled on wing for a week and a day- This jolly and wise old stork. And turning His sensible head askew, He gazed and he peered, as a stork will do, To discover what place he was coming to This sensible, queer old stork. Then he circled around, now high, now low, For grandmas will tell you that storks they know Just as well as folks where they ought to go These curious, wise, old storks. Now that dear old stork had a big surprise, As you might have guessed from the look in his eyes ; He said not a word, but he did look wise That long-legged, dear, old stork. He flew past the mansion upon the hill ; The night was dark and the air was chill ; And the locked iron gates were cold and still. " No children in here," sighed the stork. A cottage he passed where the roof was low ; " They are happy in there," said the stork, " I know r For I brought them a wee one a month ago. Ah me 1 I'm a happy stork." Then he sailed right down to our chimney-top, He bounced to the ground with an easy hop, For he knew, he knew where he was to stop - This welcome, delightful stork. BEAU GRIMALKIN'S SLEIGH RIDE By CULMER BARNES BEAU TAKES MISS FUSSYKIN OUT IN HIS CUTTEt WITH HIS SPIRITED NEW TEAM OF MICE BEAU FINW THEM NOT O EASY TO HANDLE A8 HE THOUGHT AHD HAD HAS TO DRAG TM CUTTM AMD MIS8 FCMYDW--HOM THE PROFESSIONAL UMPIRE AND MASCOT- KEEPER By LEE McCRAE [ ASEBALL was the chief delight of Max Oliver's life, and Pep- per was his chief comfort. It was not at all queer that he should love the ugly little dog so much, for Max had a bad knee that kept him from walking, and Pepper, strangely enough, had been born with only three legs instead of four. But it was queer that he should care so much for baseball when he had never seen a real game in his life. Max and his mother lived all alone in a two-room house with a " lean-to," almost in the shadow of the grand-stand of the city baseball park. Almost every day dur- ing the season throngs of people came crowding past, hurrying into the park to get good seats, and hurrying out again to get any sort of seats in the street cars. Mrs. Oliver was too busy to pay much attention to them. She sewed for the gov- ernment, and the piles of coarse cloth that came in, and the dozens and dozens and dozens of overalls that went out, took all her time and thought. But Max had plenty of time, more than he knew what to do with, when it wasn't a baseball day. When it was, he and Pep- per would crawl close to the fence where a broken paling made a fine window for their small faces. To watch the people going in was some fun ; to see them stand- ing up on the top row of the bleachers, waving hats and umbrellas, and to hear *he glorious Celling this was better still. At such times Max would " holler " as loud as he could, and Pepper would bark joyfully, for then they knew that the home team was ahead. Best of all were the brief moments when the crowd surged out and past the fence corner, for by listening intently Max could usually hear which side had won, and how and why. Max was no greenhorn. Although he had never seen the game played except when the neighbor boys played in the street before his house, he had asked ques- tions until he thought he knew all about it. There was one thing he did not know, however : that a boy could get inside by carrying in a " wild ball " one that had been batted over the fence. Since he seldom went oatside his yard he had never seen it done, and there were some things the neighboi s forgot to tell him. One day when the crowd was immense, a ball came flying over the grand-stand straight toward his fence corner. It fell with a dull thud within a few feet of him. The two cripples crawled eagerly to the spot and seized it with reverent curiosity. IT was theirs ! Theirs to keep for always. But the game would have to stop if IT wasn't there ! No doubt all the people in- side the park were hunting for IT that very minute ! Max tucked IT tight under his arm as he thought these troublesome thoughts, and tried to make himself be honest. At last he decided to give up the treasure. Just as fast as he could he squeezed him- self through the broken fence Pepper got through without any difficulty and labor- iously, "on all threes," they made their way to the door through which Max al- ways saw the players go. Too tired and excited to speak when he reached the door- keeper, Max simply held up the ball. 41 Well, that sure lets you in," said the man pleasantly. "Push to the front if you'd like to see." "Like to see!" Think of it! They pushed to the front so far that they stood outside the benches of the home team, who happened at that moment to be out in the field. Scarcely had Max settled himself on a bench with the trembling Pepper close in his arms, when a great shouting rose in the air. "Out! Out! Out!" screamed the fans. In a moment the big red-uniformed men came trooping toward the benches, laugh- ing and clapping a certain curly-haired one upon the back. " Here ! What are you doing here ? " said one man gruffly, as he stumbled over the newcomers. As the two started to creep away he noticed their helplessness and a'ddea more? kindly, " Oh, you can stay." The men were all too happy to be cross ; they had just had their "first streak of LING MADE A FINE WINDOW FOR THEIB THAT SURE LETS YOU IN, SAID THE MAN PLEASANTLY luck " during the game. In the next in- ning there was great excitement Max did not see why exactly and nobody noticed him or Pepper. Toward the last of the game, however, one of the team saw the comical face of the little black dog peering out from under his master's arm, and seized him playfully, exclaiming : "Why, hello! What's the matter with your pegs ? " " He never had that leg," explained the proud owner, pointing to the place where the leg ought to have been. " Both of us cripples have to go on all threes, only he's got a front one missing, and my back one's bad," slapping the crooked kne MAX HELD UP HIS HANDS IN TERROR, CRYING " OH, H*'s MINX 1 H*'s ALL l' VI GOT I ' *Too bad," said the man absent- mindedly, his eyes intent upon the player at the bat. Soon therr was hurrahing and hurrah- ing. The home team had, won and the fans were wildly happy. Even the men themselves joined in the jubilee, for it was the first good playing they had done in some weeks. Everything had seemed sud- denly to turn against them, and now, just as suddenly, to turn in their favor. " Here's the mascot that did it! " cried the man they called Rusty, probably be- cause of his red hair. " See the three- legged puppy ! He hopped in here just as Oily made the scrumbumptious play that set us all hopping ! " With that the poor little dog was tossed recklessly from one to another until Max held up his hands in terror, crying, " Oh, he's mine ! He's all I've got ! " "What's his name?" asked the manager. " Pepper Oliver." "Pepper all over! Well, he looks it! And Pepper's just what this team needs. We put pepper and hot shot into those other fellows to-day, and we've got to do it to-morrow. You and Pepper can come." So Max was obliged to explain how they got in. The men looked at one an- other, and their faces took a friendlier look as Max innocently revealed the limitations of his life, and its great longing. - Well," said the manage*, " we'll hart Pepper for our mascot and you for head- rooter. Show us where you live. Oh, over there. Come, boys, let's carry them home." And so with great ceremony Max and Pepper were carried home tc the wonder- ing mother, who dropped her work for once and came to the door to see what the noise was about. Thus it was that Pepper became a valued member of the National Baseball League. Of course in his high position he had to " go on the road " with the red men, and at such times Max had to play alone in his fence corner. But every now and then he would put a fat pay envelope into his mother's lap, the salary Pepper earned, and what the owner was promised for his " keep." Max often wondered how Pep- per could earn that much, but of course the baseball men knew more about such things than did he. Best of all, when Christmas came Santa Claus sent Max a pair of crutches with red bands painted on them in honor of his team, and while crutches are fine things to walk on, they are finer than any umbrella to wave when your men win. Proud as he was of them, he was prouder still of the shingle sign which Rusty made and nailed upon the gate-post. In big red printed letters it said, " Max Oliver, Professional Umpire and Mascot-Keeper." THE SUNSHINE MEADOW /~\N Grandpa's farm there is a sunshine meadow, And broad and bright against the hill it lies; The brown bees know it and come swiftly flying To fipd such sweetness under summer skies. Sometimes the dark clouds gather, rain drops patter, A saucy wind runs whistling up the lane; Yet brave and cheerful smiles the upland meadow, Come shine, come shadow, scorching heat or rain. I like to wander in this happy meadow, And pick the sunshine, all my hands can hold, Then hasten home, a Midas * with my treasure, .With airy buttercups like purest gold. ALIX THORN. TROUBLE IN THE TREE-TOP "T ITTLE Bird, Mother Bird, why in Yesterday my little ones heard Miss *-* such a flurry ? " Betty cry 1 "We must move, Father Bird, move Spoke about the * funny noise,' they'll right in a hurry ! " be sure to try 1 " Mother Bird, Mother Bird, what can be All my little darling birds say ' I won't ' the matter ? and cry ! Are not all our children daily growing Truly 'tis enough to set my feathers all fatter? awry!" Has a cat discovered us ? Tell me, now, " Tut, my little Mother Bird, teach them pray do!" how to sing! "Did you hear Miss Betty? Wouldn't They'll find it sweeter far, my dear, to tie her shoe ! make the bird-notes ring. Said : * I won't ! I won't ! I won't ! ' O. Foolish little Mother Bird. Now who- Father, Father Bird, ever heard K cannot have my children learn such a Any little singing bird say a naughty dreadful word ! word ? " ELIZABETH JAM T ON. * MidM WM the king who loved fold better than anything on eutfa. NOTHING TO DO I A CORNER IN BABIES By STACY E. BAKER ND, once upon a time, in the long, long ago, O Little Tot, there was a Great Monstrous Man who had more pennies than you even you, O Little Tot have in your Great, Monstrous Bank, and he shook his lots and lots of pennies in the faces of the Other People, and he said, " Lo and be- hold ! I have cornered all the Bright and Handsome and Good-looking Pennies and you have none left with which to buy All- day Suckers and what are you going to do about it?" And the Other People jeered and said: "Huh! You may have all your Bright and Handsome and Good-looking Pennies, O Great and Monstrous Man, but you haven't any Babies ! " And he thought, and thought, and thought. And then, O Little Tot, nobody heard from the Great, Monstrous Man for days, and weeks, and months, and years; and they were just glad, I can tell you. But " bimeby " Someone went to the Medicine Man and said, " O, Medicine Man, I am badly in need of a Baby, and you let me have the Other Ones so A wfully and Exquisitely Cheap that I have come back to you for a Girl- baby that will not Bite nor Growl at Strangers." And the Medicine Man he gave a sad, slow shake of his head, and all his gray hair fell 'round and 'bout his feet, and he told him, " Alas, and likewise alack, and other things, but I have no more Girl- babies, for the Great and Monstrous Man came, and gave one half of his Bright and Handsome and Good-looking Pennies, and took them all away." And " bimeby " Another Person came to the Medicine Man and said, " O, Medicine Man, I am badly in need of a Baby, and you let me have the Other Ones so Wondrously and so Outrageously Cheap that I have come back to you for a Boybaby that will not Snap nor Snarl at Company." And the Medicine Man gave a quick, sharp shake of his head, and his whiskers, which were done up in little curl papers, fell 'round and 'bout his feet, and he said, " Alas, and alack, and other things, but I have no more Boybabies, for the Great and Monstrous Man came, and gave one half of his Bright and Handsome and Good- looking Pennies, and took them all away to his Nice and Starshiny Castle." WHEM ONCE HE USED TO HAVE HIS BREAD-AND-MILr SERVED ALL 8TILL AWDBUIET.NOWrr WAS SERVED MOST *OWDYI AND AWFUL And " bimeby " Other People came, and 'cause the Medicine Man hadn't any more Girlbabies who wouldn't Bite nor Growl at Strangers, or any more Boybabies who wouldn't Snap nor Snarl at Company, he gave them Each and Every One a double handful of Pennies, and Everybody went away all Smily-like. For you see, O Little Tot, that they all had more or less Boybabies, and they all had more or less Girlbabies, but none of them had any Bright, and Handsome, and Good-looking Pennies. And the Great, Monstrous Man in his Nice and Starshiny Castle laughed, and laughed, and laughed. And " bimeby," he thought, and thought, and thought, for you see, O Little Tot, that where once he used to have his Bread-and-Milk served all Still and Quiet, now it was served most Rowdy- ish and Awful, and where he used to have, O, lots and lots of Cake and Pie, now he couldn't have one Weeny, Teeny bk, for Cake and Pie, O Little Tot, is most sudden and fearsome for Girlbabies and Bov- babies. And so he thought, and thought, and thought. And "bimeby" Somebody was going down the street, and they stopped and read this which was tacked to a tree : "TO THE OTHER PEOPLE On, or about, as soon as I can, I agree to deliver one Boybaby or one Girlbaby (which are most shocking rude and eat with their knives and forks most horribly!) to anyone who wants them. And when shall I bring them ? " And the Great, Monstrous Man's name was signed at the bottom. And Everybody took Wheelbarrows, and Bushelbaskets, and Ice-tongs, and went and got all the Boybabies, and the Girlbabies ; and 'cause the Great and Mon- trous Man didn't have to bring them around, he was just glad. And the moral of this, O Little Tot, is " Don't believe all you hear !" , MOTHER RABBIT DYES THE EGGS WHO'LL GET THE PRETTIEST ONE? The world is gay With crocus guests; In purple, gold, And white they're dressed; Come out, come out And see the show All a-peeping Through the snow ! AMANDA BARKIS. Too early, Robin Built her nest, And then what Think you? O, Instead of warm, Warm little fluffs, Inside were Flakes of snow! AMANDA BARKIS* Worrying hi? troubles, THE MERRY MARCH HARE By LATIMER J. WILSON What's wrong, little LVIN was playing out in the yard one March day when Big Breeze came along, and with- out saying "by your leave" whizzed him this way and whirled him that way until he was as dizzy as a Junebug. Finally Big Breeze set him down in a large field where the grass was so tall that he could not see the direction of his home, and so could not find his way back. Just then the Merry March Hare came along and exclaimed: "Mad boy?" Alvin was a bit frightened at first, but the Merry March Hare was so polite and pleasant that Alvin could not doubt his kindness; so he related what Big Breeze had done. "Don't you care," said the Merry March Hare. " Mount me and hold fast to my crazy ears. I'll leap you home- it's leap year, you know. All aboard ! " Alvin mounted his steed cautiously, and away they leaped and bounced and bounded until he was safe at home, when the Merry March Hare disappeared. See if you cn find the route they took over the field to the house in the distance ; it is shown by one of the white spaces in the grass, starting at the Merry March Hare's right fore foot, and is not inter- rupted by any black lines. If ajjood litfle fairy should come up 1o~me/ ? ~* (3nd)jjive me a Wish, T just^knou^ Wftat^tvv^bu Td Wish stead of one little what fd vish. and do jvjou know v|v\j? 'ste^d of one test day that seems to just fly Td have thfte of tese d^ys in the ^jea?: oh mjjl Oyi| &vkes' d, and C 3few fljears, and ^ourfli of OW THE B NAMED By ETTA ANTHONY BAKER 'HERE lay the dear little baby in her pretty white crib, just like a bird in its nest. Her big blue eyes looked up at the family as if she wondered why they were all so slow. And slow they surely were for the baby was two months old that very day, and was still without a name just think of that! Of course she was called by ever so many names : " Baby," " Sweetheart," " Lovey," "Princess Pretty Girl," " Comfort " and " Blessing," but these were not real names ; not " for good," you know. " We will always be calling her ' Baby ' if we don't name her pretty soon," said grandma. But it was very hard to choose among so many names. Grandpa wanted '' Kate " after grandma, while grandma herself liked "Mary." Papa chose " Alice," because that was dear mamma's narrte. Big brother begged for " Mabel." You see he was very fond of a lovely young lady with that name, and he wanted to please her. Sister asked for something " real stylish," like " Araminta," or " Sera- phina." Two of her very best dolls had those names. Little brother wanted " Kitty." "'Cause then I can call: 'Here, Kit! Here, Kit! Kitty, Kitty, Kitty!' when I want her to bring me things," he said. Mamma herself said nothing except to nurse; but deep down in her heart she longed for " Dorothy." That was her own dear mother's name. At last big brother declared that they never would agree with so many names to choose from, and it was useless to argue about it any longer, so he said : " Let us each write the name we like best on a slip of paper and drop the papers into a hat. Then mamma can shut he* eyes and choose one. That will settle the whole matter." They all liked this plan, and each one set to work to write the best-liked name. Lit- tle brother took a big piece of paper for his so that mamma would feel it first, but big brother said, " No, sir ! all the papers must be the same size, or it will not be fair ! " Soon they were all written (only little brother had to print his), and then the papers were folded and dropped into the hat which nurse brought. Papa shook the hat hard, to mix the papers thoroughly, then he put it down on baby's crib, near mamma's hand, and said to the baby: " Now, young lady, we're going to settle you this time!" Baby looked up in his face with a smile on the little rosebud mouth, just as if she were saying : " Such a fuss over such a lit- tle thing! Why, / could have settled it long ago ! " and the dimples showed in the pretty cheeks. iTien the tiny mouth puckered a bit, as toe baby thought of some of those names which might be given to her. She did not like " Araminta " certainly not ! No, nor " Seraphina." They were all very well for dolls, but she was a real baby. As for " Kitty," that wouldn't do at all ; it was entirely too easy, for little brother would be calling her all the time. He liked people to wait upon him. You see, he had been the baby before. Ye5., it certainly was time for her to take " Well, I declare ! " he said in a puzzle* tone. " That is queer ! " "What, oh, what?" said the others, " Is it Araminta ? " " Is it Kitty? " " No," said papa slowly, " it isn't either of those names, nor Alice, nor Mary, nor Mabel. It is Dorothy !" " Oh ! " said mamma in surprise, while her pretty face flushed all over with pleas- ure, as she repeated the name she loved so much. "Dorothy! I'm so glad!" Then she stopped short and said : " But I don't BABY'S CHOOSING!" SHOUTED LITTLE BROTHER, DANCING UP AND DOWN a hand in the matter. It was her name, so it was more her business than anyone's. The little dimpled fist waved about in the air for a moment, then it shot straight out. Over went the hat, and out bounced one little folded paper ! " Baby's choosing ! Baby's choosing ! " shouted little brother, dancing up and down. " Oh ! I hope it's Kitty ! " Slowly papa picked up the paper, slowly he unfolded it, while all the others held their breaths. Papa looked carefully at the paper, then held it closer and looked again even more carefully. understand it I didn't put my name in at all!" " Are you sure ? " asked papa quickly. " Yes, truly," said mamma, showing her own pretty dimples. " I tried not to be selfish, so I kept my name out." " Now isn't that funny ! " said little brother to nursie, who was busily folding pretty white dresses and tiny blue sacques, and putting them away in the baby's own basket. " How do you suppose that name got in the hat, nursie ? " But nursie only smiled to herse 1 * *visely. and said, "Ask Dorothy!" to MY FRIEND, THE BLUEBIRD GURGLE sweetly, Soft and low, Dearest bluebird, Breast aglow; Hieing, Flying, To and fro ; Thrilling, Trilling, As you go. Friendly ever To my home, Dearest bluebird, Build your own; Resting, Nesting, In this tree; F r tting, Sitting, Nearer me. 'Tis the sweetest, Gentlest note Rises from thy Little throat ; Winning, Cheering, And caressing; Restful, Peaceful, Like a blessing. JOSHUA F. CROWELL. THE MAD MARCH WIND I RUSH and I blow: Then I lull for a momeiit: Then grow, Ho! Ho! How I grow, Till I roar! More and more, Till I scream 1 Then a growl, And a grumble ; A rumble; A howl! And again I go wild, Like an unbridled child; My locks I shake out, I leap and I shout As I run! What fun! Ho! Ho! For I am the merry, mad March Wind! MICHAEL BERA. AFRAID OF A WETTING A PRETTY little trout Was eager to go out, But dearie me! the sky was very black; So I heard his mother say, " You may go a little way, And if it rains, be sure to hurry back." TWO BOYS AND A BABY By JULIA KYLE HILDRETH | AY sat on the library step-ladder and read from a book on his knee: "The great green waves broke with a hissing roar as the castaway seized the line that the rocket had brought to his feet from the Lapwing, and spring- ing from one high boulder to another, wound it about the blackened ribs of the half-buried wreck. Glancing over his shoulder he muttered, ' Now I know why he cut the sail, he is going to make a cradle or hammock.' " The door slammed loudly. Ray looked up and around the small book-filled room. " Why, Tom must have gone," he said to himself, and was soon completely ab- sorbed again in his reading. Someone came along the hall, turned the key in the library door and shuffled off, whistling, but Ray did not hear and still read on. The light from the one window grew fainter and fainter, and finally the boy lifted his head and closed the book. "There!" he yawned. "I forgot where I was." He thrust the book back on the shelf, put several other volumes carefully in their places, jumped from his high perch, and took a general survey of the room. " Mr. Preston will be pleased he wanted it finished to-day," thought Ray. Then he ran his eye carefully over the regular lines of books. " I am glad he gave Tom and me charge of the library. Tom says there is not a better school library in the city, though it is small." All this time Ray was tugging at the door. " Why, it's locked," he said aloud, giv- ing it a hard shake. Ray knocked and shook and even kicked the door at intervals for more than an hour, then concluded that everyone had left the building. " No one will miss me until after nine," thought Ray disconsolately. "Then the folks will be frightened and I shall be dreadfully hungry." He turned to the window and glanced out. The view was very limited, for a long row of tall tene- ments shut out everything else. Though the houses were not quite finished, one floor just opposite the library evidently was occupied, for a boy with a baby in his arms jogged about the room, while a woman prepared something at the stove. Somehow this sight gave Ray an addi- tional pang of loneliness, and seating him- self on a low bench he watched the dark- ening sky and the very tall clothes-pole silhouetted against it. This pole with its swaying lines brought to his mind the story that he had been reading, and that was responsible for his imprisonment. Presently he stood up and reached out of the window. Yes, he could easily touch the line. He drew it slowly toward him, then stopped, for the boy in the opposite house called out, " You just let that line alone that's ours." Ray sat down again and once more leaned against the wall. He was calcu- lating how many hours must pass before he could hope to be released, when his eyes closed and he fell fast asleep. Something startled him wide awake, just as the guns boomed across the city. " Nine o'clock," said Ray, springing to his feet "now I'M GOING'" SHOUTED THE BOY, WHO WAS ALREADY STANDING ON THE WINDOW-SI*' "Fire! fire! fire!" shouted a voice -'om the opposite house. " Hallo ! " answered Ray, " where's the fire?" " In the bed," replied the voice. " The baby pulled the lamp over, but she's all right!" " Say," shouted Ray, " run down to the next corner and tell the watchman to send in an alarm ; he's got a key." " I can't ; mother locked me in. You go quick ! " " I'm locked in, too, by mistake," an- swered Ray. He could now see a bright light flashing up and down the wall behind the boy atid the baby. " It is getting awfully hot," shouted the boy, holding the little one close to the win- dow. Then he added: "Say, if you will cut the rope at your side I can let her down into the yard." " The rope won't half reach," answered Ray. " Why don't you throw water on the fire?" " There's no water in the room," howled the boy, and again he lifted up his voice and called, " Fire ! fire ! fire ! " " There's no use crying," shouted Ray ; "no one lives around here. The houses are all new." "Mother will half kill me if baby's burned," sobbed the boy. "I wish you had her. What shall I do? The fire's climbing up the wall. Fire! FIRE! FIRE!" " Stop that noise," commanded Ray, who had been thinking. " Have you got a sheet or a blanket or a tablecloth ? " he called out after a moment. " The sheets are all burnt and so is the blanket but hold on! Here's a table- cover." " Pin it on the pulley-line and send it over to me," ordered Ray. The boy quickly obeyed, and Ray soon fashioned the tablecloth into something like a ham- mock. " Now stop your noise and listen to me," called Ray sharply. " When I send this hammock over to you, be sure to fasten the baby in strong. If you don't she will fall out. The extra piece of line is in the hammock." " Do you think I am going to put my baby into that thing?" shouted the boy, as he hugged the little one close. "Yes," returned Ray. "There's no danger; they sent three men ashore that way from the Lapwing in a piece of sail, through a great storm, with the waves dashing mountain high against the rocks." As the boy in the flat examined the tablecloth doubtfully, a dense column of black smoke rolled from the window, and the baby began to cough and choke. " I guess I'll have to give her to you," gasped the boy, fighting the smoke away from the dear little face, while the tears rolled down his cheeks. " Fasten her strong," warned Ray, " she looks like a regular kicker." Great blinding tears chased each other down his cheeks, too, as the boy slipped the laugh- ing, crowing baby into the