{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_1599/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_1599","id":"gutenberg_1599","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1599","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Children's stories","Fairy tales"],"text":"Produced by Dianne Bean\n\n\n\n\n\nCINDERELLA OR, THE LITTLE GLASS SLIPPER AND OTHER STORIES\n\nBy Anonymous Authors\n\n\n\n     Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper\n     Fanny\u2019s Telephone Order\n     The Raindrops\u2019 New Dresses\n     Sir Gobble\n     What is It?\n     John\u2019s Bright Idea\n     A Sad Thanksgiving Party\n     Guy and the Bee\n     Mean Boy\n     Naughty Pumpkin\u2019s Fate\n     Something About Fires\n     The lee-King\u2019s Reign.\n     Malmo, the Wounded Rat\n     Mama\u2019s Happy Christmas\n     Cured of Carelessness\n     A Visit from a Prince\n     Stringing Cranberries\n     Christmas in California\n     A Troublesome Call\n     Bertie\u2019s Corn-Popper\n     Fire! Fire! Fire!\n     The Dolls and the Other Dolls\n     Why Did Mamma Change Her Mind?\n     Clara\u2019s Funeral.\n     The Chickadee-Dee.\n     The Children\u2019s Party\n     Brave Tomasso\n     Tommy Frost Sees a Bear\n     Myself\n     Two Strange Sights\n     A Cat\u2019s Instincts\n     Diliah\u2019s New Year\u2019s Presents\n     Night Flowers\n     The First Snow Storm\n     Fred\u2019s Stolen Ride\n     A Valentine Party\n     The Venturesome Rat\n     The Bear\u2019s Feast\n     Babie\u2019s Curls.\n     The Red Apples\n     Bubbles\n     A Horse Who Wore Snow Shoes\n     The Angry Bobolink\n     How Hiram Spent His Shrimp Money\n     The Ant\u2019s House\n     The Foolish Pug\n     The Silhouette Party\n     The Snow Birds\n     A Kind Heart\n     Towser Talks\n     Just as She Pleased\n\n\n\n\nCINDERELLA; OR THE LITTLE GLASS SLIPPER.\n\nOnce there was a gentleman who married for his second wife the proudest\nand most haughty woman that was ever seen. She had by a former husband\ntwo daughters of her own humor, who were, indeed, exactly like her in\nall things. He had likewise, by another wife, a young daughter, but of\nunparalleled goodness and sweetness of temper, which she took from her\nmother, who was the best creature in the world.\n\nNo sooner were the ceremonies of the wedding over but the mother-in-law\nbegan to show herself in her true colors. She could not bear the good\nqualities of this pretty girl, and the less because they made her own\ndaughters appear the more odious. She employed her in meanest work of\nthe house: she scoured the dishes, tables, etc., and scrubbed madam\u2019s\nchamber and those of misses, her daughters; she lay up in a sorry\ngarret, upon a wretched straw bed, while her sisters lay in fine rooms,\nwith floors all inlaid, upon beds of the very newest fashion, and where\nthey had looking-glasses so large that they might see themselves at\ntheir full length from head to foot.\n\nThe poor girl bore all patiently and dared not tell her father, who\nwould have rattled her off; for his wife governed him entirely. When she\nhad done her work she used to go into the chimney-corner and sit down\namong cinders and ashes, which made her commonly be called a cinder\nmaid; but the youngest, who was not so rude and uncivil as the eldest,\ncalled her Cinderella. However, Cinderella, notwithstanding her mean\napparel, was a hundred times handsomer than her sisters, though they\nwere always dressed very richly.\n\nIt happened that the King\u2019s son gave a ball and invited all persons, of\nfashion to it. Our young misses were also invited, for they cut a very\ngrand figure among the quality. They were mightily delighted at this\ninvitation, and wonderfully busy in choosing out such gowns, petticoats,\nand head-clothes as might become them. This was a new trouble to\nCinderella, for it was she who ironed her sisters\u2019 linen and plaited\ntheir ruffles. They talked all day long of nothing but how they should\nbe dressed.\n\n\u201cFor my part,\u201d said the eldest, \u201cI will wear my red velvet suit with\nFrench trimming.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd I,\u201d said the youngest, \u201cshall have my usual petticoat; but then,\nto make amends for that, I will put on my gold-flowered manteau and my\ndiamond stomacher, which is far from being the most ordinary one in the\nworld.\u201d\n\nThey sent for the best tire-woman they could get to make up their\nhead-dresses and adjust their double pinners, and they had their red\nbrushes and patches from Mademoiselle de la Poche.\n\nCinderella was likewise called up to them to be consulted in all these\nmatters, for she had excellent notions and advised them always for the\nbest, nay, and offered her services to dress their heads, which they\nwere very willing she should do. As she was doing this they said to her:\n\n\u201cCinderella, would you not be glad to go to the ball?\u201d\n\n\u201cAlas!\u201d said she, \u201cyou only jeer me. It is not for such as I am to go\nthither.\u201d\n\n\u201cThou art in the right of it,\u201d replied they. \u201cIt would make the people\nlaugh to see a cinder wench at a ball.\u201d\n\nAny one but Cinderella would have dressed their heads awry, but she was\nvery good and dressed them perfectly well. They were almost two days\nwithout eating, so much they were transported with joy. They broke above\na dozen of laces in trying to be laced up close, that they might have a\nfine, slender shape, and they were continually at their looking-glass.\nAt last the happy day came. They went to Court, and Cinderella followed\nthem with her eyes as long as she could, and when she had lost sight of\nthem she fell a-crying.\n\nHer Godmother, who saw her all in tears, asked her what was the matter.\n\n\u201cI wish I could--I wish I could--\u201d\n\nShe was not able to speak the rest being interrupted by her tears and\nsobbing.