tablecloth, wound the piece of rope around and around the bundle and over the clothes- line, and sent it from him with shaking hands. It was a moment to make even a strong man cry. A tiny white hand and arm showed for a minute above the improvised hammock, and the boy in the flat smothered a cry of fea'r that rose to his lips. Even Ray's stout heart gave two or three quick thumps, but he kept on pulling the line carefully until he had the little human parcel safe in the grasp of his two hands. "Got her aH right?" shouted the boy in a trembling voice. " All right," answered Ray, holding the little creature high up in his arms as proof. "Now I'm going," shouted the boy, who was already standing on the window- sill enveloped in smoke. Ray watched him scramble out on the window-sill, lay himself flat against the house, and stretch out his foot until the tip of his toe touched the next window- sill and the ends of his fingers grasped the bricks at the side. Then he disappeared through the window. At last a shrill whistle, accompanied by the tap-tap of four fast flying feet, sounded through the quiet street. "The fire marshal," said Ray to the baby, and he thrust his head from the window. Close behind came the great fire horses pounding the earth with their big hoofs. In a moment more the opposite room was filled with firemen. The baby laid her small head on Ray's shoulder, and Ray whispered, " Well, I'm glad I was locked in the library." Then came the rattling of a key in the lock and the door was flung open. " My baby ! my baby ! " cried an excited mother. " There she is, as safe as can be ! '' shouted the boy from across the way. The fire was soon extinguished. Ray received as modestly as he could the praise and thanks of a thoroughly grateful mother, who seemed to think his rescue of her baby the cleverest and most won- derful thing in the world. Then he saw that the library was properly locked again with no one inside and trudged on his homeward way, hungry but happy. HOW KITTY USED HER UMBRELLA By CARROLL WATSON RANKIN [ORGETFUL Uncle John didn't know what to do. When he had stepped from the train he had been certain that his valise contained presents for everybody where he was going to visit; but as he walked along the street his troublesome memory began to wake up. " Dear me," said he, " I've forgotten somebody! There are seven persons In that house and only six presents in my bag. If only I could remember which one " But Uncle John couldn't. In the house to which he was going there were two boys, two girls, a father, a mother, and a jolly little grandmother. In buying presents for these relatives whom he had not seen for a long time he had somehow overlooked one, but which one he could not recall. " I'll have to buy something," said he, " that will fit a man, a woman, a boy, or a girl." But there were no shops. Uncle John looked up and down the street. Then he peered around the corner. A man with an armful of umbrellas was striding toward him, crying loudly: "Umbrellas to sell umbrellas to sell ! " "The very thing," said Uncle John. "Anybody can use an umbrella. Here, my man, I want one of those this one with the plain wooden handle." So this was the reason, when all the other presents had been handed around to the other persons, why chubby, seven- year-old Kitty received a really grown-up umbrella. " Oh ! " cried Kitty, " a whole num- brella for just me? I've always wanted to belong to a numbrella." " Well, now you do," said Uncle John. " But suppose you say ' an umbrella.' " "A numbrella," said Kitty, obligingly. "Thank you, Uncle John; I like it very much." "You'd better look out," warned Grandma. "The wind may carry you and that big umbrella over the tree-tops some fine day." " I do hope it'll rain soon," said Kitty, running to the window to look at the sky. " Can't anybody see any clouds ? " But nobody could. The spring had been such a rainy one that perhaps there was no rain left for the summer. Day after day the bright blue sky was all but cloudless. " Oh, such blue-eyed days," mourned Kitty. " Does n't anybody s'pose it's ever going to rain ? " One Monday afternoon in August everybody was out of the house except Kitty and Hannah, the maid, who had some starched clothes drying on the line, and was keeping a watch on the weather. "My!" said Hannah, going to the kitchen door and glancing at the sky, " how dark it's getting. I do believe it's going to rain on my clean clothes." "Oh, do you?" cried Kitty, joyfully, " I'm sorry about the clothes, but if it does rain I shall go for a walk with my owr numbrella I guess I will, anyway." " Well," warned Hannah, " you mustn't go off this street." A moment later Kitty, feeling very im- portant indeed with her really truly um- brella under her arm, was walking toward Bessie Bailey's house, which was six whole blocks away, on Kitty's own street. Bessie was a kind little girl with five kittens. Bessie's brother Bob, also a very kind young person, owned a whole cage- ful of little fuzzy rabbits. Both children were delighted to see Kitty. " Don't you want a kitten ? " asked gen- erous Bessie. " They're just big enough to be given away. You can have two if you like." " Could I ? " cried Bessie, " I'd love to have two." " Will your mother let you ? " " Yes, she likes little cats our old one ran away." " Perhaps you could have some rabbits, too," said kind-hearted Bessie. "Yes, indeed," said Bob. "Take any two you like we have eight of this size." " I'm so glad I came," breathed Kitty. " But how can I carry four four nani- mals and a numbrella ? " " I'll fix it," said Bob, pulling some long grass and dropping it into the umbrella where it made a soft green cushion. " Now give me the rabbits that's right now the kittens. There ! They can ring- around-a-rosy round the handle, and you'll have only one thing tc carry." " But," objected Bessie, " the numbrelle, will fall open they'll all jump out." " Give me a string yes, your hair rib- bon will do, Bess. There ! Now you are all right, Madam Kitty." Before Kitty had reached the corner, however, the rain Hannah had predicted suddenly burst from the clouds. Such a rain! Kittie, with her precious umbrella tied up, was drenched. By the time she had reached her own door there was hardly a dry thread on her. But do you think she cared? Not a bit, for snuggled safely inside the big umbrella were four perfectly dry little " nanimals." Uncle John opened the door for his dripping niece. " I've used my numbrella," said beam- ing Kitty, proudly holding it out for in- spection. " I notice," said smiling Uncle John, "that you either wear your umbrella up- side down or else you walk on your head. Which is it?" "Just kittens and rabbits," explained Kitty THE MOON TABLE By LOUISE OCTAVIAN UTTLE ARDIS sat disconso- lately at the piano. Such a miserable old piano! Such rattling, yellow keys! Such cracked and jingling tones ! One was re- minded of the p'ano in " Cranford," which the writer said " must have been a spin- net in its youth." Ardis turned the leaves of her music sadly. The chords in the " Don Giovanni Minuetto " rang out discordantly, offend- ing the correct ear of the little musician. " Twilight " was completely spoiled by a broken E-flat string. Two bass notes stuck hopelessly, marring the melody in the " Song of the Peasant," and Ardis was almost in tears. Then papa rushed into the room. His face was radiant, and he seized Ardis and whirled her off the stool. " What would you say to a new piano, sweetheart ? " he cried. " A brand-new, upright piano, with a beautiful rosewood case, and shining black and white keys; with a perfect action, and a bell-like tone?" Ardis was simply unable to say any- thing at all, but she threw both arms around Mr. Lindsay's neck, and the en- thusiasm of her embrace was answer enough. " Well, I have ordered one for you," continued papa, still whirling her dizzily around the room. " It will be here to- morrow, so play a farewell tune upon this awful old box." Ardis hugged papa still more raptur- ously, and then mamma and Millie and Els'^ and Dick came hurrying in to assist in the rejoicing. Ardis went back to her practicing, and played the " Minuetto " jubilantly. " Tl. last piece ! The last piece! The last piece on this old piano forever, and ever, and ever ! " she chanted joyously. All night she dreamed of the coming treasure, and in the morning was too ex- cited to eat her breakfast. " What time will it be here ? " she asked. " Oh, it will take several hours to come out from Boston," said mamma. " I should not begin to look for it before eleven." But long before nine Ardis was perched upon the gate, straining her eyes to catch the first glimpse of the team as it rounded the curve at the foot of the long hill. Millie and Elsie were seated upon the fence, and Dick had climbed into a pear tree in order to be the first to an- nounce the arrival. At last the town clock struck ten. " Here it comes ! Here it comes ! " cried Dick, nearly falling out of the tree in his excitement. " Let's run and meet it," said Ardis, and all four started pell-mell down the hill. But alas, and alas! It was only a tin peddler's wagon after all ! They trooped slowly back, and another hour passed with no sign of the piano. At last Elsie cried, " I see it ! I see it I " "Yes, Ardis, no mistake this time," said Mollie, and down the hill they til dashed again. But it was only an empty furniture van. After dinner the youtrger children tired of watching, and Ardis was left upon the fence alone. " Be patient, dear," said mamma, " it will come very soon now, I am sure." At last Ardis curled up in the ham- mock, a little tired after the long hours of waiting. " The first piece on the dear new piano shall be the ' Song of the Peasant,' " she said to herself happily. Then she heard the clock chiming four. " Perhaps ' Twilight ' would be better for the first piece, if it comes so late," said she. Just then a boy came up the steps with a note from papa. Mrs. Lindsay read it very soberly, and then came to the ham- mock, and put her arms around Ardis. " Can my little girl be very brave and cheerful? " she asked. " Papa met with a business disappointment this morning, and was obliged to countermand the order for the piano. Will Ardis wait patiently a little longer, and not trouble papa by fretting ? " Ardis was beyond speech, but she nodded quickly, and breaking away from mamma's arms, ran into the house and up to the attic, always her refuge in times of trouble. Old soldier suits, worn and faded; rusty swords, and battered muskets hung solemnly here. Old furniture, discarded clothing, broken toys, trunks and boxes, littered the dusty spaces. Ardis crept into a favorite nook beside a gable win- dow, and throwing herself upon an old sofa, sobbed as though her heart would break. At last she sat up and tried to fight back the tears. The late afternoon sun poured warmly through the cobwebby win- dow, and shone full upon an old table just behind her. Such an old, old table ! A "moon table" she had heard her father call it. It had belonged to his great-grandmother, and had come from over the sea. It was made in the shape of a half moon, of solid ma- hogany, and had slender, tapering legs. It had been richly inlaid with rose and lilac woods, but now the delicate pattern was only faintly discernible, and the whole thing was scratched, and worn and shaky. Mr. Lindsay was fond of antique furni- ture, and Ardis had once heard him speak of having this old heirloom repolished and put in order. But mamma had laughed at the idea. Mamma hated anything old- fashioned. " So do I," said Ardis, looking througi her tears at the moon-shaped relic. " Hor- rid old piano ! Ugly old table ! I should just like to make a bonfire out of the dingy old things ! " And she gave the poor old table a vindictive kick. Then she perched upon the arm of the sofa, and began to drum carelessly upon the worn inlaid work of the table. " Oh, the dear new piano ! " she sighed. " Oh, the dear, smooth, shinv, white keys ! " Slowly the fingers of her right hand picked out " Fingertwist " upon the moon table. Suddenly something flew out with a snap and a jerk. She had touched a concealed spring, and a tiny, secret drawer lay open before her. In the wild- est excitement Ardis slid off the arm of the sofa, and began to examine this mys- terious hiding-place. It contained only one article, a small leather bag, tied up with a faded red ribbon, and smelling faintly of musk. With trembling fingers' Ardis untied the worn ribbon, and then, O wonder of wonders ! treasures undreamed of poured forth from the bag. A beautiful string of gold beads, of quaint design and for- sign workmanship, glittered in the sun- light. Next came a queer old brooch, richly set with glowing rubies. Then an ancient thumb-ring fell into her lap; and last of all a roll of gold pieces slipped from their crumbling wrapper, and rattled and jingled upon the attic floor. Ardis gathered her treasures into the skirt of her dress, and dashed down the two flights of stairs, a wild little figure, <*th flying curls, and face all dust, and tears, and smiles. Papa had come home and was sitting at his desk. Ardis fell upon him like a baby whirlwind. " See what I found in the moon table drawer! See what I found in the moon table drawer ! " she cried, swinging the string of gold beads before his eyes. " The moon table ! What moon table ? What are you talking about ? " " The funny old table up in the attic, near the gable window," explained Ardis. " But a moon table never has a drawer," said papa. 'This one has! This one has!" cried Ardis. " See the pin with the red stones ! See the gold pieces! Oh, do come quick and see the moon table ! " And she started atticwards, closely followed by papa, and mamma, and Mollie, and Elsie, and Dick. And everyone had to admit that there certainly was a drawer in the battered old table. "You shall have the piano, after al 1 ., sweetheart," said papa. " These rubies alone will more than buy it. And it will be a present from your great-greni-^pand- mother Lindsay ! " " And the moon table shall be restored to its former beauty," said mamma. " It shall have the place of honor, close beside the new piano," said papa. " The blessed old moon table ! " cried Ardis. "Iamlate"Quotfi Tfie &oy.*jt is true; fly excuse, tfiougfi, isgooft 4 ; Q anffife new. Long division I tfiovgfit So much longer VftatinsKort. " THE CORN POPPER MAN By LOUISE AYRES GARNETT E Corn Popper Man is the children's delight, * And they watch for him faithfully every fine night. It's his lamp they first see, like a bright little star, It shines from the front of his red-painted car. But the Corn Popper's face is a serious sight As he looks to the left and looks to the right Until someone calls him or waves a small hand, Then his face grows as bright as a little brass band, And he grins such a grin, and bows such a bow, And flips off his hat as no other knows how; So the children save pennies and smiles all they can For the nice Mr., dear Mr., Corn Popper Man; And if they've just smiles and no pennies can find, He acts most as pleased, which I call very kind, And calls out, " Hello ! how you children to-day? " Then trudges along on his corn popping way. It's a great thing to do just the best that you can, So blessings upon you, dear Corn Popper Man! I EXT Wednesday is papa's birthday," said mamma. " What shall we send him, Rosalind?" Rosalind shut her eyes and wrinkled up her forehead and thought and thought and thought. She and mamma were at grand- father's farm in Maine, and papa was in Chicago. What should they send him for a birthday present ? Suddenly she clapped her hands. " Let's send him a picture ! " she cried. " A picture of me! " " I'm sure that would please him very much," said mamma. " A picture of me," continued Rosalind, " in my new white dress, and my daisy hat, and my widest sash, and my shoes with the silver buckles ! '' " I will take your photograph, Rosie," said Uncle Kent. " Oh, no, no," objected Rosalind, " I want to go uptown to the photograph-man in the funny little house on wheels." " Uncle Kent can take very fine pic- tures," said grandfather. " F at he isn't a really, truly photograph- man \ " cried Rosalind. " This is for papa's birthday, and is very iraportment ! " "That settles it," said Uncle Kent. " You must certainly go to a ' really truly photograph-man.' I didn't realize quite how ' importment ' it was." afternoon Rosalind put on her white dress, and daisy hat, and blue sash, and buckled shoes, and started for the photographer's. Grandfather's turkeys were strutting grandly around the yard. There were twelve in all one large, handsome gobbler that had taken a prize at the County Fair, and eleven fine turkey-hens. Rosalind loved to feed them, and even the fierce- looking old gobbler would eat from her hand, and follow her all around the yard. She had named them after the months of the year. She called the gobbler " Janu- ary," and the hens after the other months. " Gobble, gobble, gobble," said January, stepping forward quickly, as Rosalind came out of the house. April pecked at her hands, and July and August pecked at her skirt. "No, my dear turkey friends," said Rosalind. " No more corn to-day. Go away, January. I'm going to have my picture taken. Shoo-shoo-shoo, my dear turkey friends ! " Rosalind skipped happily down the long lane, and, turning out upon the state road, started toward the village. Soon a team came along, the driver of which looked at her curiously. " I wonder if he sees the buckles on my shoes ? " thought Rosalind. Then she met the rural delivery wagon, and the postman looked at her and smiled. * I thinV most pretty he likes my hat," said Rosalind Then she passed a cottage, and several people came to the windows, and they, too, were smiling. At the railroad crossing the old gateman grinned broadly, and from an automobile whizzing by in a cloud of dust came peal after peal of laughter. At last she reached the village, and here, too, everyone looked at her, and everyone was smiling. In front of the post-office about twenty men and boys were waiting for the mail. When they saw Rosalind they laughed loudly, and nudged each other, and pointed pointed at something behind Rosalind. Then, at last, Rosalind turned, and there, close behind her, marching proudly along in single file, were the prize gobbler and his eleven wives ! " Gobble, gobble, gobble," said January solemnly, and the crowd shouted with laughter. Poor Rosalind ! She gave one look at the turkeys, and one look at the crowd, then turned and started for home, forget- ting all about the picture for papa. " Gobble, gobble, gobble," said January, turning also, and leading his flock after her. Rosalind reached home at last, hot and tired and dusty, and told the story tear- fully. " It was so exbarrassing," said she. " I never want to go uptown again, not even to get my picture taken for papa. I'm never going to the post-office again nor past that old gateman. And, oh! I'll never, never give those horrid turkey? any more corn ! " And for two days the barnyara fowls looked in vain for Rosalind. The third morning Rosalind found a package beside her plate at breakfast time. What could it be ? She opened it eagerly, and there, in a red leather frame, was the prettiest picture ! A picture of a little girl in a white dress, with a hat covered with daisies, and a sash, and buckled shoes! And behind this little girl were twelve hand- some turkeys! " Oh ! oh ! " cried Rosalind. " It's me! and January, and February, and March, and all the other months ! Who could have taken it ? " " Well," said Uncle Kent, " I happened to be near the post-office when you came along, and I happened to have my camera fixed for a snapshot." " It's the loveliest picture ! " said Rosa- lind. "And I know papa will be so in- terested in grandpa's turkeys ! " " Take it right up to the post-office," said mamma, " and it will reach Chicago in time." " Yes, I'm going to," said Rosalind, " just as soon as I've given my dear turkey friends some corn." " Gobble, gobble, gobble" said January, loudly, when he saw Rosalind coming. SfflS, e thould b o-e1Sb wt! ^J^r^^m fh *rt she could not She put br suites on wrong" s"id And Tom v/iTh pout- Just suppose I went in- And $joro;oT To Come out I" NONSENSE RHYMES 'T 1 HE sun was up, The day had come ; Miss Buttercup, (The pretty one,) Put on her cap Of yellow silk, And filled her lap With buttermilk. A LADY bug Who had no home, Was very snug In honey comb. The Buzzy Bee Who owned the place, Stood at the door And made a face. J. F. CROWELL. "PROM ridge to ridge There swung a bridge. Whose work, a thousand men ? Nay, in the night A busy wight Spun cross, again, again ! J. F. CROWELU TVT OTHER Moon, 1VA Has on to-night Her softly ruffled cap, And her little Children stars Fill her broad blue lap. AMANDA BAR is. KEEP AWAY is a land of Grumbles, * And in Disagreeable Town The children just do nothing But grunt and scowl and frown. I shouldn't think it pleasant To live there long, should you? Where grunting, scowling, frowning Is all that they can do ? So if ever you should travel, And stop at Grumble City, And not come back, I think 'twould be A most amazing pity. HARRIET NUTTY. THE CIRCLETS 'T'HE Circlets celebrated Just as loudly as they could, The birthday of our nation, As all loyal children should. THIRST, they read the Declaration, " And " My Country, Tis," they sang, Then they fired off their crackers With a BANG, BANG, BANG! FREDERICK WHITE. SVSW1.S1N FAk. |XE little pair was made of pur- ple velvet bound with red and stitched at the toes with gold thread and little pieces of vel- vet to look like butterflies. The soles were made of about half a dozen layers of white cloth, and the whole had been put to- gether and made comfortable and snug by the mother of San Kee, the little wearer. The other pair was of scarlet satin, the toes elaborately embroidered to resemble a tiger's head, with beaded ears and eyes. The soles of this pair were similar to that of the other, and she who had made them was the honorable grandmother of Wing Sing, who wore them. Wing Sing and San Kee were two little boys, each five years old, who were at- tending school for the first time. " Silence ! " commanded the teacher. And the fifty boys, who had been reciting their lessons at the tops of their voices for the last two hours, silenced. In the midst of the quietness and still- ness the two little pairs of shoes pat- tered from the back of the room to the front. " Now, unworthy sons of most worthy parents," said the teacher, adjusting the blue goggles on his nose, "what is your dispute?" " Oh, great and wise teacher ! " ex- claimed the owner of the scarlet satin shoes, " the little puppy dog, who is called San Kee, says that his shoes are superior to mine." " Most honorable and learned one, the worm, Wing Sing, declared that my shoes were unfit to stand beside his," indig- nantly cried the boy with the purple pat- terns. The teacher's blue goggles looked very severe. " Your own words condemn you," said he.' " You have both neglected the forms of politeness when addressing each other. That is plain. You shall both receive two strokes from the rattan." " But, gracious and great one, declare wjiich are the superior shoes ? " impa- tiently cried the red satined one. His father rattaned him every day, and the promise of the two strokes disturbed his mind but slightly. "Yes, honorable master, deign to declare the superior ones," pleaded San Kee, to whom the rattan was also familiar. " 'Tis not what a boy looks like that proves his superiority," remarked . the teacher. " 'Tis what he has done or has not done. 'Tis the same with shoes. What have these shoes done since you have been to school ? " " I know what the shoes of Wing Sing have done!" cried San Kee. "They kicked mine." " Did San Kee's shoes return the kick, Wing Sing? " asked the teacher. " No, honorable sir." " Then, Wing Sing, your shoes are the inferior pair." "But San Kee's shoes only did not return the kick because your honor- able pupil-teacher, Tai Wan, restrained them." " Is thaf so, San Kee ? " " 'Twould be impolite to contradict Wing Sing." " Very well," said the teacher, pushing his blue goggles above his forehead, "your shoes, San Kee, also are inferior. You shall both recite your lessons for one hour after school Wing Sing, for what his inferior shoes have done; and San Kee, for what his no less inferior shoes have not done." DISCIPLINE TN summer when I go to stay at Grandpa's farm in Maine, * The folks begin to talk to me soon as I leave the train 'Bout what they call good " dis-cer-pline," an' argue an' explain ; For Grandpa says if I were his, I'd be a better child ; An' Grandma says my s^ucy ways most nearly drive her wild ; An' then they both tell what they'd do if I should get them " riled." But when my Grandpa catches me a-lying late in bed, Or shooing off the guinea hens that come near to be fed, Or knocking all his tools about, an' messing up the shed ; What do you s'pose my Grandpa does ? He calls me straight to him, An' says next time he'll " trounce me well," an' that I am a " limb," Then slips a nickel in my hand, an' says, " Don't tell her, Jim." An' other times when I have been an' lost my Sunday hat, Or peeked when there was company, or run an' hollered " Scat ! " Or tracked mud all about the house, or called my uncle " fat " ; My Grandma leads me to her room, an' says she hopes I'll grow To be a better boy some day, an' holds my hand just so, " An' take this piece of pie," she says, " but don't let Grandpa know." An' so for all their scolding-talk I do not care a pin, Though, 'course I never tattle tales, for that would be a sin, But don't you s'pose I understand about their " dis-cer-pline " ? ALICE VAN LEER CARRICK. - A NICE LITTLE GIRL HATE a nice new frock ; I'd rather not be clean; I want to play some more, I think it's awful mean To have to be dressed up; I'll cry out both my eyes, I want to go out doors, And make some nice mud pies! HARRIET NUTTY. A FIGHT WITH DRAGONS By RUTH UNTIE MAY had been telling her little nephews about the Faerie Queene and of the knights she had sent forth to 4o some brave deed. The children were especially interested in the story of how the Red Cross Knight had killed the great dragon when it tried to kill him. "Oh, Auntie," cried Donald, his eyes shining with the marvel of it all, "how I wish there were dragons alive to-day and that one would try to wind himself about me. I'd just draw out my sword and fight until I had killed him deader than a door-nail." " There are dragons alive to-day," said Auntie May, "and do you know, Don- ald, that one of them is winding himself about you. If you don't look out, by and by he will have you bound so tight that you cannot get free." "Why, Auntie May!" Donald's eyes opened wide. " You're just fooling." " No, I am not." " Then what do you mean ? " "Well, I will tell you. This morning I sat sewing near the window when you children were playing out-doors, so I couldn't help hearing all you said. When someone suggested a race, you said, be- fore the race began, that you knew you could beat them all. Then in the jumping match, ^iienever one of the other boys MERWYN would jump, you said, ' Oh, that's noth- ing, I can do better than that.' So it was in all of the games, you boasted each time before you had a chance to play, and you kept telling what wonderful things you could do. A dragon called BRAG is wind- ing his coils around you, and if you don't kill him, he'll conquer you. In the olden times the true knight did not boast of what he could do. He did the brave deed, and the people who saw it praised him. When a boy gets into the power of this dragon BRAG the other boys always dislike him, and do not give him credit even for what he has done." Donald looked sober. At last he said, " Auntie May, I'm going to fight that dragon. I didn't know before that he was winding his coils around me." " All right, dear," said his auntie, " I will be the Faerie Queene and send you forth to kill him. You must report to me from time to time about the battle." " Can t I fight a dragon, too, Auntie? " asked five-year-old Robert. "Yes, Robert, you have one to fight, but it is not the dragon BRAG. Your dragon is named SELFISHNESS. You know, dear, how hard it is for you to share your goodies with the other chil- dren. That's because of this dragon ; so I will send you forth to fight him. The next time you have something to shares do not stop to think how much you want it yourself, but think how much the other boy will like it. And, Donald, whenever you feel like bragging, you must make yourself keep still. Each time you do this, you will be wounding the old dragon, and HY and by he will die." For many days the children reported to the Faerie Queene. Sometimes they told of a victory, and sometimes it was of a Jcfeat. The Queene praised and encour- aged the knights and sent them forth again to renew the struggle. Finally, one evening Donald said : " Oh, Auntie, I haven't bragged a single bit this whole week ; and do you know, it isn't half so hard to keep still as it was at first. When I began the words would fly out almost before I could stop them, but they don't do that way now." "Auntie May," reported little Robeu, " to-day I gave more than half my candy to Charley Sift, and it didn't hurt me a bit." The Faerie Queen kissed the children. " My noble knights," she said, " you have done your work well. I'm sure you both will soon have the old dragons so dead that they will never come to life." A SMALL SEAMSTRESS A LITTLE girl went to a sewing-bee ; She was scarcely more than half- past three. But she worked so well, for one of her size, That the needles stared with all their eyes ! MARTHA BURR BANKS. THE CHERRY TREE By DORIS WEBB |NE afternoon Louis came over to the big white house. " Let's take a nice long walk and have some 'ventures," he said to Eunice and Phyllis, who were sitting on the piazza, steps. " Oh, let's ! " cried Phyllis ; so she ran to get her sunbonnet and Eunice's sun- bonnet, and told her mother they were going for a walk with Louis. The three children started down the road and then turned into a field where the daisies came almost to their waists. It was a field they loved to play in, and where they often went to gather flowers, but this day they wanted to do something more ex- citing. So they went on, through another field and along a road, quite a distance, till they came to a large barn. It had a pointed roof and a shed at one side, brt what interested the children was a big cherry tree near the shed a lovely tree, just filled with delicious red cherries. " Oh, I wish we could reach them ! " said Eunice, and she stood on tiptoe, but her hand was a long way below the bob- bing fruit " Well,,! know how we can," said Louis. " There's a ladder, and we can climb on top of the shed and pick some cherries just as easy ! " So Louis climbed up, and Phyllis and Eunice followed. They crawled onto the shed, and found themselves within easy reach of the tree. So they started picking and eating the delicious red cherries. Sud- denly they saw two men coming from the distance, and somehow those three children began to feel a little uncom- fortable. " Perhaps those men own the tree," said Louis. " I never thought of that. They may be angry because we're eating the cherries." " Hide here," said Eunice, " and maybe they won't see us ! " So they all crouched together under the eaves of the barn and kept very still. Pretty soon they heard two voices beneath them. "You have some fine cherries there, farmer," said one. "Yes," said the other, "and if I find anyone picking them, he'll be sorry." THE BROKEN DOLL " The cherries do belong to him ! " whis- pered Eunice. " Be very quiet," said Louis, " until they go away." The three children felt very much like three mice who hear a hungry cat near by. After a while the voices grew more dis- tant and then ceased. The two men had evidently gone away. Louis crawled care- fully to the edge of the shed to see, but in a moment he crawled back again, looking puzzled. " The farmer's gone," he said ; " but he has taken away the ladder. We can't get down ! " Then dear little Eunice, who always saw xhe funny side of things, began to laugh. " It's very funny to be left up on a roof ! " she said ; " I feel like a pigeon." They kept as quiet as they could for a long time, because they were afraid the farmer would come back and find out that they had eaten his cherries. It be- gan to grow late, and they were all tired and hungry, and wished they were home for supper ; but they ate no more cherries. At last they heard a patter of hoofs, and looking up, saw the Darcys' pink pony and the Darcys' pony-cart coming down the road. And in the pony-cart were Louis' brother and sister, Joe and Helen. "O Helen! Joe!" called the children, waving from the roof. The pony-cart stopped at once, and Helen and Joe climbed put. They ran up to the barn. "How did you ever get there?" called Helen. Three eager faces looked down at her over the edge of the shed. " Sh-h ! Don't talk too loud!" said Louis, and he told them all about the cherries and the farmer. " Mother sent us here to buy some cher- ries from the farmer," said Joe. " Here he comes now ! Hide quick ! " So back the three children scrambled to the eaves, and Helen and Joe waited for the farmer. " Hello, youngsters ! " he said, as he came up. " What do you want ? " "We we want to buy some cherries, p please," said Joe. He was so afraid the farmer would discover Louis and Phyllis and Eunice. Then the farmer did a very surprising thing. "Hello up there!" he shouted. "Do you children want to come down from that roof yet?" "Yes, please," answered Louis in a quavering voice. " How did you know we were here ? " " Oh, I saw you," said the farmer, " and I thought I would give you a little scare, so I took the ladder away. You came after my cherries, did you ? " " Well, we didn't exactly do it on pur- pose," explained Phyllis ; " we didn't know they belonged to anyone." " Ha-ha ! " laughed the farmer. " Well, come on down," and he brought the ladder out of the barn and put it up against the shed. Louis and Phyllis and Eunice climbed down, and they were certainly glad to find themselves on the ground again. They found that the farmer was really very kind-looking, and he had a jolly way that made them feel quite happy again. " They're friends of ours," explained Helen, " and the boy is my brother." "Oh, are they?" said the farmer. " Well, suppose you all come up to the house and have a drink of milk. You are the Darcy children, I guess." " Yes," said Helen, " and the others are Phyllis Murray and Eunice Wayne." " Oh yes, yes," said the farmer. " I've heard of all of you. I used to play with Mr. Wayne when we were both boys." fie took teemTntolthe house. In the kitchen was the farmer's wife, a nice old lady, who was very kind to the chil- dren. They found it was not so late after all, for the time on the roof had seemed much longer than it really was. The fanner's wife gave them each a glass of milk and some rye bread and butter spread with honey, and they sat and ate it in the nice bright kitchen, while Farmer Mead told them a story of the time when he was a boy and a farmer caught him up a cherry tree and spanked him with a shingle. When they had finished the bread and milk, the farmer went off to gather the cherries, and Louis and Joe went with him, while the three little girls walked through the garden with his wife. It was beautiful there in the garden in the late afternoon sunlight, with the dear old-fashioned flowers around, and the air cool and fra- grant. The farmer's wife gave each of them a bunch of sweet flov^'s, and then all the children said good-by and promised to come again. As they drove down the road behind the pink pony, Louis said : " Well, we've had our Venture, and it ended very nicely, because I do like that nice farmer and his wife." THE CIRCLETS / T A HE Circlets at the ocean ^ Were pleased as pleased could be. They had often seen a sea-saw, And now they saw the sea. course, they went in bathing And learned to swim and float, While the kitten studied sailing In a kind of catterboat. FREDERICK WHITE. THE WOE-BEGONE WIGGLE-DEE A WIGGLE-DEE sat on the top of Peaks Pike, A-wearing two hats on his head, just alike; His hats were all covered with pop-corn and lace, With rosettes of cabbage to add to their grace, While a bow of green ribbon fell over his face. He sported a pompadour twenty feet high, While a cute little curl nestled o'er his left eye; His wings were of leather and dyed baby-blue While out of his tail seven white feathers grew ; And he carried an ivory cane when he flew. His gloves were of brown tissue-paper, and they Were washed, starched and ironed, three times every day. He carried a dress-suit case, filled with pink pills, A mince-pie or two, and a bottle of squills, While in other spaces were stuffed doctor's bills. On the top of Peaks Pike, as he sat there each night, Presenting a truly magnificent sight, The folks who passed by were astonished to hear His words of complaining just when they drew near; So they deemed him ungrateful and verily queer. " O, dear ! " he would sob aloud ; then he would cry, " I haven't a herring to eat with my pie ! " And then he would wail in a tone low and sad, " I haven't a tooth-pick, and that is too bad ! And no teeth to pick, if a tooth-pick I had. "Now what I need most are the tooth-picks, you see; And if I could have them I then would agree To do without any red-herring. Dear, dear! I'm self-sacrificing O, very! That's clear. Has anyone tooth-picks to sell, around here ? " Meandering by was a gay Muley-Cow ; Said she, " Lovely Wiggle-Dee " (this with a bow), " I've ordered some tooth-picks ; I hope you can wait, For the car sprung a leak, so they'll not come till late,* A very large invoice ten bales to a crate." The good news so worked on the poor Wiggle-Dee, He cried such a flood that he barely could see. The tear-drops continued to fall to the ground, And there they piled up till they formed a high mound, In which Wiggle-Dee and the Cow were both drowned! S. VIRGINIA LEVIS. THE THUNDERSTORM GIANT By ELIZABETH C. WEBB !HE Thunderstorm Giant lived inside a great big huge moun- tain. Below it on all sides stretched a wide plain, planted with fields of corn and potatoes and cabbages, and dotted with little red- roofed houses. The mountain had once been a volcano, which is a very high-tem- pered sort of a mountain that spits out fire and smoke, but it had given up being that long before this story happened, and it was just a good meek mountain, covered with green forests, with a beautiful lake near the top. And the whole mountain was hollow inside. And in the hollow inside lived the Thunderstorm Giant. And he was hollow inside too. If you have never seen a Thunderstorm Giant I'll tell you what he was like. He was very large, and he was all made of soft gray clouds. Most of the time he lay comfortably asleep, but whenever he woke and saw the blue sky through the hole in the mountain, he would jump up in a jiffy and cry, " My goodness gracious me ! How late it is ! " and he would climb out of the mountain, and sitting down on the rim of it, would begin shaving in a great hurry. He had a shaving brush as big as , a tree and an enormous stick of shaving soap. And he would dip the shaving brush in the beautiful lake that was near the top of the mountain, rub it on the soap, and begin shaving in such a hurry that the lather would fly off into the air in all directions. Then the people away down on the plain would look up and shake their heads and say, " I'm afraid we're going to have a thunderstorm! Just look at all those great white clouds piling up over there!" When he had finished shaving the giant would draw a long breath and fill himself so full of air that he stretched out and grew four times bigger than he was before. He was hollow inside, you remember, just like a rubber doll. And when he opened his mouth wide and blew the air out again, all the people down on the plain would hold on to their hats and run as fast as they could for home, and cry, " Oh, me ! Oh, my! What a thunderstorm there's going to be!" The giant when he saw all the people run so fast would shout with glee, and seizing his shaving brush would splash it in the lake till the water sprinkled down on the plain. And all the people would put up their umbrellas and run the faster. Then the giant would shout with glee again, and leaping down from the mountain, would rush over the plain, and blow and blow and blow till he blew all the people's umbrellas away, and blew all the wash off the lines, and sometimes he even blew the roofs off the houses. All these things the Thunderstorm Giant would pick up in his arms and then rush on over the fields, whirling round and shouting for joy ; and he would carry them with him away to his home in the hollow mountain and play with them till he fell asleep. And when he woke and saw the blue sky through the hole in the top of the mountain, he would jump up in a jiffy and do the same thing all over again. But one day he went just a little too far. He blew away Jack Robinson's new ex- press wagon, handsomer than any express wagon you ever saw. Now Jack Robinson was not the sort of boy to let such a thing as that happen with- out saying something about it. So bright and early the next morning he put his soap- bubble pipe in his pocket, and taking a paper bag full of cookies to eat on the way, he started off for the great big huge moun- tain to tell the Thunderstorm Giant what he thought of him. He walked along the road whistling Yankee Doodle and eating cookies till he came to the foot of the mountain. Then he had to stop whistling, for he needed all hii breath for climbing. About lunch time he reached the lake near the top of the mountain, where the giant used to shave. "Now," he said, "I'll have a drink." And he stooped down and took some of the water up in his hands. But he didn't like i a bit. " Soap ! " he cried in disgust. Then he thought a minute. " Wherever did the soap come from ? " he said. He began looking about him, and by and by he found the giant's shaving brush and stick of shaving soap lying by the edge of the lake. When he saw how big they were and thought how big the giant must be who could use them, he began to be a little bit nervous. But he thought of Jack the Giant Killer and Jack and the Bean Stalk, and cheered himself up by telling himself that people named Jack seemed to be lucky in their dealings with giants, till he felt quite brave again. Then he crawled to the rim of the mountain and looked down. It was all full of soft gray cloud. That was the Thunderstorm Giant. "Hello there! "called Jack. The sides of the mountain echoed the words so that they sounded very loud, just as it does if you shout when you are going under a bridge. The Thunderstorm Giant woke up in a hurry and bounced out of the mountain. He thought he was late. He always thought he was late. So he caught hold of his shaving brush and began shav- ing as fast as an express train. Jack walked up to him. " I said * Hello,' " he remarked severely, " and you never answered me. Don't you know it's very rude not to answer when you're spoken to ? " The giant was so astonished that he put down his shaving brush and stared at Jack. He had never been so spoken to in all his life; and by a mite the size of Jack, too! " It's not polite to stare," said Jack calmly. " Who are you ?" gasped the giant. " Please," prompted Jack patiently. " Well, who are you, please ? " repeated the giant obediently, for he thought Jack must be a very powerful magician to dare to talk to him in that way. " I'm Jack Robinson," said Jack in his grandest manner. " Perhaps you have heard of me?" he added carelessly AM TOD, PLEASE ? " REPEATED THE GIANT OBEDIENTLY * Why no," said the giant, " I don't be- lieve I have." " Is it possible ! " said Jack. " Why, I'm the strongest boy in town ! " " You're not stronger than me ! " cried the giant, quite forgetting his grammar in his excitement. " What can you do? " asked Jack. " Oh," said the giant, " I can blow the roof off a house." " Pooh ! " said Jack. " That's nothing ! Can you blow a soap bubble ? " " A soap bubble ? " repeated the giant. " You don't even know what a soap bub- ble is ! " said Jack. " You're not nearly strong enough to blow one. Watch me ! " And he took out his soap-bubble pipe, made a lather with the giant's shaving soap, and blew a large soap bubble. "You see I do it quite easily," he said. " Now let me try ! " cried the giant. And he dipped the soap-bubble pipe into the lather, filled himself full of air till he was four times bigger than he was before, and blew with all his might. Of course he broke the bubble all to pieces. "Told you so!" cried Jack. "You're not as strong as I am. You don't blow nearly hard enough ! " The giant set his teeth. " I was just practicing," he said. "I can blow much harder than that." " You'll have to," said Jack, " if you want to blow a soap bubble." So the giant filled himself cram-full of air so that he was four and three-quarters times larger than he was before, and he blew with all his strength and main. And he blew so hard that he blew himself right inside-out like a glove! The inside of him was all lined with silvery clouds, but though it was very pretty Jack didn't stop to admire it. Be- fore the giant could say " Jack Robinson ! " he ran up and poked him full of little holes with the stem of his soap-bubble pipe ! It didn't hurt the giant because he was just made of clouds. Jack left him lying on the grass while he climbed down into the mountain and brought up his express wagon. Then he turned him right-side-out again. "Dear me," said the giant in a dazed voice. " What happened ? " "You blew yourself inside out, that's all," said Jack. " I've poked you full of holes so that it can't happen again, only you won't be able to blow the roofs off the houses either, for when you try to fill your- self full of air a good deal of it will rush out through the holes." " I'm very much obliged to you," said the giant. " I shouldn't like to blow my- self inside-out again. Must you go?" " Yes," said Jack, picking up his express wagon and starting down tfie hill. " I'm late for lunch now. Good-by," he called back, " told you you couldn't blow a soap bubble!" OUR BABY F you have a little brother or sister, you know just how cun- ning our baby is and how mischievous, too, perhaps. Our baby would fill a whole book with funny things and the cutest part of it is that she does not know she is a bit funny. She isn't three years old yet, and some people say she was slow in begin- ning to talk. But she talks now like a steam engine and never seems to tire of it. What do you suppose she did the other day, the dear little mischief? Well, it was Saturday afternoon, and she had just been freshly dressed in a beautiful, clean, starched white frock, and her hair brushed and curled, and a little curl at each side of her forehead tied out of her big blue eyes with pink ribbons. Then the water was turned on in the tub for Katharine's bath (Katharine is eight), and sister was told to play quietly until the expected company should arrive. Well, just as mother was twisting up Katharine's hair in a little top-knot and fastening it with a pin from her own hair, there was a terrible noise and cry from the baby, and we thought surely she had fallen down a whole ilight of stairs. We all jumped and ran. Grandma dropped her work-basket upside down on top of Rollo's head, which most fright- ened him into convulsions; and Uncle Ted, who had just come in with several bundles in his hands, dropped them and ran. And the poor baby there she was in the bathtub ! Her pretty fresh clothes were soaked with water, and the was sob- bing as if her dear little heart would break. We fished her out, wrapped her in a blanket, and carried her to the nur- sery, where we found she was not a bit hurt, but only frightened. She had climbed up to get the nice, soft, slippery soap (which mother had forbidden her to touch). We thought that her fright was punishment enough, and begged mother not to make her stay upstairs the rest of the afternoon. Finally mother said all right, so we all tripped down ; for Cousin Cecil was having a tea, and we wanted to meet her friends and show how sweet and orderly we looked when we were cleanly dressed. Baby put her fingers in the cream dish when no one was looking, and spilled the whipped cream all over herself and the rug, and before we could get to her she had eaten almost all of it! " O, sister ! " cried mother, in dismay. "You shall go straight upstairs and to bed!" " I des helpin'," said sister, as well as she could for the cream in her mouth. But mother was stern. " Take her up, Katharine," she said. " I will be up in a few minutes. You may undress her." Then sister's lip began to tremble and her eyes filled with tears; then she saw father in the doorway. She calls him " Pops," and the two are great cronies, " I des want to pug my Hops ! " she sobbed with her little twisted tongue, and Pops carried her upstairs. O, our baby is more fun, as the boys would say, than a barrel of monkeys. HOW ALFRED SOLD HIS TEARS By ANTON F. KLJNKNER |NCE upon a time there were three boys, and they each went to market. Fred took a basket of potatoes. The merchant was well pleased with them. Besides paying him in money he gave Fred an orange and told him to be sure not to lose the money on the way home. Charlie took a chicken which his mother had prepared for him. The butcher was well pleased w 1 'th the fowl, and besides paying him in money gave Charlie a pear and told him to be sure not to lose the money on his way home. Alfred, the youngest of the boys, wanted to go to market also. He took a jar of milk, and on his way to the baker's he stumbled on a stone. The jar was broken and all the milk spilled. Alfred felt very sad about it. When he reached the end of the street he found Fred and Charlie, who had waited for him. Because he had spilled the milk they teased Alfred. They could run much \eft him faster than he could, and so to walk home alone. Pretty soon a man came by, and seeing Alfred crying, he stopped and asked him what was the matter. Alfred told him and the man said : " There is no use crying over spilled milk. Come, be a little man. I will buy the tears you have already shed." Besides giving Alfred enough money to pay for the milk which he had spilled, he gave him a twenty-five-cent piece. When Alfred got home he found Fred and Charlie crying. On the way home they had fought about carrying the money and had lost some of it. Papa gave them a lecture for quarreling. Mamma was surprised to find Alfred smiling when he came in. Fred and Charlie had told her of the mishap in spilling the milk, and she expected he would be crying. Alfred told her how the stranger had been so kind to him. Papa said : " He laughs best who Mnerhs last." IT SNOWS AND IT BLOWS By ADA B. STEVENS WISH! Swish! came the snow against the window. "Wo-o-o!" called the wind in the chimney. Elsie and Bob drew their chairs nearer to mamma, in her seat by the open fire. " Now, mamma," they said, almost to- gether, "tell us the story that grandma used to tell when you were a little girl." So mamma began : Once there was a little boy who lived all by himself in a house at the foot of the hill; and once there was a big man who lived all by himself in a big house at the top of the hill. One day Water drown, and frizzle fire, Give me now my heart's desire ! " ois bent forward, putting her hand down for the pretty beads, which the sprite, standing on tiptoes, held up; and the children had hardly thanked 'iim before he stepped *ck into the fire and was " I shall let you wear the beads, Sis/' said Bud, " for boys don't wear such things." But he first took one bead off the string, and holding his little sister's hand, said: " Moon's tears, moon's tears, Wait again a thousand years Water drown, and frizzle fire, Give me now my heart's desire ! " Then he threw the blue bead into the hottest part of the fire. " Cats, cats ! " laughed he ; " we shall be cats now ! " The moon's tear frizzled in the fire, and the children, crouching on the hearth, felt that they were shrinking. " O Bud ! " cried Sis, " look down at your hands ! They are growing black and furry." "O Sis!" cried Bud, "look at your eyes! They are growing round and green." " O Bud ! " cried Sis, " your whiskers are tickling my face ! " " O, Sis," cried Bud, " curl your tail round the other way ! " Alas for the shepherd's wife if she had waked ! There were no pretty children by the hearth now, but two strange cats sat purring side by side. Presently Bud got up and stretched himself. " Come," said he, " I am hungry ! " and with one bound he leaped to the larder shelf, and began to lap up the milk. " Don't, don't ! " miaued Sis ; " that is to-morrow's breakfast ! " But Bud was a greedy cat and took his fill before he jumped again to the floor. " I shall just wash my face a little, then we can be off," said he. There was an old rat-hole in the back door, and they soon wriggled out into the yard. The moon shone, the stars twinkled, the earth was dry and cold with frost; gaily the children capered off into the meadows and began to play about, springing head over heels and darting after each other's tails, like the two mad kittens they were now. of the frozen leaves beneath their stealthy feet. "Does no one live in the woods?" asked Sis. " I thought there would have been a nightingale." "I believe," said Bud, "that you are afraid." ULP! YULP! WENT-HIS JAWS "O," cried Bud, "I am glad to be a cat, I shall be a cat forever ! " Then he bounded away to the woods with his tail in the air, and his little sister after him. The woods were dark and silent; the only sound they heard was the crackling " O no, I don't mind the dark," answered the little sister, " but is there nobody at all here?" They paused and pricked up their soft ears : they stood quite still peering into the dark with all their might: yes, it was a footstep they heard a footstep different from their own. The little cats began to shiver. Among the rustling leaves a large strange creature was creeping toward them, whose eyes, like little lanterns hover- ing side 'by side, grew larger and greener and brighter : closer and closer they came, until a great gray wolf stood before them, breathing in their faces. " Yulp, yulp ! " went his jaws, but with a loud screech the two cats sprang away, right and left, scrambling up two tall trees. The only thing Mr. Wolf got for supper that night was the tip of Bud's tail; and he presently went back to sulk in his den. It was long before the children dared to speak. " Miau ! " cried Sis, " where are you, Bud?" " Miau ! " cried Bud, " where are you, Sis?" "Bud! shall we go home?" " I don't mind if I do," said Bud. So home they crept. The beads were still round Sissy's neck; they took one, and threw it down the well. " Moon's tears, moon's tears, Wait again a thousand years Water drown, and frizzle fire, Give me now my heart's desire ! " As Bud spoke the last words, their furry coats began to disappear, and they felt that they were growing. " Quick, Bud ! " cried Sis, " or we shall ae too big for the hole in the door." x They were too big already; and they spent the rest of that night shivering be- hind the woodstack in their nightgowns, with their arms around each other. When the shepherd found them there morning, he fetched a birch rod to them for having tried, as he thought, run away; but his wife stayed his arrr "They are not ours," she cried, "they are but lent to us awhile. How do we know what their needs are ? Perhaps we have not loved them enough." So she forgave them her heart's pain, warmed them well, fed them, kissed them, and put them into the chest for a good sleep; but first she mended a funny little tear there was at the back of Bud's night- gown, just below his waist. Ill The next night, when Mr. and Mrs. Shepherd were fast asleep, Bud said to Sis: "We made a mistake. I don't really care about being a cat. Squirrels are happier; they can jump from tree to tree and need never run on the ground at all." So sayuig, he took one of the beads and burnt it What would the shepherd's wife have said, had she waked and seen those squir- rels sitting up quite at home by the fire? She ne? J er could have said they were not pretty. They had sunny coats, large dark eyes, and bear.tiful furry tails folded right along their backs. Bud fetched two nuf from the crock in the larder, and they -ate their supper comfortably before starting fot Jf- wood* through the hole in the door. " I am glad to be a squirrel ! " cried Bttv! as he ran ahead in little leaps, his out- stretched tail just lifted off the grass. " I shall be a squirrel for ever ! " But they had not gone half way to the woods when their teeth began to chatter. " O Bud ! " cried Sis, " k am so cold ! " "O Sis!" cried Bud, "so am I!" A wise old sheep, the wisest of the floc\ heard them. "B-a-a-a-a!" said she. "Come here and warm yourself in my wool. What are you doing out of doors at this time of year, eh?"' Bud and Sis curled themselves up beside her; they felt too cold to speak, but she went on talking all the same. " Don't you know, stupids, that squir- rels ought to lie asleep all the winter ? A warm hollow tree is the proper place for you. What are you going to do now, eh ? If you don't make haste and hide your- selves, the hawk will have you both; I heard him cry out just now that he was hungry." " Bud," whispered Sis, " shall we ask the kind lady to see us home? " " No, no," answered Bud, " for I dare say she tells the shepherd everything. Come along with me." So they just said "Thank you," and bounded homeward as fast as ever they could; their freezing limbs could hardly carry them, yet they managed to creep in at the back door, and Bud, seizing his sister's tail in his teeth, dragged her to the fire and rubbed her warm again. " O ! " said Sis, " I thought that I was dead ! " And presently when the bead was burnt, and the children lay huddled to- gether in the chest, Bud said : " Of course it was very nice to be a squirrel; but I think we shall be birds next time." IV For a month or two the children were so good and gentle that the shepherd's wife loved them more than ever. But one spring morning they hardly touched their porridge at breakfast, and she thought they were fretting; so with many a kiss she sent them out to play in the sunshine, and hastened through her scrubbing so that she might cook them a good dinner. At midday they were both behind the woodstack, watching the cottage roof. They were waiting for the first swallow; and behold he came that very morning, bringing his wife with him. The weary birds, flying low, swooped up to the chim- ney stack and sat still awhile; then they began to twitter, and to preen the brave wings that had brought them over seas. Thereupon Bud stood up, took off his sister's necklace, and dropped a bead into the water bucket. He had not forgotten the words: " Moon's tears, moon's tears, Wait again a thousand years- Water drown, and frizzle fire, Give me now my heart's desire ! " " We shall be swallows soon ! " cried he "Bud! Sis!" called the shepherd's wife, '* come to dinner, my lambs ! There are dumplings full of currants, and treacle pies." But the children never answered. When she went out into the yard to fetch them, she saw the blue shimmer of two birds that rose from the woodstack and flew right away, over her head. She re- membered all her life that she had lost the children the day the swallows came back. Bud and Sis flew away in silence, over the meadows, over the woods; they had never been so happy The sun was upon them; their wings beat the soft air; they were not far above the earth, yet they seemed more than half-way between the earth and the heavens. Beyond the woods came a valley, and they saw a river wind its way towards a distant city. The air grew warmer and warmer as they flew down from the heights. For seven days they flew, and rested seven nigh's ; the glittering vision seemed THKY WERB WAITING FO TH* FIBST SWALLOWS to fly before them, yet they wcit still happy. At last one day they found them- selves perched upon the city's tallest tower; and a wonderful sight it was they gazed upon. The roofs of the houses were all of gold and silver, the walls were of jasper, of onyx, and of jade; the win- dows were of crystal, the doors of ivory and scented sandal-wood; and precious stones glistened and shone on every nail. " O Sis ! " cried Bud, " we need never see the shepherd's cot again ! " " O Bud ! " cried Sis, " I shall stay with you, always." Then they flew down to the king's palace. The king and queen were walk- ing in the garden; their clothes were so rich and heavy that they could not carry them alone; there were pages all around them, train-bearers, mantel-bearers, sleeve- bearers, chain-bearers; they walked sol- emnly, slowly, amid the loveliest flowers; but they were pale, and they never smiled. On either side of them, in stately rows, walked the ladies and gentlemen of the court. Bud and Sis had never looked upon so many people before. Presently a band of dancers was seen coming along a side alley roofed with roses ; the king and queen and all the court sat down upon the green grass and watched the dancing. When it was ended, they took off their rings and threw them at the dancers. Then the whole court rose and went indoors. " Sis ! " said Bud, " you and I will be dancers too and dance before the king and queen ; they will cover us with jewels, we shall dance so beautifully; and then we can be rich, and live here forever." He had hardly spoken before something went " Ping, ping " against their breasts, and the two little swallows dropped breath- less from the branch wher* they were THE perching. There were no biids allowed in the king's garden, so the gardener had shot them with his pea-shooter; but, see- ing they were strange birds, he took them at once to the palace. " Send for the bird-stuffer ! " said the queen. " They are just what I want for my new hat." So Bud and Sis were laid, side by side, on their h*"^, upon a shelf in the ante- room, and left for dead; but the pea- shooter had only stunned them, and Sis had heard every word, so she pecked Bud till he awoke and told him all. In a trice he had taken one of the moon's tears for the beads shrank with the children and never left them; there was no water in this room, but a little lamp burned over ;he door, so he flew up with the Dead m his beak and burned it "Dancers, that is what we shall be aow ! " cried he. " Dancers to the king ! " Their wings fell off immediately, and they felt themselves growing taller than they had ever been before, "O Bud!" cried Sis, "how beautiful you are ! " " O Sis ! " cried Bud, " it is you that are beautiful ! " When the bird-stuffer came to skin the swallows, he saw before him the loveliest youth and maiden that ever yet were seen. Their skin was as white as new milk, their eyes were as blue as the sky in June, and their hair was the color of flame. " Who are you ? " cried the bird-stuffer. " Please, sir," answered Bud politely, "we are strangers who wish to dance be- fore the king." "Ho-ho!" thought the man, "I shall get a reward for this ! " So he fetched his trumpet and told the children to follow. The court had finished supper, and was assembled in the Hall of Wonders. " Too-too-roo-too-roo-too ! " went the trumpet. The crowd fell apart and Bud and Sis, blinded by the splendor of what they saw, found themselves in the presence of the king. " My liege ! " cried the bird-stuffer, " I bring your majesty the Marvel of the World. What is my reward ? " The king took aff three rows of emeralds and threw them at the man, who bowed and left the hall hastily. " Who are you ? " asked the queen, while hundreds of eyes stared, amazed at the beauty of the children. " We are your dancers, madam," replied Bud. - Dance, then ! " cried the king. The floor on which the children stood immediately began to rise; the> round themselves alone on the island in a sea of upturned faces, and tl e air was quiver- ing with unseen music. Poor little Sis folded her hands together; a great fear seized her lest she might not know how to dance. But the music was so lovely and so enticing that soon her feet began to twinkle and her arms to wave about like water weeds in a stream; her hair, too, began to dance all alone, now as if blown by the wind, now encircling her with snake-like ringlets; and her body, never still, bent and swayed and swung to and fro, as wildly as a reed in the gale, as gentle as a spray of blossoms in the breeze. She felt that Bud was dancing with her ; sometimes their hands met, or their arms entwined; now and again he caught her round the waist and whirled her into the air like an autumn leaf. She danced on and on until nothing seemed above or be- low her, and the lamps became glittering streams of light that enlaced her as she whirled free of the earth ; the murmuring of the crowd told her that she was danc- ing as no mortal maid had. ever danced before. Suddenly there burst from that sea of faces the roaring and howling of an awful tempest, and she fell, hit by something hard and cold. What was it that hit her? Again. . . . again. . . . She raised an arm to shield her face, while her cries were drowned in the clang and clatter and jangle of the jewels that rained upon her from every side. " O Bud ! " cried the poor little dancer, " save me ! save me ! " Still they fell chains of gold, ropes of pearl ; diadems of diamonds, until the chil- dren lay buried beneath a glittering mound. VI It Vc*s night when the king returned to the dark and silent hall, secretly, bring- ing with him a lantern and the grave-dig- ger. " Dig out these dancers," said he ; " you shall have a hundred rubies if you dig them out alive." So the man took his spade and shoveled away the jewels until the poor children were released. They stood up hand in hand, and Sis was crying. " I want a wife for my son," said the king. " For what sum would you sell your sister ? " "Sell my sister?" cried Bud. "Sell my sister ? " " You shall have half my jewels and half my kingdom," said the king to Sis then, " if you will marry my son." " O, sire ! " replied she, " your son is a stranger to me. How can I marry with- out love?" The king looked puzzled. "What is love?" asked he. " I offer you every jewel known to me; is love the jewel of your country? If so I shall send my merchants to buy me a shipload, and you shall have it all." Bud and Sis burst out laughing. " You cannot buy love," said they. Now the king had never seen anyone laugh before, and it made him very angry; so he blew his whistle for the guards and sent the poor little dancers off to prison. ' Prison was dark and cold; the children sat down upon the stones and put their arms around each other. " O Bud ! " cried Sis, " I wish we were by the fire at home." " O Sis ! " cried Bud, " it is very lonely Sire!" And they both thought of the shepherd's "*ife who had loved them. The fire-sprite could not help them now ; the moon's tears were round Sissy's neck, but there was neither fire nor water in the dungeon. " How could we get away? " asked Sis, " without a hole to fly out of ? " " There is a hole," replied Bud, " there is the key-hole; we could get out if we were spiders." They hugged each other a little more closely, and when presently Sis began to cry, Bud was not ashamed to cry with her. VII Then a wonderful thing happened. They heard a curious hissing sound; one of Bud's tears had fallen upon his sister's neck, and wetted a bead. "Quick!" cried Bud, "we will be spiders now ! " " Moon's tears, moon's tears, Wait again a thousand years Water drown, and frizzle fire, Give me now my heart's desire ! " Instantly they began to shrink. " O Bud! " cried Sis, " I believe I can see in the dark ! " " O Sis ! " cried Bud, " I see an enor- mous hole in the door, but it's very high up." They had eight legs apiece now, so they soon scuttled up to the key-hole and let themselves down on thick ropes of their own spinning. The passage looked so high that they could not see the roof; it was as wide as a great river, and the two little spiders hastened along, keeping close to the wall. They had not gone far before they saw a band of giants coming in the distance. "Let us climb upon them/' said Bud, " that they may take us out into the air." "SHE'S BEEH-CRYIMG* WHISPERED SIS - The guards grew larger and larger as they drew nearer, until, when they stood to talk a minute, nothing was visible to the spider-children but the enormous heels of their boots, which seemed to stand as high as houses. On to one of these Bud now pushed his sister, and while the man strode along the passage and up the stairs, they both had time to climb up him. "What's this tickling my neck?" said the guard. But by the time his great hand appeared, the spiders had reached the brim of his hat, which blew away as soon as ever he reached the yard. Before he could pick it up, Bud and Sis were safely lodged in a chink between two stones. So far all had been well, but there was neither fire nor water in sight, so the poor little things, after a short rest, trudged off in search of the garden. It took them a whole day to find the fountain, and the sun was setting when at last the moon's tears gave them their swallows' wings again. Although it was almost dark, they could not sleep in this city, where love had never been ; so they flew by moonlight to a wood, and there roosted in the shelter of green leaves. 6ach morning they started early on their flight to the highlands where home lay. They did not often speak, for they were very tired ; but when they spoke it was of sheep and shepherd, of the cottage, of the hearth, and of the shepherd's wife. VIII At sundown on the seventh day they be- held the wood where, long ago it seemed, they had rambled on their cat-night. No swallows coming from over seas had ever been so weary. " O Bud ! " cried Sis, " I think I hear the ripple of a brook ! " "O Sis!" cried Bud, "give me the beads." And before the sun was out of sight, there beside the brook, close to the tree where the shepherd had first found them, they became little children again. " This time," said Sis " we shall be our own selves forever ! " The beads were still in Bud's hands; there were just three left. " We would better keep these," said he ; " we may want them again." And in spite of his sister's prayers he put them in his pocket. Then they started hand in hand across the meadows, cheered by e 'tis- tent speck of light that twinkled in the gloaming. The shepherd and his wife were having supper when the children stood on the chopping-block outside the window, and looked in. " She's been crying," whispered Sis. . "There's bread and milk for supper," whispered Bud. And, holding his sister by the hand, he opened the cottage door. " Mother," said he, " are there any dumplings left?" Which cried and which laughed most, no one could ever tell, for they all laughed cried together. The shepherd forgot to fetch the birck, as he had always meant to do, and the children, upon their foster parents' knees, supped happily in their dear home. That night when all was dark and still, Sis waked to find herself alone in the oak chest; Bud was gone, and the little girl's heart began to throb with fear. She sat up, but before she had time to follow her brother, she heard him clambering up the side of the bed. "O Bud!" she whispered, "why did you open the back door ? " " To throw the moon's tears into the water bucket ! " said he. BED-TIME child, if you would well-bred be, These simple rules learn carefully: In going to bed, be sure with care Your clothes to hang upon a chair. Your tie or ribbons smooth and fold t ^ju So they'll be fresh e'en though they're old. 1 Brush well your teeth : like shining pearls Should glow the mouths of boys and girls. Wash face and hands ; smooth out your hair, And kneel to say your evening prayer. Then prancing into bed you go A well-bred child from crown to toe. KATHARINE NKWBOLD BIRJMAU BEAN BAG GAMES IE AN bags are splendid sum- mer companions. When you tire of other sports, or have to keep in the shade or on the piazza for any reason, make some bean- bags and try the following games. A good size for the bag is six inches square. Any scraps of gingham or strong muslin will do to make the bags. If your material is thin, use it double. Stitch together carefully with a " backstitch," or by machine, leaving half of one side open to put the beans in. If you have no round white beans in the house, they are easy to get from the grocer, and very cheap. A pint will make two good bean bags. Carefully overhand the hole together. THREE-CORNERED CATCH Or it may be four or five-cornered, de- pending upon the number of persons play- ing. For the three-cornered game two bags should be used, the players to stand in a triangle as far apart as they can throw quickly and well. Throw to the person on the left as quickly as possible. The ob- ject is to get two bags at the same time to one person, which makes him lose ten points. A poor throw (less than three- fourths of the distance to the catcher) loses five for the pitcher. A poor catch on a throw more than three-quarters of loses five for the catcher. the The game is won by the one wnu Las the lowest count when the players are tired. Four persons, or, in fact, any num- ber, may play ; increase the number of bean bags as the number of players increases. HURDLES Tie a cord to one corner of a bean bag. The players form a circle about the Ring- master, who holds the cord and swings the bag in a circle on the floor or grass. Each player in the ring must jump over the bag as it reaches him. Those who do not jump quickly enough are " counted out " and must leave the circle. It takes practice to swing the bag well, also to jump quickly and with judgment. HOOPLE-HOP Tie strings across the hoople to make four equal sections, and hang the hoople from the limb of a tree, or in a doorway. The object is to stand nine or more feet away and throw the bean bag through each of the four holes, to the other player, with- out touching either the hoople or the cord. A count of ten for the thrower is made for each successful throw ; five, if the bag goes through, but touches somewhere. The catcher counts ten if he catches the bag when it hits the hoople or string (as this makes its direction waver, and so it is harder to catch). The catcher counts five when he catches a clear throw (on which the thrower counts ten}. The thrower be- comes the catcher after the thrower has had one try for each space. The game is two hundred. Any number may play by taking turns, each being pitcher and catcher an equal number of times. The game may be made more exciting and harder by making iiie spaces ; ^ the hoople half-size, or in eighths. 1UJ1 Pigeon By LOUISE OCTAVIAN IITTLE John Carleton was so absent-minded that no one ever knew what he was going to do next. "A regular John-a- dreams," declared papa. An^ ',he school- boys were tired of shouting after him : " Diddle, diddle dumpling, my son, John, Went to bed with his stockings on. One shoe off, one shoe on, Diddle, diddle dumpling, my son, John." But, oh, dear me ! This dreaming John did far worse things than going to bed with his stockings on. He was always thinking so very hard about something else that he never had any thoughts left for the thing he was doing, and thus many and varied were his mishaps. One Sunday morning papa and mamma had company, and the children were going to church alone. " Now, Bert," said mamma, " don't wiggle. And Edith and Dottie, remem- ber not to whisper. And O John-a- dreams, please, please try just this once not to do anything dreadful." " Yes, ma," said John-a-dreams. " Better take a nap, Johnnie," said papa. " Sleeping dreams are safer than waking ones." " Yes, pa," said John-a-dreams. The church was warm, and the sermon very long. Just in front of John sat a little old lady, who looked as though she might be a very nice grandma. " I wish I had a grandma," thought John, sleepily counting the buttons on the back of her cape. '"Pretty soon the old lady began to nod gently. John yawned and tried to count the beads on her bonnet. Ten . . . twenty . . . thirty . . . forty . . . forty- five . . . forty-six . . . forty-seven . . . John-a-dreams and the little old lady were both asleep. For a little while they slumbered peace- fully, then John-a-dreams began to dream in earnest. It was twilight in his dream, lovely, and cool, and still. He was out in the garden watering the nasturtiums. The new moon was shining over his right shoulder. " I will wish," said John-a-dreams. Suddenly it grew darker, and a cold breeze rustled through the bushes. John- a-dreams felt queer and shivery. Then something came round the corner of the wall O such a strange something! A wee, fantastic thing it was, and John-a- dreams thought it must be a hobgoblin, whether a he hobgoblin or a she hob- goblin he could not tell, but a hobgoblin it certainly was, and coming right after him. He tried to run, but was unable to move. Nearer and nearer came the hob- goblin. John-a-dreams screamed wildly and hit it in the head with the watering- pot. Then the minister stopped preaching, the girls in the choir giggled, and the whole congregation stared in amazement at the Carleton pew, for John-a-dreams had knocked off the little old lady's bonnet ! Then the cross old sexton came hur- rying down the aisle, and carried him, still half asleep, out of the church. " O John-a-dreams ! John-a-dreams ! " sighed mamma, when she heard the dreadful story. " Papa said sleeping dreams were safe, but they aren't," sobbed John. Then, to everyone's surprise, there came a note from the little old lady inviting John to tea. " I don't want to go ! I don't want to go ! " cried John in dismay. " But you must," said mamma, " and you must apologize just as nicely as ever you can." So at fire o'clock a very dejected-look- ing boy knocked at the old lady's door. And, O, what a jolly old lady she was! And what a merry, merry time they had! They sat down to a little round tea-table covered with all sorts of goodies. There were tiny, sweet biscuits, and delicious little cakes, and star-shaped cookies! There was honey! There was jam! There was fragrant black-currant tea! Before he knew it John was telling his dream about the hobgoblin. Then how the old lady laughed. " Now let me tell you my dream," said she, " for 7 was asleep too, and surely / am old enough to behave better. I dreamed I was taking tea with a nice little old man. We were telling each other story after story of long ago times, and having such a cozy, comfortable meal ! Then I got up to fill the tea-kettle, and the little old man hit me in the head with a pink frosted cake ! " " That was when I hit the hobgoblin ! " cried John. " Yes," laughed the old lady, " that was you hitting the hobgoblin." " I'm so very, very sorry, ma'am," said John, remembering his apology. "O, it didn't hurt the bonnet a bit," said the nice old lady, "and next Sun- day I'll try to keep awake." " So will I," said John-a-dreams. THE MAJOR'S FOURTH OF JULY Grandpa is so feeble he walks with a cane, And last Fourth of July he sat aching with pain. You would never suspect he had fought in the war, When he asked what we wanted those firecrackers for. But our mother remembers when Grandpa returned From the war, with a medal his gallantry earned ; There it hangs with his musket and sword on the wall, With the Star Spangled banner draped over them all ; And the neighbors call Grandpa " the Major " since he Fought so bravely to make this " the land of the free." But poor Grandfather fretted that Fourth of July, And declared with a sigh that he didn't see why This particular day two such sensible boys Should insist upon making a deafening noise; Saying, as for his part, he expected to choke With the horrible smell of the powder and smoke; And then he declared that he didn't see why Boys should make such a fuss about Fourth of July. Mother smiled as she tenderly patted his head, " You and I may escape all this tumult," she said. " You shall tell me a story of days long gone by, And we two will forget it is Fourth of July." Still, dear Grandfather watched us prepare for the fun, vVith our crackers and matches and little toy gun; Then when Tom fired a cracker and I gave a shout, With the first smell of powder came Grandfather out ; And the way that he marched up and down made it plain, That " the Major " was fighting his battles again. " Hip, hurrah, lads ! " he cried, as he joined in the sport, " Reinforcements have come, don't surrender the fort 1 " Touched a match to our crackers and fired the whole lot! As he asked us, " Is this all the powder you've got ? Right about ! Forward ! March ! Get some more, double quick ! " Was the Major's command as he flourished his stick. "I'll show you," he said, with a flash of his eye, " How patriots celebrate Fourth of July ! " MARY A. POWERS. Oslriches. CHIP AND MUNKEY By KATHARINE NEWBOLD BIRDSALL HIPPY wagged his beautiful tail as he frisked about the cage. " I do declare ! " he ex- claimed, stopping to daintily eat a piece of nut-meat which a certain curly-haired little girl had thoughtfully dropped in a few minutes before. " I do think we have been shamefully treated. Not that I blame Miss Curly Head a bit, for she's a dear, sweet little human being, and she has been very kind and considerate. But if / had been building a cage for you, my dearest Munkey, it should have been made of pure gold." "But you would not have built me a cage," chattered Munkey. "You would have built a nest a soft, warm nest in a tree, where we would have been safe from horrid barking dogs. And we would have been happy and free to wan- der over the whole wide world, had we wished." "And then," whispered Chip, drawing close to Munkey's warm, furry side, " and then we should have cuddled close together at night, all warm and cosy. And who knows but that before long some dear little bright-eyed babies would have come to cuddle there with us ? " "Oh, who knows!" sighed Munkey. "I should be ashamed so ashamed to bring children up in a place like this," she continued. " Why, it is a disgrace to a family of well-bred Chipmunks to live here." Chippy scratched his head thoughtfully, then wiggled his curving tail in delight. " I have it I have it ! " he cried glee- fully. " J t us move out, my dear." " Move out ! " cried his wife, stop- ping her dusting (which she accomplished with her tail). "This is no time to be joking, husband I am feeling very blue." " We will escape," chirped Chippy, kiss- ing his little wife. " This house, my dear, is not a regular squirrel house. It is only an old hoop skirt that belonged to little Miss Curly Head's grandmother when she was a young lady. Think of walking with a wire thing like this fastened to one's waist ! How awkward you would find it, my dear ! " Munkey shivered. " Miss Curley Head has fastened other wires over open spots to keep us safe in here but I have just made a discovery. My dear, there is a hole at the top ! " Mrs. Chipmunk turned her bright little eyes upward; sure enough there was the hole ! She and Chip both scrambled up to investigate, and found it quite easy to poke not only their inquisitive little noses through, but their bodies and furry tails too. Such a frisky, jolly time they had in the old attic, rummaging among old clothes and furniture, and exploring every nook and cranny in the place. They even scented out a bag of nuts left from the fall gathering and helped themselves lib- erally. At each sound on the garret stairs they scurried back to the old hoop skirt and dashed inside, pretending they were still humdrum squirrels and had not discovered the wonderful doorway to freedom. "How lively they are!" cried Miss Curly Head. " I almost think I he? p them icurrying across the floor before I open the door/' As the spring days warmed, and the birds caroled love songs to their mates, little Curly Head would open the window to give them air, and then often forget to close it. So spruce little Chippy and his dainty wife with great heart-throbs of de- light climbed to the sill. There before them in all the glory of its spring splendor and the freedom of nature, lay the great world they had almost forgotten. That one sight gave the little couple the desire to travel and find a home more suited to their freeborn tastes, and so they planned to run away from Miss Curly Head. Night after night when human folk were dreaming in bed, Chippy and Munkey in- dustriously carried nuts and seed from the bags in the garret, out to the roof, down a convenient cherry tree by the house side, across the lawn and the old stone wall, to the shelter of tht chestnut tree on the hill. There they prepared to live; they built their cosy home just big inough for two, and perhaps some hoped-for little visitors, and laid in a good stock of food. Atld all this time Miss Curly Head thought they were behaving as well-tamed little chip- munks should ! Then one bright day, early in the morn- ing when the sun but not Miss Curly Head had risen, Chippy and Munkey said good- bye to the old hoop-skirt home and started off, to return no more. " I have left a loving kiss with the old lady andiron for dear little Curly Head," sighed Munkey as she scrambled up to the sill. " I hate to have her think we do not love her and are ungrateful for her care; but we love liberty as much as she does." "We are freeborn," added Chippy, " and free we will live." So little Miss Curly Head found the old nOOp skirt cage empty when she eamt to feed her pets that morning, and search as she would about the garret, not a sign of them could she find. Crying bitterly she ran downstairs to tell the sad loss and bury her head in mother's lap for com- fort. Mother went up to the garret to help in the search. " Why, my little girlie ! " she exclaimed when she saw the old hoop skirt cage. " There k. a big hole in the top, dear. I wonder they have not escaped before." Then, looking out the window on the roof she saw a stray nut lodged in the rain leader. " Ah ! " exclaimed mother, " they have gone back home to nature, dear. We must not cry, for they have gone where they came from. It would have been cruel to keep them longer." It was some time after that little Miss Curly Head discovered her old pets in the chestnut tree, gay and happy and free. " We wiM let her see we remember her goodness," said Chip. "Let us go quite close and " " And," whispered Munkey, her little heart overflowing with happiness, " w( will tell her that in our cosy nest are beautiful babies, the like of which have never before been seen ! " They thankfully picked up the food little Miss Curly Head threw to them, and came quite near to her. " It seems as if they tried to tell me something, mother," cried the little girl. "Wait and watch," said the wise mother. It was not long before the darling chip- munks were brought out by Chip and Munkey for Miss Curly Head to see such little beauties ! " Oh, mother, mother 1 " cried the little girl. " I would have let them go free long ago if I had known they would be so happy." THE CIRCLETS JJERE we have the Circle Children And the Circle dog and cat, All the way from Circle City, Where the folks are round and flat. They are coming on a visit, And have promised to be good ; So let's greet them in a spirit Of kind " ko-mic-kin-der-hood." FREDERICK WHITE DARK PONY A BED-TIME STORY BV CHARLOTTE FLACK NCE upon a time there was a pony named Dark, who every night took little people to Sleepytown. One night as Dark-Pony started off, he met a little boy named Noddy, who called out: "Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Please let me go ! " Niddy behind Noddy, and away they went galloping galloping galloping. By and by they heard a little dog bark- ing: " Bow-wow ! bow-wow ! Please take me now ! " So Dark-Pony " whoa-ed," and Noddy hopped up on his back, and away they went galloping galloping galloping. Soon they met a little girl whose name was Niddy, who said : " I'd like to go too ; Please take me with you ! " Dark-Pony stopped again and up jumped So Dark-Pony waited while Noddy jumped off after little doggy, which he tucked under his arm, and then away they went galloping galloping galloping. Next they met a little black pussy-cat, who cried : " Me-u ! me-u ! I want to go too ! " When Dark-Pony stopped, off jumped Niddy and picked up pussy-cat and held her in her lap as away they went gallop- ing galloping galloping. As they were passing a farmhouse, out from his coop flew Mr. Rooster crowing, * vx:k-a-doodle-doodle-doo ! Won't you please to take me too ? " When Dark-Pony stopped for Mr. Rooster, he flew up and lighted on Dark- Pony's back behind Niddy, and then away they went galloping galloping gallop- ing. When Mrs. Hen saw Mr. Rooster rid- ing away, she flew after, calling : " Cluck ! cluck ! cluckity cluck ! Take me for good luck ! " Then she flew up behind the rooster and away they went galloping galloping galloping. Pretty soon in the road ahead, wad- dling toward them, nodding his head, came a white something who to Dark-Pony said : " Quack ! quack ! quackity quack ! Room for me on your back ? " Guess what it was! Yes, a duck and when Dark-Pony stopped, it flew up on' his back and there was just room for it then to sit close up to Mrs. Hen, and away they went galloping galloping gallop- ing. As they were riding through the wood out jumped a little gray squirrel from behind a tree, and called to them merrily: " Please look and see If there's room for me." Now Dark-Pony couldn't see, but Noddy saw where there was room for one more, and that was in his pocket, as " snug as a but? in a rug." He tucked in the squirrel after giving him a hug, and away they went galloping galloping galloping. A little further on as they were looking down, they saw a little quail all dressed in brown, who ran toward them whis- tling : " Bob- White ! Bob- White \ May I go to-night?" Dark-Pony was very kind and good and liked to take as many as he could, but already there were eight passengers, and where to put the ninth was a puzzle. Finally Mr. Rooster solved it by kindly offering his broad back as a seat for the little quail, who very gladly accepted it and away they went galloping galloping galloping. Pretty soon from the top of a tree flew a big bird as black as could be. Straight towards them as they rode along he swiftly flew, singing this song : " Caw ! caw ! caw ! caw ! Is there room for one more ? " Now certainly it did not seem so, but Niddy feeling sorry for the crow, who longed so very much to go, kindly to it said, " You may sit here on my head." But Dark-Pony said : " Oh, no ! on my head you may go, right between my ears, you know." Sure enough ! There was just room for the black crow, and away they did go galloping galloping galloping. What a happy company were they; each one of the ten in his own way, hum- ming a song as they galloped along. Soon the song grew soft and low ; slowly now did Dark- Pony go. Finally every eye was closing and by the time they all were dozing, Dark-Pony with head bowed down, passed thro' the gates of Sleepytown. THE FOURTH OF JULY wake up, girls, come ! wake up, boys The dawn is very near ; The day we celebrate with noise, The jolly Fourth is here. Come, get your crackers for the fun, Both big and little size; We'll wake up echoes when the sun Begins to ope his eyes. and bang till shadows Then, when the night comes on, The most exciting time of all Is fireworks on the lawn. Pa sets the rockets 'gainst a post, They fizz and screech and fly Away up out of sight a'most, Then crash against the sky ! AUNT FANNY. SUSAN'S MANNERS By ELIZABETH C. WEBB npHERE was once a little girl, and her * name was Susan. She was good on Tuesdays and Fridays, and bad all the rest of the week. And her mother often used to say : " Oh Susan, Susan, why can't you always have on your Tutsday and Friday manners ? " Susan said, " I can't wear my best man- ners every day, or I'll wear them all in holes." So her mother sighed, and said, " Yes, I suppose you are right, but I wish I knew a place where I could buy manners that were made out of sail-cloth, or awning ma- terial, or something that would wear well." When Susan wasn't wearing her Tues- day and Friday manners, she kept them in BRIDGET BURNT THEM UP TH1RB WAS SUSAN. JI7GGL1NG a paper box in her top bureau drawer. But one day she forgot to put the box away, and left it on the floor. Bridget thought it was meant to be thrown away so she carried it off to the kitchen with the rest of the rubbish, and burned it up in the fire next morning. That day was Friday, and Susan's mother had been looking forward to it since Tuesday. But when she came down to the breakfast table there was Susan trying to do juggling tricks with the cups and saucers. Susan's mother sank into a chair. "' Susnn ! " she cried. ' i thought it was Friday!"" " It is Friday," said Susan, still pla>ii^ with the breakfast dishes. TH* MEW BOX WAS PADLOCKED ON _ where," said Susan's mother, " are your manners ? " " Bridget burnt them up," said Susan. " I'm so glad. Now I don't have to behave any more," and she threw a breakfast plate at the chandelier. As soon as Susan's mother had finished breakfast she put on her bonnet and tied the quiet, an(* the stars came out one by one. < Now the little mermaid knew that it was getting very late, and that she ought to have been in bed long ago, and that her nurse was probably swimming all around looking for her, and that her mother was worrying, and that therefore she ought to go home right straight away. But she didn't. She was a very naughty, mis- chievous, mermaid. She stayed just where she was and went on singing. She knevr she was naughty and she rather liked it. She had never been out so late before, so she had never seen the stars in all her life; and when they began to twinkle here and there in the sky she was charmed with them and she clapped her hands with delight and called up to the stars: " Come down, come down, and play with me ! " But the stars only twinkled knowingly and didn't come an inch nearer. Then the little mermaid saw one bright star that seemed more beautiful to her than all the rest, and she called up to it: " Come down, come down, you bright beautiful star! Come down, come down, and play with me ! " But the star only called back through the still air: " Can't, I'm busy." That made the little mermaid cross. " Silly thing," she pouted. " What does he mean by saying he is busy ? " And shi called up again. " Oh, bother, you're not doing anything up there except just twinkling. Come down and play with me; you don'* have to twinkle." v but I Jo have b) twinkle ! " cried the , c tar. " I ought to twinkle." " Provoking thing ! " said the little mer- maid to herself. She wanted that star because it was bright and pretty and be- cause she couldn't have it mostly because she couldn't have it. But aloud she said : " There are such a lot of stars that no one would miss you." Then the star glowed with the thought of his own goodness. " No," said he, " I ought to stay up here and help make the sky look pretty for the moon, and if I ought to stay, I ought to stay. Isn't there anything you ought to do?" he asked se- verely. " Well," said the little mermaid slowly, " I ought to go home, I suppose." " Then," said the star, " go ! " " But I don't want to," cried the little mermaid, " I'd much rather stay out here." " Nonsense ! " said the star. " If you ought to go you ought to go." " I believe you are right," said the little mermaid sweetly. " Good-night ! " And she slid off the rocks and swam away under the sea. "What a good, reasonable, little mer- maid ! " said the star. He didn't know her, for as soon as he wasn't looking that mermaid swam right back to the rocks and spread a net all made of seaweed over the pool where the star's reflection lay. "Now," she laughed to herself, "that star can't get away. I will have it to play with in the morning." And she swam back to her home under the sea, where her nurse gave her a good scold- ing and put her to bed. But in the morning she found the pool quite empty. The star had taken his re- flection with him when the day came and he had to go away. It was just as if you tried to catch anyone bv holding to their reflection in the mirror. Then the little mermaid sat down by the side of the pool and wept. Then she thought for a long time; and that evening she slipped away 'rom her nurse and went again to the rough, round, rugged rocks to wait for the star. " Ah, there you are, you pretty star ! " she called as soon as she saw him. " Do look into the pool and see how very beau- tiful you are this evening." And that star was so pleased with what she said that he forgot all about his duty to the moon, and he leaned so far over to see his reflection that he lost his balance and fell right out of the sky. Down, down, dawn he shot through the black night, leaving a bright train of sparks behinu him; faster and faster, till he fell with a splash and a sizzle into the pool. As soon as he touched the water his light went out, for he was bright only be- cause he did his duty; and when the little mermaid reached her arm down to pick him up, all she found was a dull grey starfish. He was not a bit interesting. All his pretty sparkle was gone. The little mer- maid was very much disappointed in him, so she left him lying on the rocks and slid off into the water, to see if she could find another jellyfish to tease. MARJORIE MAY'S LESSON f\R, Marjorie, Marjorie, Marjorie May! ^^ You never must sulk in work or in play, 'Cause 'tisn't the way a dollie should grow, It'll keep you from knowing the things you should know, And drive all the happy right out of your heart, And keep you from everything lovely, apart Come Marjorie, Marjorie, Marjorie May, I know you can see that this beautiful day Is here just on purpose to teach you to know That when the sun shines it makes everything grow In just the right way. There's a sun in your heart If you'll let its bright shine reach into each part Of your mind, and beam out of your pretty blue eyes, Twill make everything bright from the earth to the skies ! HELEN VAN ANDERSON, POOR DOLLTf r\ NCE a little dolly, ^ Left up in a tree, Cried out after Polly: " Do come back for me! " Oh, how scared was dolly There the long night through, All forgot by Polly, In the dark and dew. GRACE MAY NORTH. r\EAR, dear, misery me, The sun is down and it's time for tea, The cow's come home and the chickens are fed, Let's say good-night, and go to bed. A QUESTION Y up in the Polar-Bear Country, Where the ground is all covered with white. Where the people use reindeer for horses, And a day is as long as a night, And each day is as long as a half-year, D' you s'pose that a small boy would say, " Pack everything, please, mother darling, I'm going to visit all day " ? ALICE VAN LEER CARRICK. CONTENTMENT TN summer when 'tis very warm, -*- And all the folks complaining go, It's then I like the wintertime, Brave winter with its ice and snow. And when the blustering blizzards rave, And it is cold as cold can be, The very hottest summer day Is not one whit too warm for me. In spring I like the bracing fall; In autumn love the gentle spring; So you may see, the whole year 'round I'm satisfied with everything. A NEW AMBITION WHEN I'm grown up, I think 111 be A landlord ; for then don't you see? I'll own a lot of houses fine, And on each one I'll put this sign : TO LET, STEAM HEAT, RENTS ARE NOT HIGH. FOLKS WITHOUT CHILDREN DONT APPLY! And I shall ask of those who call, " What, seven children! Is that all? I hope they make a lot of noise; I want some lively girls and boys." THE TOWN MOUSE AND THE COUNTRY MOUSE By ALICE VAN LEER CARRICK HE Country Mouse she was really a little girl, and her name was Ellen sat on the door-sill, and looked out at the green fields that stretched to the foot of the tall, misty hills beyond. If she had spoken her thoughts aloud, she would have said, "Here I am, shut in, with nothing to see hut cows and chickens, and nothing to do but pick berries or go fishing. It is all stupid, and I wish that I lived in the city." She did not notice how beautiful the buttercups were, growing so thick that they made the meadows yellow; she had seen them all her life ; and as for berries why, anyone could pick berries ! That was nothing. Now, was it not strange that just at the same time, the Town Mouse, Louise, was looking at a long line of brick houses, with never a tree in sight. There was only a starved grass-plot in front of the dusty block. And she thought, " How pleasant it must be way up in the country where there are fields and rivers and mountains. I could take off my shoes and stockings, and wade in the brook just as my father said he used to do, and there would be flowers to pick, and no policemen to tell you to get off the grass." Out in the street a hurdy- gurdy was playing bright tunes, and chil- dren were dancing. Further off, a hokey- pokey man rang his bell, and other little girls ran to buy the cool, sweet stuff. But the Town Mouse sat still and cross Yesterday she had been taken for a ride on the swanboats in the Public Garden, but any one could do that, she said to herself. You see, each Mouse wanted what the Other had; and what was very strange, each got a chance to try the one thing she most wished for. To the farm-house came a letter, asking the Country Mouse to come to the city for a week with her aunt ; and the Town Mouse's grandmother wrote for the little girl to come and pay a visit to the country place where her father was born. Sometimes pleasant things that one does not expect really do happen. Louise and Ellen both danced with joy, when the letters came one on the brick sidewalk, the other in the green fields ; both thinking of the pleasures that were in store for them. Do you want to hear what happened, and how they really liked the things they had most wanted? The Country Mouse looked out of her one window, and thought that all the houses seemed very close together. And why was there no grass, and what were all those people doing in the street, and wouldn't they stop walking soon, so that she could go to sleep? And that night, after she had gone to bed, the cars kept clanging by the house so steadily, and with such a noise, that she jumped up thinking something must be on fire. The hand- organs were nice, and sometimes such cun- ning monkeys came with them ; but there were no animals that lived near her except some cats that ran quickly along the alley fence, so quickly that no one could make friends with them. Would you believe it, the Country Mouse very soon began to think that green, daisy-dotted fields, with the high hills skirting them, were not so bad after all. Now, all this time the other Mouse, the Town Mouse, you know, had been playing in the meadows. Once a cow chased her, and that made her want to go back to the city. She was lonely, too, she who had always had so many little playmates, for the next farm was four miles away, and it was hard for children to see each other in haying time. At night, when the whip- poor-will began to sing, and the frogs croaked in the pond, the Town Mouse crept to her window and looked out. It was all so still that the tiny noises which would have been lost in the city seemed very big indeed. And down those hills, all white with moonlight, wild animals might walk, and there would be no policeman to stop them ! So both little girls were happy when the trains puffed their ways home with them. They were satisfied ; Ellen with the wide, quiet country, Louise with the big, noisy city. Each place has its own pleasures, you know, and that is why this story is as true as the old fable, and much better, for in that, you remember, it was only the Country Mouse who was content to go home. N Christmas Eve, when the lights are dim, But eager eyes with excitement shine, The Sandman steals from the chimney-place, And glancing round, makes a backward sign. He dips his hand in his pouch of sand, The silver grains flinging far and wide; And listens, then, for the drowsy sighs That come when eyes under lashes hide. ie softly tiptoes from crib to crib, And sifts the sand in a 'my heap; Then up the chimney he r.?,ily calls, " Come, Santa Claus, *hey are sound asleep ! " EUNICE WARD. THE REAL PRINCE By BERTHA E. BUSH HERE was great joy in the kingdom of No Man's Land, for the longed-for heir had been born. The bells ranj all night. Cannon boomed, and the who! 5 country was wild with happiness. Tht re was a particular reason for this joy. King Sen- sible the First had been hoping f >r an heir for twelve years ; and the whole land had been troubled for fear the kingdom would go to his brother, who was a very bad man. Some of the wise people of the land did not share in the joy, but shook their heads gloomily. " He will grow up a spoiled boy," they said. " He is the only prince and, of course, he will always have his own way in everything, and everyone will bow down to him and flatter him." King Sensible the First heard of this dismal prophecy, and as he was a very wise king, he soon thought of a remedy. He sent all over his kingdom to find the boy babies that had been born the same day as the little prince. There were five of them in all. He had them all brought to the royal nursery and dressed exactly as the MttJe oHnce was. " You must treat all the five babies ex- actly alike," he said to the attendants. " You mast never let them or anyone else know which is the real prince. Then my son cannot be spoiled by his royalty." After that you may be sure the nursery of the palace was a lively place. Five baby carriages stood in a row at its door. Five pretty white and gold beds stood in it, four at the corners and one in the mid- dle. Five baby jumpers hung from the ceiling, and five high chairs were ar- ranged along the wall. Five white-capped nurses fed and bathed and cared for the five babies ; and five bottles stood in a pan of hot water on the stove until they were heated to exactly the right temperature. But if the nursery was lively when the babies wore long clothes and slept almost all the time, it was still more lively when they began to get around. What plays they had, the five together ! What fights they had, too, sometimes, when they pulled each other's hair and slapped and even kicked and punched each other. And then the whole five were spanked and put to bed. You see King Sensible the Fa** mean* WHAT FLAYS THEY HAD, THE FIVE TOGETHER I that his son and heir should be whole- somely brought up. His head should not be turned with flattery and adulation be- cause he was the prince. " Better that no one in all the kingdom knows he is the prince ! " he said. He forbade the nurses to show by look or word which of their charges was the royal heir. Indeed he tried to make them forget it, and, for that reason, often changed the babies in their beds and changed about the nurses who cared for them, till not one was sure which was the royal child. " It would be well if I should forget which he is, too," the king said heroically. You see he was such a good father that he would do anything for the good of his boy. He did not think such a thing could be possible; but he did not know how much alike five babies of the same age, dressed and cared for just alike, could look. Be- fore the first year was over not even the father knew which was the true prince. The mother would have remembered, I think, but she died shortly after the little prince was born. Now, of course, the good King Sensi- ble did not mean that this should last for- ever. The true prince must certainly be known when the time came for him to mount the throne. So he secretly took the child to the court magician, and this wizard put upon the little arm a strange mark shaped like a crown which should remain invisible for seventeen years and then appear. So the good king felt per- fectly happy and secure. But he did not know that his wicked brother had after- ward bribed the magician to put the same kind of a mark on every one of the babies. When good King Sensible the First died no one knew which of the five princes was the true prince, but the king pro- claimed in his will what the court magician had done, and the people were content u# wait till the princes should be seventeen. But when that time came, behold the same kind of mark appeared on every one of the five young men ! The dead king's brother pretended to be very angry at what he called the trick- ery of the magician. He stormed and raged, and sent messengers everywhere demanding that that trickster should ap- pear and settle the matter. But he took great care that the magician should be where he could not answer the messages. Then he made proclamation that, since the true heir could not be known, he him- self would reign as king until the magician should be found and the puzzle explained. The five princes were justly indignant, but what could they do? They did not know which should rightly be king, and there could not be five kings. They dis- cussed the matter for three days and three nights, but came to no decision. At last the slowest and gentlest of the princes spoke. " It seems to me that there is but one thing to do," he said. " We must prove by our actions who is the real prince. The real king's son should be the most kingly." The rest turned upon him in scorn. " You may be sure that you are not the real prince," they said. The slowest prince sighed. He was used to their ridicule, but it always hurt. " I suppose not," he said, gently still. " You may count me out. But one of us five is the king and it is only right that he should have the throne. We must make some plan to give it to him. Let us leave it to the people of the kingdom and give them a year to decide which is the most kingly." They grumbled and mocked, but after all they did as he said; tfaey were quite Apt to do this. He was always the butt of the five, for he was, as he said, the slowest of them in every way, and never asserted his right as the others did ; but he thought jvery thing over carefully an/ 1 decided what was right tr do, and he was as determined as he was slow. > r '>body counted him in the contest to come. He was thought stupid and awk- ward, and he himself join- ed in the universal opinion. " It is of no use for me to try to prove myself king," he said with a sigh. " I will put in this year of probation in studying the things that will best help me to serve my country in a subordinate place, for surely she needs the service of all her sons, high-born and low-born, in these troublous days." They were, indeed, trou- blous days. The dead king's brother, who was regent and bound to get glory for himself, had taken the whole army and gone out to invade a neigh- boring kingdom. Strong- holds were weakened, the people were oppressed, and the whole land was full of fear and misery. The other four boys did not think much of this. They set themselves to winning the hearts of the people, each one hoping to be chosen king when the year was up. One of them was known as the hand- somest prince. He had a thousand suits of clothes made for him, each more beau- tiful and costly than the last, and showed himself daily in pageants and processions. All the people shouted in acclamation when he appeared and many said, " Surely he is so beautiful, he will be king." HE STUDIED HIS COUNTRY S HISTORY The second prince was known as the strongest one. He arranged athletic con- tests and astonished everyone with his feats of strength. The third prince was called the brightest one. He spent his days in hunting up arguments, and proved by logic to everyone about that he was the king's real son. The fourth prince was known as the most charming one. and he went about from house to house making friends with everyone and promising great pits u d rewards when he should be king; but the slowest one did none of these things. He felt as the others said, that it was useless for him to think of being king. So he put his time into study. He studied his country's history. He studied his country's laws. . And especially he studied about her defenses, the weakest places and the strongest places, and the condition of the army, and the best plans for its campaigns. He pored hours over army tactics, and spent hours more in drilling a company of home guards, who needed a leader and were glad to get even the slowest of the princes. So the year went on ; and just at the end of it, awful news came. The schemes of the bad regent had failed. Instead of conquering the kingdom he had invaded, he had been conquered. His army was cut to pieces, and he was killed. The ene- my was now advancing into the kingdom, burning and pillaging. Something must be done at once. But what could be done? The army was shattered. The generals were all killed. " We will have to buy off the enemy," said the handsomest prince, and set about at once collecting all his fine suits and all the treasures of the palace to offer as a ransom. " No, we must fight them and drive them back," said the strongest one. " But we have no army," said the coun- cilors despairingly. " Then we must raise a new army,* said the most charming one. "But who can be their commander?" said the councilors. " None of us know anything about army tactics. " We must study them," said the bright- est prince; and straightway he sent to the library for a thousand volumes on the subject. But they knew well that the enemy was advancing so swiftly that the palace might be burned over their heads before the first book was read. Then the slowest prince stepped forward. " I think I can lead the army," he said. " I have studied army tactics and plans of campaigning all the year." And he led the army to victory. Under his command the enemy was driven back and the land once more made safe. " This prince is the rightful king," said all the people. " He has the very spirit of the old king, his father; and, now that we regard him closely, we see that he looks just like him. He is our king!" And he was crowned on the field of battle. Strangely enough, just then the old ma- gician appeared again. He told what he had done and explained that he had made the marks for the other four babies just a little different from that of the king's son ; and the right mark he found on the slow- est prince's arm. But by this time no one called that one slow. They said, " How deliberate and sure he is ! What admirable qualities those are! It is indeed just as it should be; and we should have known that he was the rightful king even if the magician had not come." BOBBY'S THANKSGIVING "T CANNOT see," 1 Said Bobby Lee, " Why I should very thankful be. I think it is a funny way To have just one Thanksgiving Day, For many things might chance, you see, To spoil your fun," said Bobby Lee. " But if we had a week or two, I would enjoy it through and through." " One single day ! It does not pay, For it might rain 'tis oft the way And all our plans would be upset If everything were soaking wet. And if a team were playing ball, We couldn't see the game at all. But if we had a week or two We would enjoy it through and through." " It seems to me," Said Bobby Lee, "Thanksgiving's an uncertainty. The President may say it's so But that don't make the thing a ' go.' The only certain thing to me Is dinner time," said Bobby Lee " But turkey for a week or two Would make me tired through and through." NUTS TO CRACK TN Autumn there are nuts to crack, * Of every size and kind, Hazelnuts and hickory, And chestnuts you will find. And if around the nursery fire You sit and crack and eat, And joke and spin a merry yarn, 'Tis happiness complete. iBut there are other nuts to crack, Quite different, you'll find, From hazel nuts or hickory, Or any other kind. Geography, Arithmetic, These nuts are hard, indeed, And Spelling is another nut, And there's to write and read, And History and Grammar, all These nuts are good to eat; Though hard to crack, you'll find in eacH A kernel sound and sweet. Indeed, a bag of nuts is hid Behind each school-room door; Be sure you've cracked them, every one, Before you ask for more. CAMEL THE CLOTHES-PIN DOLLIES BY CAMILLA J. KNIGHT Two stately little ladies these, as ever you have known, With petticoats so very stiff that they can stand alone. Each has a smiling, rosy face upon her wooden head, A dainty cap adorning each, with frills, and ribbon red. Their gowns, all made of scarlet silk, are beau- tiful to see; Aunt Lou dressed them for Marjorie when she was only three. At night, the ladies are undressed, and each is then arrayed In night-gown white, with cap and cape, and on the pillow laid. When Marjorie jumps into bed, she takes them in her arms. And hugs them tight to keep them safe from all the dark's alarms. On birthdays, and at Christmas time, all kinds of dolls she gets ; But these, her little clothes-pin dolls, are still her dearest pets. SAT THERE AND DISCUSSED IMPORTANT gUESTIONS LITTLE MISS GOOSEY By KATHARINE NEWriOLD BIRDSALL hair. |OBODY knew her by any other name. She was a little girl with great inquisitive blue eyes and a shock of curling brown She wasn't pretty; she wasn't clever ; she wasn't anything but just " Lit- tle Miss Goosey." Her name was Grace Ursula Carter, after her two grandmoth- ers, and her initials G. U. C. and there you have it Goosey! Perhaps it was too bad for her mother and father not to think of those initials. But they didn't until after she was christened, and then it was too late to change. Little Miss Goosey lived in the coun- try not the great lonesome country where there are miles of woods and fields without any houses, but in a large coun- try town which we may call Pinkieville so that you will never guess its real name. And by all the townspeople for the Car- ters were well known she was called Little Miss Goosey. I do not believe any of them knew her real name; or if they did, they had forgotten it. They thought it fitted her at times, for she had such queer thoughts ! I doubt if they were more queer than other people's thoughts, only other people have a way of keeping their queer thoughts to themselves; Lit- tle Miss Goosey hadn't. But this isn't telling you about the Sheep Hill Tragedy at all. Little Miss Goosey's grandmother and grandfather lived still further out in the country on a large farm, every inch of which Little Miss Goosey loved. The biggest thing on the farm was Sheep Hill, even bigger than Mine Hill which jvas itself wondrous to behold. The lit- fe girl never knew just which spot was the dearest, but one of her favorites was the very pinnacle of Sheep Hill. Here she was contented to sit, quietly watching the clouds forming into queer shaped animals in their sky-blue bed; trying to see just a bit farther over Snake Hill in the distance, to catch the dim outline of the Catskill Mountains. Real true moun- tains they were, such as she had never seen near by. Of course Storm King was a huge mountain; and Schunemunk a terrible place where rattlesnakes and huckleberries grew; and Anthony's Nose across the river she had once plainly seen from the boat. But these must all be lit- tle knolls compared to the Catskills, for the great Catskills were in her geography marked something like the minister's mustache. It was on the very top of Sheep Hill one Saturday that Bob found her. She was wondering where the wind lived when it was at home, which reminded her that late that afternoon her father and mother were expected at the farm, and with them a little girl from England who was her father's ward. She must remem- ber to get back to the house in time to be dressed before the train arrived. Com- pany came seldom to the farm. Bob leaned his head over her shoulder and kissed her left cheek just under her eye. Little Miss Goosey was used to this form of greeting, but when he repeated it three times she stopped thinking her queer thoughts and turned around. " You dear old fubsy thing ! " she cried, putting her arms about his shaggy neck. " What is the matter ? " Bob barked twice and without any hesi- tation Little Miss Goosey replied: "Oh, are they? Well, never mind, Bobsy. I'm not afraid of all the sheep and the old black ram, so long as you are here. They will go over toward the cornfield when they see you." So Bob and his mistress sat there air} discussed important questions, till it was later than either of them knew. Suddenly Bob growled, and Little Miss Goosey, turning around, saw that they were al- most surrounded by sheep. In the fore- ground was the ferocious old black ram. The only point of rescue was down the steep face of the high hill. Of all the animals on the farm, Little Miss Goosey feared the black ram the most. Even the cross-eyed bull and the ring-nosed white pig with the eleven lit- tle ones, were gentle in comparison with him. Her eyes grew big with watching him edging nearer and nearer, and she grabbed Bob's neck. Bob barked. " I'm afraid it's the only way," said Lit- tle Goosey, " but you must come too, Bobsy. I've heard Pops tell how he used to go down Sheep Hill when he was a boy. You and I will outwit the old ram. Come on, Bob." Little Miss Goosey sat sidewise on the brow of the hill : Bob did likewise. " Now one, two, three go ! " she called, forgetting her fear of the old ram. Then, laughing gaily, she started rolling down the steep incline! The old black ram stood on the pre- cise spot where Little Miss Goosey had been a moment before. The sheep crowded around him, peering curiously down the hill. If the old black ram could have spoken he would have exclaimed, " I didn't think they dared ! " Round and round and round she went over and over, faster and *~"**r. Not a single breath was left in Little Miss Goosey's body, and Bob had not fared much better. But Little Miss Goosey was winning m the race ; she was rounder and bouncier, and Bob got tangled up in his legs. It was that which stopped him short. He was a sadder and a wiser dog than when he started; also more bruised and breathless. Little Miss change her course, for she knew as well as Bob that straight ahead of her was " Buzzards Bay," which was her name for a great hornets' nest in the road-co^er of the big field by the little pond. Now, if suddenly a chubby giant should roll down upon your house, breaking every rafter in it and even crushing some of your family, wouldn't you consider BOB REACHED THE SPOT ALMOSt AS SOON AS SHE DID Goosey was still rolling, though the steep- est part of the hill was past ; faithful Bob, shaking each one of his four legs to see that they were not punctured, limped after her. If Little Miss Goosey had had an atom of breath left to think with, or had been able to see, she would have decided to you had a right to defend yourself in any way, even to biting? Well then, you can hardly blame the hornets for treating Lit- tle Miss Goosey as they did. The nest stopped her rolling somewhat, but not enough to keep her from going on a few feet further, directly into the little swampy pond beyond Bob reached the spot almost as soon as she did, and getting her belt in his teeth, promptly pulled her out of the water. The mud bath had helped to dis- perse the hornets, and the water helped Little Miss Goosey's breath back again. She gasped as Bob affectionately licked her face. " I didn't let Little Miss Goosey know I was off to meet the train," a white- haired man was saying to three passen- gers in his wagon, as they drove by Sheep Hill, " because I knew she would be disappointed not to come with me. Hello, what has Bob cornered by the fence?" The farmer stopped old Billy Denton, the chestnut horse, and Bob gave a joyful, muddy bark of relief at seeing someone to help him. It did not take Mr. Carter half a min- ute to jump from the wagon, and vault the bars. In another half - minute a muddy bundle was sobbing in his arms, and a lame dog was delightedly wagging a lame tail. Instead of showing the little Ei/jlish girl the beautiful playhouses under the hickories down the lane, and in the old Jersey-sweet tree ; down by the stone wall near the house, and beneath the locust trees on South Hill, Little Miss Goosey lay on pillows in the fourposter bed in the great southwest room where she was born ten years before. She kept very, very still for some days, for it hurt to move. And the only way she could en- tertain her visitor was by telling her won- derful tales of things that were happen- ing in the wall paper. A SURPRISE 'T'HE lollypops all popped one night, Without a word of warning. The candyman was so surprised To find them, in the morning. They overflowed the showcase quite And almost filled the shop. The weather was so warm, you see, They simply had to pop! GRACE STONE FIELD. THE CIRCLETS OFF TO SCHOOL 'JPHE Circlets, in September, As the time for school drew near, Made all their preparations In a manner somewhat queer. 'TP HE children practiced circles And succeeded very well, While the kitten studied cat-ching, And the dog wrote dog-gerel. IN DRUMTOWN By JOSHUA F. CROWELL | HEN Harry was four years old, he wanted to know what was inside his red drum. He cut it open, but the sound flew out so quickly he could not catch one glimpse of it. When he was five, he had a yellow drum; and when he was six, he had a tin one; but both of these were used up, in the right way by pounding them. There never was a boy any fonder of the rub-a-dub-dub or th#* tum-tum-tum of a drum than Harry. When he was nearly seven, he went with his father and mother to make a visit in Drumtown. The first day he saw thousands of 4 the flowers and the songs all the time if they had really wished for them; but when the light was there they were too busy enjoy- ing themselves to urge the elves to stay, and of course elves are too well-bred to stay in any place unless they are especially invited. And when the fogs came back, the Island folk were too hurried scolding and grumbling at their bad luck to think what the cause really was. One day the cross fogs stayed so long that they got into the Prince's naughty bone, so that when the wind freshened and blew thousands of the Queen's mes- sengers to the Islands, the Prince, instead of running to meet them, went into the garden to hide. Now the Prince really wanted to go back to the happy streets that were filled with music and laughter, and he knew that he did, and that made him crosser than ever. So he kinked away at a pretty pink rose bush, and trod four of the buds into the ground. Unfortunately for him these roses had been planted by Fairy Sunshine herself, in the hope that the people might come to love the sun and the flowers so much that the ugly fogs would never come back ; and she had sent her own especial Rose- elf to watch over them. But the Prince did not know this perhaps he would not have kicked quite so hard if he had and the sullen look was still on his face when the Rose-elf popped out of h*r Jvch in a great rage. The Rose-elf has a temper as sharp and prickly as her thorns when she is pro- voked. " You unkind Prince to undo all my work when I am trying to help you, and bring the sunshine to you ! " she cried. "Sunshine! I don't want sunshine here ! " growled the Prince. Indeed the fog must have taken tight hold of his naughty bone. The Rose-elf looked at him in grief and surprise. " I'm sorry," she said, " but any- one who says such a thing as that must go where there is no sunshine and stay there until he knows what it is to miss it. Four years you must stay there; a year for every rose you have ruined." With that she whistled the South Wind who ran swiftly over the hills to do her bid- ding, singing a soft little song as he came. And the Wind gathered up the Prince in his strong arms, and bore him struggling over the blue sea to a land no one had ever heard of, and popped him down in the dungeon of a thick gray castle. The room he was in was not even light enough for him to read a story book, but it was the l^jht that comes at noon on a gray day; and it never brightened and it never waned. At first, the Prirtce was just as cheerless as his room, but, by and by, when weeks and months had passed, he began to grow restless and lonesome. At first he said : " I would not mind see- ing a little sunshine, just for a change," and then, " Perhaps the sun is really pleasanter than the fog." And at last he pressed his face against the glass, and looked out into the grayness, crying, " Oh, if Fairy Sunshine would only send me one little sunbeam messenger ! " The next morning there was a tiny, flickering ray resting on a small green plant that seemed to have sprung up in the night. The Prince was so glad to see the sun and the plant that he watched them all morning. Each day the sunbeam grew brighter, and the plant became larger and taller, until the Prince grew to love them both dearly, and to watch with happiness the plant turning to the sun, and the rays caressing the green, glossy leaves. He kept on loving the plant, and the sun rose more and more every day. One morning he was awakened by the bright- est ught he had ever sees Tht room was full of sunshine, and around the plant a thousand little sun-elves were clustered. The plant had bloomed in the night, and the single blossom that rested like a star in the green leaves was the most beauti- ful flower in the whole world. It had the color of the rose, with the sweetness of the violet, and its petals were glossy like the tulip, and glistening like the lily. And there, patting and pulling its petals into place, just as a mother pulls out the lace frills about a baby's neck and wrists, sat Rose-elf, as pink and as pretty as ever, and not at all cross. She called the Prince to her, and said very kindly, " The four years are up now, and because you have learned to love the sun, the Flower of Content has bloomed. And because you understand the language that the plants speak, you must go to another country where there are no flowers and show the people how to make them grow, and you must take the Flower of Content with yod." Then again she whistled to the South Wind, who hurried to do her bidding, humming the same song; and he picked the Prince up in his strong arms and bore him away to the Porcelain Land, where the people were very unhappy, although their country was the pinkest and whitest and neatest and sweetest country ever seen. They were sorrowful because no flowers would ever grow there. Try as hard as they might they could do nothing because there were no lanes nor gardens in Porcelain Land; only neat, white-tiled streets and courts, and beyond the city lay miles and miles of clay that they dug and baked and made into porcelain houses and furniture. The only flowers that these Porcelain People had were the little stiff tmds and blossoms that were painted on their chairs and plates and houses every- thing they had was made of porcelain but these were very unsatisfactory, for you could not pick them, nor smell them, and they were not at all like the real roses and violets that we have. They were just like the flowers on your mother's best dinner- set, and those, you know, can never be plucked. The people were all so unhappy in their blossomless land that the King had prom- ised his daughter, the Pretty Princess of Porcelain Town, to whomever could, should or would make flowers grow in his king- dom. Now a great many princes and lords and duke and peasants, too, had tried hard to do this, for the Pretty Princess was very pretty indeed, prettier than any porcelain shepherdess you ever saw. They all failed, but they were not beheaded, for the King would not cut off their heads because he was a tidy King, and said it would make such a mess in his snow-white streets, so he only sent them away, and kept on feel- ing blue. So when the King saw the beautiful flower with the sunlight on its leaves he ordered the Prince to be brought to him that he might look at the blossom. Then he offered the Prince a stupendous amount of money, but the Prince refused to sell the Flower of Content, and told the King who he was and why he had come. Then, in truth, there were great re- joicings, for as soon as the people heard that the Prince had been sent by the Sun- shine Fairy to help them, they knew that something must really come of it. And something did, for the Prince, after lay- ing his cheek against his dear flower and whispering to it in a strange tongue, called together the cleverest porcelain workmen, and told them to make deep clay pots, hundreds and hundreds of them; and this was rfie beginning- of the flower-pots we use in our homes now. Then the Prince whistled up the South Wind, and sent him hurrying over hill and dale to bring back loads of earth in his strong arms. And then he bade the workmen fill the pots with this earth, and in each pot he planted a seed of th Flower of Content. The next morning all the seeds had sprung into tiny plants and so wonderful was the magic of the flower that, though all of the blossoms were beautiful, each was dif- ferent The proud King embraced the Prince and gave him his daughter, the Pretty Princess of Porcelain Land, and the peo- ple were all so happy over their posies that they danced in crowds around the palace and sang songs about the brave, kind Prince who had brought the. Flower of Content to them. Then the Prince and the Princess rtrerc married with all the small sunbeam fairiea for attendants, and the Rose-elf for maid of honor; and the South Wind came and whisked them away in his strong arnts to the Midway Islands, the Prince's king- dom. Here the Prince also planted seeds from the Flower of Content, and from these seeds sprang up the same lovely blossoms, and ringed the people round with a wall of beauty and perfume, so that the ugly vapors could never come near them again. And here the Prince and the Pretty Princess made their home, now called the Isles of Happiness because the people all loved the sunbeam messengers so dearly. THE FAIRY EYE-GLASSES VyHEN Alma Hunt awoke on her seventh birthday the first thing she saw was a row of seven little candles placed on the foot of her bed. They were burning cheerily and helped her to get up earlier than was her custom in cold weather, and she sur- prised her parents by being the first one down to breakfast. After breakfast Alma's mamma gave her a tiny box, and hastily opening it she found a beautiful gold thimble. Most little girls would have been delighted with such a nice present, but, as Alma ex- pressed it, she "hated" sewing, aivi now she knew that her mamma intended to give her sewing lessons very soon. With a scowl of discontent on her face Alma left the house and went for a walk in a clump of woods near by. This grove was a favorite haunt of the little girl, and she always went there when she was extra cross. Alma had just seated herself comfort- ably on a fallen log and was beginning to wpnder when mamma would give her the By PEARL PRUIT first sewing lesson, when she beheld an object before her that surprised her so that she came near falling from her seat. There stood a little man, no taller than her thumb. He was gorgeously dressed. His tiny trousers were of soft green moss; his cloak was made of cloth that the silk-worms had woven; and his cap was fashioned from a buttercup petal. What surprised Alma most was the gloomy expression upon the small face. Almost before she knew it she exclaimed: "Why, what is the matter? Can I help you in any way ? " The little man was much surprised at being addressed, as evidently he had not noticed Alma before, but after surveying her a few minutes he said : " Well, I do wish I could get someone to help me. You see, I am king of the fairies, and we have planned a fine ball for to-night, but the court ladies can't find anyone to make their dresses, and they declare they won't attend the ball unless they have new ones. I assure you we gentlemen are in despair. Can you sew, and do you think YOU **an .Make the fairies' dresses?" he asked eagerly. The question almost took Alma's breath away, but she decided to try, as she was sorry for the little king. " Where will I get material for them ? " she asked. " Oh, I'll manage that," responded the little man, and he disappeared in the for- est before Alma could say another word. He soon returned, however, with his arms full of beautiful fabrics for making fairies' clothes. There were rose-petals of all colors, butterfly wings, cobweb-lace, dewdrops, and ever so many more pretty things. Alma began to think it would be great fun after all, even if she did dislike to sew. " But what am I to sew with ? " she asked. Again the king went into the for- est and came back with all the implements for sewing. The thimble was exactly like the one her mamma had given her that morning, and Alma flushed guiltily as she took it. The scissors were made of tiny grass blades, the needle of a sharp seed, and the thread was silk from a spider's web. " Now," said the little fellow, " I guess we would better make the queen's dress first. It must be of purple pansy petals, trimmed with cobweb-lace and dewdrops." " Oh, how lovely that will be ! " ex- claimed Alma; and she begah to unwind some silk to thread her needle. It took some time to do this as the needle was very fine, but at last she succeeded, and began to sew, talking all the while to the fairy. Suddenly, looking down at the work, the little man exclaimed: "Oh, what long stitches you are ta> ing!" Alma blushed to the roots of her hair. She had always been in such a hurry to get through her sewing that she had not learned to take short stitches, and to be reproved by such a tiny person was very humiliating 1 . " Oh, I forgot the stitches were for fairies," she stammered. " Never mind," interrupted the king. " I'll get you some fairy glasses ; I think they will help." " Indeed they do," said Alma, when they were firmly fastened on her nose. After this the work progressed nicely. When the dresses were finished the fairy plucked a large leaf, laid the dainty garments on it, and pinned the. covering together with a thorn. After he had done this he turned to Alma with a courtly bow. " I'm sure all the fairies would like you to attend the ball, but I'm afraid you are too large," he said regretfully. " We will repay you some day, however," he con- tinned Then turning toward the forest he utteicd a low call. Immediately four beautiful butterflies fluttered down. Tak- ing some silk from a spider's web near by the fairy king, who seemed quite able to do all his own work, soon had his team harnessed to the load of dainty dresses. He bade Alma good-by, and climbing on his load was borne swiftly away. Alma watched until he was out of sight, then she started up and rubbed her eyes. As her hands fell in her lap she felt something hard, and putting her hand in her pocket drew out the gold thimble that her mamma had given her that morning. " It's just like the fairy king's," she mused. " I wonder if I really saw him or if I dreamed it all," and she was very thoughtful all the way home. When she reached the house she told her mother about her strange experi- ence, and added : " Mamma, I'm going to learn to sew neatly, and whenever I work I will pretend I have on those fairy glasses, so I will make short stitches; but I'm glad I don't have to make my stitches quite so short as when I was making the fairies' dresses." THE VftN NESS FAMILY By EDNA A. NEEDLES S ELEANOR BLYTHE, the new boarder at Brown's Mountain House, left the porch and the hammock where she had been enjoying the wide- spread view, and entered one of the many delightful trails that led into the redwoods. The path she chose was one she had seen little Helen Brown take earlier in the morning, and soon she came upon the child seated on a stump, gazing intently into a big box which rested upon another taller stump, and talking earnestly to herself. Coming nearer, Miss Blythe discovered that the box Helen sat before was really a doll-house. The dolls, however, were nothing but little rolls of white, dressed in cotton frocks. At the sound of approaching footsteps Helen started and looked around. But the gay friendliness of Miss Blythe's smile reassured her, and the real understanding and sympathy in her voice, as she asked, " Could I play with you for a while, Helen?" completely won the little girl's heart. " I'll be so glad to have you," she replied wistfully. " Tell me about your family," said Miss Blythe, sit f ins: down on a moss-covered stonr " Well, this is Mrs. Santos, and this is Mr. Santos," Helen held up the two larg- est of the homemade dolls. " And these," she displayed half a dozen smaller ones, " are their children. The Santoses are of a nice old Spanish family, but they are very poor, and are all taking care of this house until the real owners come back. When the real owners come, the Santoses will have to go away. But the real owners are splendid people and have lots of money, so they will pay the Santoses for keeping this so nice, and will build them a dear little house near this one." "Who are the 'real owners?'" asked Miss Blythe with deepening interest. " The Van Ness family. They are in Europe now. They have been traveling for years. There is Mr. Van Ness ; and Mrs. Van Ness, and Arthur and Evelyn (Arthur's twelve and Evelyn's ten) and Ruby and Pearl, and little Freddy and the baby. It's a lovely family. Oh, I do so wish they could come home ! " "And why can't they?" asked Misfl Blythe. " Why, you see," explained Helen sad- ly, "they are real dolls in a store some- where, probably in San Francisco, and we never can gro there, it's so far away. They oon't keep cnem in San Ramon where mother buys her things, so sometimes it looks as if they never could come home. But then," she continued, her face bright- ening, " I have a good deal of fun with the Santoses. They got a letter yester- day saying Mrs. Van Ness was better she's been very sick and they think now surely Mr. Van Ness will bring her home, so Mrs. Santos is having the whole house cleaned." The doll-house proved upon close in- spection to be made of two boxes, one set upon the other. Upstairs were two bed- rooms. Here small pasteboard boxes served for beds. In each bed was a beau- tifully made little mattress, pillows, sheets, tiny quilts and pretty white coverlets. " Mother helped me to make them," said Helen. The carpet upstairs was a piece of blue checked gingham, and the walls both up and downstairs were papered in a plain buff color. " I pasted the paper on and nailed the carpet down," Helen said with some little pride. " Father put the walls in," and she pointed to the pasteboard divisions be- tween the two bed-rooms, and between the living-room and kitchen, " and made the windows for me, but I put the curtains tip." The white cheesecloth curtains were very pretty. So, indeed, was every- thing about the little house. The living- room boasted a fireplace; a pictured fire- place, cut from a magazine and pasted to the wall. Helen had painted some red flames in the grate, and it seemed to her nothing could be cheerier. On the floor were the dearest little red-and-black and blue-and-white knitted rugs, the work of Grandmother Brown's hands, and for tables there , vvere boxes covered with dainty white cloths. A number of beauti- ful shiny horse chestnuts, drawn cosily up before the fire, represented antique walnut chairs. In the kitchen a big black spool wit!^ * pencil stuck into it, made a very goou stove and pipe, and on the kitchf i table were a number of acorn cups which served nicely for dishes. Miss Blythe and Helen became very dear friends, and every day they spent some time together at " Hidden Villa," for that was the name of the Van Ness' forest home. One day Helen brought out a little covered basket, and shyly displayed its contents. It was full of small doll clothes. " These are for the Van Nesses," she ex- plained simply. There were long trailing house dresses for Mrs. Van Ness, frocks and aprons for the girls, and cunning white garments for Freddy and baby Dorothy. " I didn't make anything for Arthur and his father," she confessed, " for I didn't know how." After that, Miss Blythe helped her make clothes. Several suits were made for Mr. Van Ness and Arthur, and then they be- gan making party clothes for Mrs. Van Ness and the children. The day before Miss Blythe went away, they fixed up a little home for thf Santos family near Hidden Villa. " I feel very sure," said Miss Blytht " that the Van Nesses will soon be here, and we want to have everything in readi- ness for their coming." The next morning she was whirled away in the stage, and Helen, a very dis- consolate little figure, stood looking down the winding road until the last cloud of dust had rolled away. Then, trying to comfort herself with the thought of the tetu.. that was to come, she walked un- steadily toward the house. She could not see very well, for in spite of herself the tears would come. For the next few days, her mother kept her busy huckleberrying. Ordinarily she enjoyed this very much, for the huckle- little in planning to bring Miss Blythe down here some time during the coming summer. The evening of the third day, the lum- berman who usually brought the afternoon mail up the mountain, handed Helen a letter and a package. "HIDDEN VILLA." THE HOME OF THE VAN NESS FAMILY berries were thickest down a deep and beautiful canyon where ferns and the sweet scented yerba buena grew among thickets of snow drops and wild roses, evn now she forgot her loneliness a "Dear little friend," (began the letter), "Mr. and Mrs. Van Ness and the children have re- turned from abroad. I found them staying tenv porarily in a store here in the city. The travell- ing suits they are wearing I made for them when I was with you, evenings after you had gone to bed. I knew the Van Ness family when I found them, because the clothes fitted them so well. Hoping to see you all next summer, " I am lovingly yours, "ELEANOR BLYTHE." The Van Ness family! Helen gave a little inarticulate cry of joy as she bent over the box in which they lay, and it was with trembling fingers that she lifted them out. Mr. and Mrs. Van Ness were slender dolls with china heads and cloth bodies. The rest of the family were bisque with jointed arms and legs and very plump bodies. Evelyn and Pearl had long flax- en curV, but Ruby's hair was black and hung in a braid. Mr. Van Ness and Ar- thur wore light grey suits, the rest of the family, however, were dressed in heavy white linen. Helen took them all in her apron and started down the trail toward Hidden Villa. " There will be time to show them over the house before dinner, won't there, mother?" she called back. " Yes, dear heart," her mother replied, ' and be sure you bring them up to spend the evening." And so, at last, after long wanderings, the Van Ness family entered the ances- tral home. (IONSEN5E RHYMES DOROTHY rtCKIN The &me we ute on tkbles? * These arnd.ll boya thought They'd have some sport ,.V/ifc tfood old Dr. Gee* BuTThey ffoT left- A* you c&n see- UW* ftelinda. be *T 11* is bcvue 1Viey tiiiak he* intended PHOEBE GREEN CO this is little Phoebe Green, The image of her Pa. Come, tell me how you are, my child Tut, tut' V* shy you are! " I am not shy," lisped Phoebe Green, " But it so plainly shows I knew at once you were the Wolf Dressed up in Gran'ma's clo'esl" * -y Aet Gemf 1*2 Vh o show Theit-- -r'Vli traveled in A Evelyn Mae; " We all lived abroad for a year " ; The others just sighed in an envious way, And ome of them murmured, " Oh, dear." Said Dorothy Jane, " I have never been there But I've been to Niagara Falls, And that is important; you look every- where And see only water, like walls." " It must have been lovely," said Rosalie Jo; " One time / was down in a mine, 'Way under the earth, and we all had to go In a car, on a sort of incline." Then Jack declared loudly the best time that he Ever had was, when he and Joe Small Went, out on me trolley last summer to see ^he " Giants " and " Yankees" play ball! GREAT EVENTS Europe," quoth " Oh, that isn't anything ! " cried Mary Ruth. " You just ought to go to the Zoo! They have animals bears, lions, camels in truth, Every kind, and some other kinds, too." Said little John Henry, " Now I know a thing Much better than all of the rest ; Yes, better than Europe and Niagara Falls; 'Tis Buffalo Bill's Wildest West!" " 7 rode on an engine with papa one day," Said Margaret Milly, with pride; " The wind was so strong J almost blew away, And had to hold on to the side; " And, Oh, but it jolted ! " Then Baby* kin Lou Interrupted, with eyes very bright, But a serious voice : " / did somefin', too I stayed up till 'leven one night." THE FRETFUL THERMOMETER me!" quoth Thermometer - In querulous tones, " How this shocking bad weather Gets into one's bones! " My constitution's not strong, So 'tis not at all strange That I notice the weather And feel every change. " Pshaw ! how some cranky folks Do fuss and complain ! I declare I'm quite sick the tiresome refrain ! " It's nothing but ' weatne From morning till night; Now * too cold,' then ' too hot ' It's never just right! " But bless me! 'tis useless To try to please all; While one begs me to rise Someone else cries : ' Please fall ! * " All the world seems to fret, And alas ! I'm distressed To find that I'm growing As bad as the rest ! " LEILA LYON TOPPING THE ANTS OF ANTIC By JOSHUA F. CROWELL TJJPflE HE dear little ant named Myra was having a party in the best sand parlor of her ant-hill home. Many charm- ing lady ants were present, all seated on pebble chairs around a nice stone table. Tippie, the little waitress ant, was bring- ing in the lunch of caterpillar pie and beetle stew, but just as she reached the table her poor little tired arms gave out, and she dropped the pie and the stew, too ; the pie broke in two, and the stew flew. Said Myra, " Oh ! Tippie, how could you?" Tippie shed a tear or two, and perhaps 172, and then replied: " I am tired. I have worked six days without resting, and my feet are all curly, they are so tired. I wish I was the slug- gard, that had to go to the ants, and not a poor ant that has to do all the work, besides having sluggards coming on at mv time." With these words she ran away. The ant ladies all arose and bowed politely, and left. Myra was alone. It was three o'clock. Myra took the chairs one by one and carried them through the hall and the pantry, down the stairs, through the cellar, up the stairs, through the back pantry, through the upper hall and all the bedrooms, up the attic stairs and down again, and finally through the front door, and tossed them on a big heap of sand called " The Ant Hill." It took time. When it was done, she brought them all back again, through the same rooms, up and down, and in and out, and round about. This took more time. Myra was pleased at what she had done, so she did it all over again. It was now six o'clock. The sun was setting. Tippie was already asleep and dreaming of sluggards. Myra was not sleepy a bit, so she be- gan to clean house. She took up all the floors and carried them outdoors, she took down all the walls and put them in the halls. Next she put everything back as it was at first. Then the sluggard came. He rapped at the door, and said, " I have been sent to the ant, to watch his antics. Are you willing I should watch you ? " Myra smiled sweetly. " I am willing. I will clean the hotase again." And she did. II Little Tippie Ant was tip early. She had rested so well, her feet were not at all curly. It was a busy morning for Tippie ; she must dust and clean the three best rooms, prepare the dinner, and carry three hundred and fifty-seven loads of sand up eleven pairs of stairs, all be- fore noon. But she could do it, and she did. Miss Myra Ant was busy, too. Com- pany was coming her three aunts on her mother's side. She must go for them. They lived in another ant-hill house, nine rods away. They could have walked easily in ten minutes, but Myra dear thought it much nicer to go for them in the coach. This was a peanut - shell. Mr. Grasshopper was the horse. He was very frisky and jumped this way and that way. Myra was very proud of her driving, and tried to keep her steed in the nice straight road. But when she arrived at her aunts' she looked behind, and the track looked like the mark in the picture. "I know," said Myra to herself, "I could do better if I had a horse without jumps ; this one means well, but he's green, oh, so green ! " Aunt Annie Ant was ready, waiting. Aunt Fanny Ant was nearly ready, Aunt Hannah Ant was not ready at all. Said Aunt Annie Ant, " Is that a safe horse? He looks bony." " He brought rne here safely," said Myra, " in two hours." " Oh ! " said Aunt Fanny Ant, " he must be gentle. Slow and sure is the kind I like." They were soon seated in the coach, and were off. 'Twas a nice ride. At every corner all the Aunt Ants braced their feet, held their breaths, shut their eyes, and waited for the jump, and the bump. There were ninety -one corners. At the ninety -first, Mr. Grasshopper horse gave tb-> biggest jump, the coach upset, and they were all spilled right into the front hall. What a fine time they had! They went into all the rooms, up and down the stairs, opened all the closets, went here and there and everywhere, and looked in here and peeped in there. All too soon, Tippie said : "Dinner!!!!!" Ill It was a fine day for the picnic the sugar picnic. This was a special Antic, planned by Miss Myra Ant in honor of her three Aunt Ants. How pleased they were, and excited, too! How many times they ran up and down stairs forty-one at least, getting ready. Aunt Hannah Ant was last; she was always that, she was older and big- ger and not quite so spry as the others. But they were all kind to her and waited, although it was pretty hard for ants to wait. At last they started, each carrying a large pail made of a beggar- tick seed. " If we drop the pails," said Myra, " they will stick to us." They traveled along beams, knot-hole tunnels, around a chimney, under some carpets, over some dishes, up the slender legs of a table, to the very top. There was the sugar! They all plunged into it and ate of it; they smiled at it, and rolled on it. They danced and pranced, they frisked and they whisked, they skipped and they tipped. " How do you like it ? " said Myra. " It's tip-top," said the Auntie Ants. Said Tippie, "I think it's Tippie-top, too." Scoop ! ! ! Something happened ! They were all suddenly lifted with a heap of the sugar and dashed into a great yellow cavern. ' I know what's the matter," cried Tip- pie. " Follow me, quick, quick! " Tippie ran, they all ran, quick as a wink. When they were safe at home, seated in the most comfortable chairs, fanning themselves, Myra said, "Now, Tippie, explain.'- " I will," jaid Tippie. " We were all scooped, by something called a lady. The yellow cavern was a dish. If we had not run, we should now be baked in a cake. My grandmother, great, great, great, great came very near to being baked." " I have heard," said Myra, " that those terrible beings called people have picnics, too. Our beautiful picnic was spoiled by one of them. I wonder how they would like to be scooped through the air and landed, they know not where ! " Said Tippie: "They have just such troubles, With auto-mo-bubbles ! " IV Tippie went to drive home the cows. There were seventy-seven, each of a beau- tiful green color, and each named Aphis. The pasture was in a rose-bush, but Tip- pie could not get them all, for some had wings and flew away. Instead of milk, they gave honey. Ant cows are made that way. It is the best way for the ants. Tippie brought in the nice, fresh, foam- ing, warm honey-milk and the Aunt Ants each had a glass before going to bed. Aunt Hannah Ant had two. Myra could not eat, she was too busy. She was trying to learn to be a butterfly. She had the Cyclopedia Bright-Antic-a. This told all about butter. Also all about flies. Myra made notes, as follows: " Butter, something made from milk. Fly, tn insect" "Now," said Myra, "I am an insect myself, and have plenty of Aphis milk; the question is, how much of each to mix." It was a hard problem. Myra added long columns of figures, then sub- tracted them, and multiplied them, and divided them by every number she could think of, but the answer would not come. She worked all night. Morning came, as usual; the sun arose; the cows were milked; the Aunt Ants were up; Tippie had breakfast; still Myra AUNT HANNAH ANT worked ; she was trying decimal fractions now. Breakfast was served, the Aunt Ants ate, Tippie ate, too. Dinner passed, tea- time came, and Myra was still at her problem. Myra called her Aunt Ants to her, and addressed them thus : "If I could flutter, then I might fly. If I were butter, then I might try to be a butter-fly. Or, in other words, if butter could butter, I might try to fly." Then something happened to Myra. She did not fly, she swooued. aad no won- der! She had worked too many hours without rest or food. They put her to bed. Aunt Annie Ant warmed her feet, and Aunt Hannah Ant stood around and said, " Do this, do that." Myra was well again next day, and her Aunts gave her some advice. Said Aunt Annie Ant, " It is better to have a sensible ambition than a foolish one. If you should study until you were black in the face (you are almost that now), you could iv 1 ver fly." Said Aunt Fanny Aunt, "You must never get so interested in study that you forget to eat and sleep. Creatures called boys and girls never do." Said Aunt Hannah Ant, " Take my ad- vice, and just be nice," Then Tippie came in, and said, " There's an agent here with a new book." " What is it ? " asked Myra. " The Perfect Ant/ " said Tippie. " I will buy a copy and study it ! " ex- claimed Myra. She did. It was a beautiful harvest moon. Myra thought so; the Aunt Ants thought so, and Tippie also thought so, too. The sky was robin's-egg blue. The grass was em- erald hue, and fresh with sparkling dew. Everything looked new, while every flower tiiat grew, and every bird that flew, and every wind that blew, sang of the good and true. The Aunt Ants said they must go to their own home to-day because winter would come soon. " I wish you would stay with me all winter," said Myra. All three said they would, so that was settlr' " Now we must get our harvest home,** said Myra, " and you must all help." They worked hard, bringing grains and fruits from the fields, and filling pantries, closets, and cellars. Upstairs and down they went, out and in the door, rushing here and rushing there, carrying heavy loads, hurry-hurry, scurry- scurry, up and down, in and out, over and under, and around about. By set of sun their work was done. " Now, when winter comes," said Myra, " we will have plenty ; if we empty all the store-rooms, we can eat the furniture in the dining-room." True ! For the dining- table was a dried mushroom, the chairs were wheat kernels, the sideboard a cracked nut, and the dishes which they called cut-glass were really grains of sugar. "But," said Aunt Hannah, as she toasted her feet by the blazing fire, " why did Tippie fill the seventh drawer of the ninth bureau in the third closet from the corner of the hall, with prickly nettles?" " We may need them," said Myra. It happened next day, at forty-three minutes and nineteen seconds past thirteen o'clock, thus wise: The ant-eater came. He put his tongue right through the front door and licked all the pictures off of the wall of the hall. He was gigantic. The Ants of Antic were frantic. That awful tongue came again. This time it took all the furniture in the hall, and the little twisty, twirly end went into the sitting room and caught Aunt Han- nah by the hair. But that was really lucky, for Aunt Hannah's hair was a wig. It came off. " Dear Aunt Hannah, your wig is gone, but I am so glad you are left," said Myra. P I must do something." Suddenly she did. She went to the third closet from the corner of the hall, opened the door, went in, counted the ninth bureau from the left, opened the seventh drawer from the bot- tom, took out the prickly nettles, and threw them all over the hall. Just in time, too. The ant-eater's tongue came for the third time. It took all the nettles. It never came any more. But winter came ! The Aunt Ants lived with Myra till spring. When they went home, they tipped Myra well. They tipped Tippie, too. Through ! ! I MCD-TUBTLK'I SATE AND LECT IWIMMWG root LELIA AND LULIA LOBSTER By JOSHUA F. CROWELL ELIA and Lulia went to school the sea-weed room of the salt sea pool. Mr. Bobster Lobster was the teacher. He stood on a big flat stone and taught them the song of the sad sea moan. After that, the lessons came. Lelia and Lulia were in the first grade in color. The first day, they learned one color. Each one of the class had to think of something green and make a complete statement. Said Cilli-Billi, " The sea is green." of it. He clacked the jaw at the end of his claw and Lulia was the most fright- ened little lobster you ever saw. She cried real wet, salt tears all the way from school, but when she reached home, her mother reprovingly said, " It is foolish, my dear, to cry, for the ocean is full of the very wettest, saltest tears, and yours are useless. If you must cry, go up on the dry land and water the parched vege- tation." Then the mother served each of her Said Lelia, " I'm green." Then Lulia's turn came, but she could not think of anything green, so she waved her eyes in their handles from side to side; but she was so confused to have them all staring at her, she could not see anything except the teacher. So she said timidly, "Mr. Bobster Lobster is gr-r-e-en." He was, but he didn't like to be told little daughters with a pearly shell plate full of delicious duke, and Lulia was soon as happy as Lelia. The next day at school, they learned another color. " Red," said Mr. Bobster, " is the dread color. You may not under- stand it now, but it always comes to you after you are boiled. My advice is, to shun red." Lelia and Lulia attended school every day and they soon learned everything that lobsters should. They practised sea-weed and rock hiding, claw and tail swimming; they grew skilled in water flitting and mud sitting; they learned the art of crawling without sprawling, and trawling without falling. One day, when they were quite big and strong, they took a long, long crawl from their home, out out into the deep, deep sea. They passed thro' many sea-weed fields and under the shadow of some mighty rocks. They admired the lovely gardens of delicately colored sea- anemones, and, at every step, they took in good long breaths of the nice fresh (I mean salt) water. They had a beautiful walk and were just on the point of turning back toward home, when they espied a new and strange obiect made of laths and netting. " It looks," said Lelia, " like a new kind of home." It was the lobster pot, although they knew it not. Then they both smelled the delicious odor of a well-prepared lunch. " Let us go in," said Lulia, " the door is invitingly open." They went in and ate the lunch. Then, they could not find the way out. They searched everywhere for an opening, but bars of wood seemed to be on every side. " How we got in," said Lelia, * seems like magic." " Not to get out," cried Lulia, " is de- cidedly tragic." Day went, night came; then at last night changed to dawn, and still the two little lobsters tugged at the bars, and found no way out. When the sun was up they heard the noise of oars over their heads, and the shadow of a ^reat boat surrounded them. " Perhaps," Lelia said, "It's the fisherman dread, Who'll boil us red." " We're slowly rising up, I fear," Said Lulia, " Good-bye, sister dear, I think the end is very near." But the fisherman, when he had raised the lobster pot to the boat and opened it, looked disgusted. " Two, and both too short." So saying, he took Lelia and Lulia and dropped them back into the sea. How glad they were to be free again! On their way home, they met Gilli- Billi and told him their story. " Well ! well ! " said Gilli-Billi, " I see now that it is better for a lobster to be short, for, if you are not short, you are sure to be-long to the fisherman. You are lucky girls, I think, for if the fisher- man was short of lobsters, he would not be long in taking you, short or long." That's the long and the short of itf WHEN I WAS A SQUANTUM WAGON TOLD BY UNCLE MORRIS CHAIR TO CHARLOTTE FLACK DO you know what a squantum wagon is? Maybe you do, if you have ever been to Nan- tucket. / didn't know until I heard the mother telling the children about going on a " squantum " in a " squantum wagon," when she was visiting at Nan- tucket Island. They liked so much to hear about it, that the mother told it over and over many times, until I knew the story by heart. When she told it she always sat on my lap, you know, with dear little Betty on hers, and Jack sat on one of my arms, while Marjorie sat on the other. Well, the afternoon she told it for the forty-'leventh time, I thought what a fine squantum wagon 7 would make, and what fun the youngsters would have playing squantum. Instantly my thought flew into Marjorie's mind as I meant it should, and the next minute, off my arm she jumped exclaiming : " Oh Momsky dear ! Please sit over there in th r t rocking chair now, so we can have this (meaning me, you know) for a squantum wagon. Say, Jack and Betty 1 Don't you think it will be fun to go on a squantum?" Of course they did think so, and away they hurried for their little lunch baskets, Marjorie first asking the mother if they might have truly things to eat. The mother said yes, as I knew she would, for she enjoys their good times as much as I do. Then Jack began to do a little planning, for I heard him saying : " Now, Mar- jorie, while you and Betty are in the pan- try getting those baskets ready, I'll go and hitch up Prince to the wagon." Soon, in he came with his beloved rock- ing-horse, which he hurriedly placed in front of me; then over to the mother he ran and began to whisper eagerly to her, his blue eyes big with excitement. When she nodded, he gave her a little bear hug, exclaiming: "You are just the bestest mother ! " and out he ran into the hall. I was just trying to guess what all that whispering was about, when ting-a-ling sounded the telephone bell, and I heard Jack calling: " Hello : Is that you Clarence? Come down and have some fun! Will tell you about it latei, Come in front door, still as a mouse, and hurry 1" Who is Clarence? Why, he is their cousin who lives just around the comer, and their little private telephone has al- most as many good times as I have, I guess. Well, when the baskets were ready and Marjorie and Betty had put their hats on and had arranged their wraps over their arms (" It's cool down on the beach, you know," Marjorie was saying in a motherly way to wee Betty) they came back ready for their drive. And there, looking solemn and sedate, sitting up very straight on the driver's seat, was Clarence holding the reins and trying hard not to giggle, while Jack stood by the wagon politely waiting to help the little ladies in. But the little ladies just stood still in the doorway and stared in surprise, with wide open mouths and wide open eyes. The next minute Clarence's giggle got the best of him and suddenly exploded into a great big ha! ha! ha! and Jack called out: "All aboard for South Shore ! " That broke the spell, and across the room ran Marjorie and Betty, and with Jack's assistance they climbed in, each taking an arm for a seat, so they sat fac- ing each other, as you always do in a truly squantum wagon, you know. Then Jack took his seat beside Betty, and with a jerk of the reins and a duet of "klks," away pranced Prince Pony. As they rode along, Jack explained to Marjorie how Clarence came to be there, and then Marjorie informed Clarence that they were on the way to the south shore of Nantucket, where they were going to have a squantum at the Life Saving Sta- tion. "A squantum! What under the sun is that?" asked Clarence. "Why. it's a picnic," answered Jack, " and I guess squantum is the Indianish name for it." Then Marjorie and Jack, with now and then a word from quiet little Betty, told Clarence fragments of the story, but before it was ended they decided their ride was ended too. Then Jack, pointing ahead, shouted : " Look 1 there's the beach, and just hear that old ocean roar ! " And then, what do you think they heard? A boom-m-m! boom-m-m that really sounded just like the surf on the sea shore. And while the four sat silently, looking at each other Boom-m-m-ml boom-m-m-m ! ! boom-m-m-m ! ! ! they heard again louder and deeper than be- fore. Then they heard something which explained all big sister's hearty laugh in the next room, for it was she who was playing the deep, deep, low bass keys of the piano to make the sound of the break- ers for them. Out they all scrambled then, and after tying Prince Pony to the table leg with the reins, away they scampered across the beach (the hall) to the Life Saving Sta- tion, which was the play-room. " Now, it's time to eat ! " exclaimed Jack, " and what shall we have for a door-table?" Marjorie suggested the ironing board, and I knew by the sound that they were tugging it into the play-room, and guessed it would be placed across two chairs and the contents of the baskets spread upon it. Next, I heard Jack telling Clarence how the obliging crew of the station had taken off one of the big doors to use as a table that day, when mother and all those people from town had their squantum party there, and how two of the men launched a dory in the big waves and went out, way beyond the breakers and caught some great big bluefish. AWAY PRANCED PRINCE PONY. " You know," exclaimed Marjorie, " it Then she went on telling how the cook was the captain's wife who invited all made blnefish chowder that was served in those people, and that's how they hap- bowls of all sizes and dishes of all kinds, pened to go to the station, and why the and how the mother ate hers out of a Tew were so nice and obliging." bright tin cup, and that never before or since had she eaten chowder so delicious. " Oh dear me ! " sighed Betty longingly, "I wish we could have some boo flish showder ! " The others wished so, too, so Marjorie said : " I'll get spoons and cups of milk, and let's break up these crackers for make- believe chowder." Pretty soon I heard a boy's voice ex- claiming: "Um-m-m! this chowder is just jim dandy!" Then another declaring: "You're right, it is ! It's just O. K." Then a girlish voice pronounced it: "simply elegant." Last of all a dear little, sweet little voice chimed : " I fink it is dust selicious ! " After the chowder was all gone, they pretended their little cakes and sugar jum- bles were Nantucket " sponge rounds " and " fried wonders." "Now, let's go out on the beach, and pick up pudding," proposed Jack, after every crumb had been eaten. " Pick up pudding ! " said Clarence with a laugh, " what do you mean ? " I didn't wonder he laughed, for it did sound quite funny. Marjorie told him Jack meant the white sea-moss which made lovely blanc-mange. Then began a great rattling around the play-room floor, and I thought it was noisy moss they were finding. It sounded to me like marbles and blocks and horse- chestnuts, and sure enough! that's just the kind of moss I saw in their baskets, when they came scurrying back to the wagon soon after. In they climbed, and Jack began his chirruping to Prince, when Clarence dis- covered something that made him laugh so very hard he almost tumbled out. He couldn't speak to explain, but just pointed "I FINK IT'S DUST SELICIOUS." to the table leg. Oh, how tney all laughed until I shook too; for how could Prince Pony prance when he was tied fast, and how could any one drive without the reins he was tied with! Then with a big shout, they all tumbled out, all running away to play something else and I was only old Uncle Morris Chair again. THE CALL OF THE " r^OME Boys Come! Says the Big Drum. There's a show in town, There's a funny clown Riding a bicycle up and down On the sunny street ; There are thousands of feet Striking the earth to the merry tune, And the day is fair and the air like June! Then it's " Come Come Come ! " Says the Big Bass Drum. " Come BoysCome ! " Says the Big Bass Drum. There's a grand parade, There is music played By men in uniforms gay arrayed ; There are ponies whose tricks will as- tonish you, There are lions and tigers and elephants, too; There are camels and bears and funny baboons, A caliope screaming out wonderful tunes With a " whee-ee who-o whoo-oo 1 " While the Drum Calls You With a " Bum Bum Bum! " And a " Come Boys Come!" " Come Boys Come ! * Says the Big Bass Drum. With a dash and a wheel, And a spring in the heel, And a laugh for the rollicking joys they feel; In a rabble and rout, With a clatter and shout, The children are dancing and wheeling about. Oh, hurry ! Be quick ! The clown is near, The funniest joker you've seen in a year 1 See them Come Come Come .To the Big Bass Drum! J. WILEY OWEN. THE GINGERBREAD BIRD I can not sing, I can not walk, of course I can not fly. You don't suppose that I can see with just a raisin eye? But really I am better far, than any bird with wings; for I am made with sugar spice, and many more good things. The oven turned me nice and brown, and did the work in haste, so take a bite from off my head and see how crisp I'll taste. MAGGIE WHEELER ROSS S> l^T? know 1| A nc,no- Scho*f THE WONDERFUL FLOWER By ROSA DODILLTE Translated by Flora Spiegelbergfrom the German [ANY, many years ago there lived in a far-off land a young and handsome king. He ruled his kingdom and subjects with justice and mercy, and was greatly be- loved by all his people. He took a per- sonal interest in their welfare. Wishing to make sure that his subjects were being justly treated by his officials, he had the curious habit of going unaccompanied among them, wearing a different disguise each time. On one of the occasions he happened to select a street which led to the out- skirts of the city, where the poor people lived. Quite at the end of this street stood a small tumble-down hut, but it was sur- rounded by a pretty little garden. A strange looking flower of rare beauty and coloring was growing in a carefully culti- vated bed in the middle of this garden. Curious to know the owner of this flower, he promptly knocked at the gar- den gate, and for a pretext begged the old woman who answered his call to give him a glass of water. A beautiful young girl sat at the window busily working at a piece of tapestry. The king stared at her in amazement; never before had he seen such lovely golden hair nor such a sweet, pretty face- The king excused his intrusion by say- ing it was all due to his great admiration of the rare and beautiful flower grow- ing in the garden. He inquired of the young girl if she were the owner of the flower and if she were willing to sell it for a very large sum. " There is a strange history attached to this flower," she said timidly. " I woulif not part with it for any price." The amiable and charming manners of the young king soon gained for him the confidence of the two women, and from the pretty maiden he learned the follow- ing pitiful tale: " This is not my country," said the young girl. " I came from a distant land where my father, the king, ruled over a great kingdom, and I am his only daugh- ter. During the long and unjust wars waged against him, his land was ruined. My father and his good wife, my mother, were taken prisoners and killed by their enemies. It was really a miracle that I was able to escape unobserved with my faithful nurse. As last, after long and weary wanderings and many privations, we found a home and protection with the good people who owned this humble little hut. I am very sorry to say that they died some time ago. Nobody here knows that I am the daughter of a king. " While fleeing for our lives from my father's enemies, through a dark and dense forest, I was nearly exhausted with fatigue and hunger, and begged my de- voted nurse to let me rest for a little while. I had hardly fallen asleep when I was awakened by a peculiar noise which sounded like the moaning of a sick per- son. Terribly startled I jumped up quick- ly and called loudly for my nurse Marion, but received no answer. Then finding myself alone in the dense woods I became very frightened, so I folded my hands just A BEAUTIFUL YOUNG GIRL IAT WORKING AT A PIECE OF TATISTKY as my beloved mother had taught me when I was a little girl, and prayed to God for protection. "Again in a little while I heard the same moaning and groaning, but this time I took courage and went directly to the spot where I heard the cries. There to my great surprise I found a very old woman lying on the ground and wailing bitterly. She had fallen with her heavy load of firewood and could not rise again to her feet. I quickly took her burden from her back and refreshed her with a cool drink of water. Then I helped her to her feet again and she begged me to accompany her the short distance to her little hut in the woods. I put her heavy load of fire- wood on my back and led the good old woman back to her humble little home. " As I was about to leave this good old woman, she thanked me heartily for the valuable services I had rendered her, and then handed me a few flower seeds from a peculiar box, with the following instruc- tions: 'Take good care of these appar- ently simple little brown seeds and plant them in a garden when you are eighteen years old. A very rare and beautiful flower will grow from them and through this flower you will find good luck and happiness.' I thanked her and hastened back to our resting place in the woods, where I found my good nurse almost be- side herself with excitement and despair over my sudden disappearance. " Many years have passed since then ; only a few days ago, on my eighteenth birthday, I happened to remember the in- structions of the little old woman I had met in the woods. Immediately I planted the seeds, and behold, from them grew this magnificent flower." The young king looked for a few min- utes admiringly at the pretty maiden, and then said to her: "Lovely princess, this story of your great suffering and misfortune has af- fected me strangely. I pray you leave this simple little hut, with its ill-suited sur- roundings, and follow me to my house. Be assured I mean it well with you. I am richer and of more noble birth than you may imagine. I will gladly fulfill every wish of yours." "Thank you for your kindness," she modestly replied, " but I will never leave my faithful nurse Marion. She has al- ways been like a second mother to me, and next to God I owe my life to her." " Far be it from me to wish to separate you from her," said the king. "I also despise ungratefulness." After some hesitation the princess granted his request to call for her and Marion within a fortnight. Then the king bade her farewell, and returned home de- lighted and happy that he had obtained the maiden's promise to accept his invita- tion. Only after their arrival at the palace did they become aware of the high and noble position occupied by their protector and benefactor. At last the prophecy of the grateful little old woman of the woods had been fulfilled. The rare and beauti- ful flower called "Gratefulness" had bloomed at the right time and had brought the king's daughter good luck and hap- piness. Soon afterwards the young king chose the beautiful maiden to be his wife. He celebrated their marriage with great pomp and splendor, and all his subjects joy- fullv claimed her as their queen. MILKING TIME. THE TOWN OF HAVEYOUROWNWAY By JENNIE M. DAY ]ID you ever hear of the town of Haveyourownway ? No? Then you must let me tell you about it, for I do not believe there is a little girl or boy in the whole country who would not like to live there. I was never there myself, but I know a little girl who was, and she is the one who told me. We will call her Joyful. Well, one Saturday morning Joyful's mamma said to her : " My dear, you have been a very good girl this week, both at home and at 'school, and as a reward you may have a real holiday to-day. You may go where you want to and do what you please." Wasn't that fine? Joyful certainly thought it was, and she was so pleased that she jumped up and down and -laughed with all her might. Then she ran for her sunbonnet, kissed her mother good-by, and went out under the big oak to think. It did not take her long to decide what to do, for there was the south meadow way over beyond the apple orchard, where she had never been allowed to go. She picked a white dandelion and blew three times and when some of the fuzzy seeds stayed she laughed aloud, because she knew very well that her mamma did not want her. It was a longer walk than she had supposed, and when she had climbed the last fence and waded for a time in the deep grass, she found she was very tired. Presently, Joyful discovered a musical little brook with trees sheltering it on either side and flowers nestling along its banks. She threw herself under one of the trees with a deep sigh of content She loved to watch the flowers nodding in the gentle breeze. After she had looked at them very quietly for a time a strange spell came over her and she could see things that she had never seen before. She found herself quite surrounded by daisies, great white ones, and they were actually nodding their heads at her and saying, " Good-morning ! " At first she was too much surprised to answer, but in a minute she remembered her manners and answered very politely: " Good-morning, daisies." Then they all laughed in such a merry way that she was surprised still more; so she turned to a large, beautiful one that was quite near her and said : " Won't you please tell me what the daisies are laugh- ing about ? " "Yes, of course, I will tell you," said the large daisy very sweetly. " We were laughing because you called us by the wrong name. Our real name is day's eye." "Oh, is it?" said Joyful innocently. " I never heard you called that." " I will explain it to you," said the lit- tle president (for she -was the president of the daisies, just as Joyful had been thinking). "Our real name is day's-eye, because we are the children of the sun. Of course, you know it is the sun that shines in your eyes and wakes you in the morning." " Oh, yes, indeed," said Joyful eagerly. " And perhaps you know how hard it is to get your eyes open on cloudy morn- ings?" "Yes, I know that, too," saii Joyful, smiling. "But here is something you do not cloudy mornings, if you only ask them, know," said the president with an air When your mother calls you and you are of great secrecy. " The day's-eyes will so sleepy you would give anything if she make you wide awake in a twinkling on would only keep still, you must think > WXRS ACTUALLY NODDING THMB HKAJM AT HEX AND SAYING, " GOOD- MORNING I* you tion't need to say it aloud unless you want to: " Day's-cye bright, bring the light : Bring the light, day's-eye bright." Joyful repeated this again and again. " That is right," said the president en- couragingly. " Now, there is just one other thing you must remember. If your eyes do not fly wide open after you have said it once, you must say it over and over until they do fly open; and you may be sure oh, very sure that they will be very wide open as soon as you make the day's-eye hear." Joyful thought this was very wonder- ful indeed, and said : " Thank you, thank you, thank you," over and over again. Then she remembered how very hard it was sometimes to get out of bed, even when she was wide awake. She won- dered if the daisy president could make any suggestions on this point, and turned to ask her, when what do you think? The daisies had all disappeared and in their places were ever so many johnny- jump-ups. Joyful was not so very much surprised this time, for she began to realize that she was in a strange country; so she turned to one of the johnnies and said : " What shall I do when I want to get out of bed, and yet don't want to get out?" The johnny gave his hood a queer lit- tle twist and said : "Why, that is easy enough. My brothers and I can help you out any time. All you have to do is to say, * Johnny,' and straighten your body out like our stems ; then say ' Jump ' and sit up in bed ; then say 'Up,' and throw your feet out on the floor, and then it's the easiest thing in the world to stand up straight; and there you are, out of tied Eefore jod know it!" "Well, I declare," said Joyfu., "isn't that easy! I'm sure I'm very much obliged to you, johnny-jump-up." Then he and all the other johnnies jumped right out of sight. Then Joyful began to think. "Oh, how I hate to dress in the morning! I just wish some darling flower would do it for me." Then she heard a chorus of sweet voices, and looking around, what do you think she saw ? Why, a whole bed of the whitest, whitest lilies that ever were. " Oh, you dear lilies, how do you do?" cried Joyful. " Did you come to help me dress to-morrow morning?" for she be- gan to see that this was a country where her wishes came true. "Yes, we did," said all the lilies at once. " You must do three things, one for each of our white petals. First, you must take hold of your clothes; second, you must put them on; and, third, you must button them up. All the time you must keep singing: 'Lilies dear, Hasten here; Lilies white, Dress me right; Lilies sweet, Make me neat/ and there you are, all dressed ! " Joyful was so busy singing the verses that she almost forgot to say "Thank you," and when she did say it, the chorus answered her from way off somewhere: " Oh, you're welcome," and there was not a lily to be seen. "Well, I declare," said Joyful wist- fully, "now I wonder who is going to help me wash and comb my hair/' " Why, we are, to be sure.'* She looked around, but there was not flower in sight " Look down at your feet." And there was the brook, wrinkling it- self over the stones as hard as it could to attract attention. " Will you help me wash, dear brook?" asked the child. " Yes, indeed. It is very easy. When you have poured* the water in the bowl, all you have to do is to dip your fingers^ in and think how clean and clear I am, and the next thing there yoti are, all washed!" "My, but that's nice," said Joyful. " And can you comb my hair, too ? " "No, we'll do that," said some very fine voices, and then Joyful saw the ferns growing along the edge of the brook. It was very funny they .looked so slender. "Excuse me," she said, restraining a laugh,. " but how can you? " "Why, it's the easiest of all," said they. " All you have to do is to think of us when you take hold of your comb, and the next thing you know, the snarls are all out of your hair and it is braided and tied with a ribbon." " My, but I'm glad of that very, very glad," said the little girl. " I'll think of you every morning of my life," and she nodded her head gaily at the ferns, who danced merrily up and down. Then the brook swallowed them and in their places a whole family of blue flags wavedf and nodded. "And what are yoit going to do for me? " said Joyful, smiling. "We'll help you all day long," said the flags. "All day?" " Yes. This is the town of Haveyour- ownway, and whenever there is anything hard to do, all you have to- do is to want 4o do it, and well help you' out You just make-believe wave one of us in. the air, and you'll be surprised to find out how easy it is after that. No one can see us but you, and a make-believe one can never wear out." "And will -you help me JHIBRARY0/ |v~Lqx i g ttlM = .< Of 'CALIF! UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. 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