\n\nThis Godmother of hers, who was a fairy, said to her: \u201cThou wishest thou\ncould\u2019st go to the ball. Is it not so?\u201d\n\n\u201cY--es,\u201d cried Cinderella, with a great sigh.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said her Godmother, \u201cbe but a good girl, and I will contrive\nthat thou shalt go.\u201d Then she took her into her chamber and said to her:\n\u201cRun into the garden and bring me a pumpkin.\u201d\n\nCinderella went immediately to gather the finest she could get and\nbrought it to her Godmother, not being able to imagine how this pumpkin\ncould make her go to the ball. Her Godmother scooped out all the inside\nof it, having left nothing but the rind; which done, she struck it with\nher wand, and the pumpkin was instantly turned into a fine coach, gilded\nall over with gold.\n\nShe then went to look into her mousetrap, where she found six mice all\nalive, and ordered Cinderella to lift up a little the trapdoor, when,\ngiving each mouse as it went out a little tap with her wand, the mouse\nwas that moment turned into a fine horse, which altogether made a very\nfine set of six horses of a beautiful mouse-colored dapple-gray. Being\nat a loss for a coachman, Cinderella said:\n\n\u201cI will go and see if there is never a rat in the rattrap--we may make a\ncoachman of him.\u201d\n\n\u201cThou art in the right,\u201d replied her Godmother. \u201cGo and look.\u201d\n\nCinderella brought the trap to her, and in it there were three huge\nrats. The fairy made choice of one of the three which had the largest\nbeard, and having touched him with her wand he was turned into a fat,\njolly coachman, who had the smartest whiskers eyes ever beheld. After\nthat she said to her:\n\n\u201cGo again into the garden, and you will find six lizards behind the\nwatering-pot. Bring them to me.\u201d\n\nShe had no sooner done so but her Godmother turned them into six\nfootmen, who skipped up immediately behind the coach, with their liveries\nall bedaubed with gold and silver, and clung as close behind each other\nas if they had done nothing else their whole lives. The fairy then said\nto Cinderella:\n\n\u201cWell, you see here an equipage fit to go to the ball with. Are you not\npleased with it?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! yes,\u201d cried she; \u201cbut must I go thither as I am, in these dirty\nrags?\u201d\n\nHer Godmother only just touched her with her wand, and at the same\ninstant her clothes were turned into cloth-of-gold and silver, all beset\nwith jewels. Ah! who can describe a robe made by the fairies? It was\nwhite as snow, and as dazzling; round the hem hung a fringe of diamonds,\nsparkling like dewdrops in the sunshine. The lace about the throat and\narms could only have been spun by fairy spiders. Surely it was a dream!\nCinderella put her daintily gloved hand to her throat, and softly\ntouched the pearls that encircled her neck.\n\n\u201cCome, child,\u201d said the Godmother, \u201cor you will be late.\u201d\n\nAs Cinderella moved, the firelight shone upon her dainty shoes.\n\n\u201cThey are of diamonds,\u201d she said.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d answered her Godmother, smiling; \u201cthey are better than that--they\nare of glass, made by the fairies. And now, child, go, and enjoy\nyourself to your heart\u2019s content.\u201d\n\nBut her Godmother, above all things, commanded her not to stay till\nafter midnight, telling her at the same time that if she stayed one\nmoment longer the coach would be a pumpkin again, her horses mice, her\ncoachman a rat, her footmen lizards, and her clothes become just as they\nwere before.\n\nShe promised her Godmother she would not fail of leaving the ball before\nmidnight, and then away she drives, scarce able to contain herself for\njoy. The King\u2019s son, who was told that a great Princess, whom nobody\nknew, was come, ran out to receive her. He gave her his hand as she\nalighted out of the coach; and led her into the hall among all the\ncompany. There was immediately a profound silence, they left off\ndancing, and the violins ceased to play, so attentive was every one to\ncontemplate the singular beauties of the unknown newcomer. Nothing was\nthen heard but a confused noise of \u201cHa! how handsome she is! Ha! how\nhandsome she is!\u201d\n\nThe King himself, old as he was, could not help watching her and telling\nthe Queen softly that it was a long time since he had seen so beautiful\nand lovely a creature.\n\nAll the ladies were busied in considering her clothes and headdress,\nthat they might have some made next day after the same pattern, provided\nthey could meet with such fine materials and as able hands to make them.\n\nThe King\u2019s son conducted her to the most honorable seat and afterward\ntook her out to dance with him. She danced so very gracefully that they\nall more and more admired her. A fine collation was served up, whereof\nthe young Prince ate not a morsel, so intently was he busied in gazing\non her.\n\nShe went and sat down by her sisters, showing them a thousand\ncivilities, giving them part of the oranges and citrons which the Prince\nhad presented her with, which very much surprised them, for they did not\nknow her. While Cinderella was thus amusing her sisters, she heard the\nclock strike eleven and three-quarters, whereupon she immediately made a\ncourtesy to the company and hastened away as fast as she could.\n\nBeing got home, she ran to seek out her Godmother, and after having\nthanked her she said she could not but heartily wish she might go next\nday to the ball, because the King\u2019s son had desired her.\n\nAs she was eagerly telling her Godmother what had passed at the ball her\ntwo sisters knocked at the door, which Cinderella ran and opened.\n\n\u201cHow long you have stayed!\u201d cried she, gaping, rubbing her eyes, and\nstretching herself as if she had been just waked out of her sleep. She\nhad not, however, had any manner of inclination to sleep since they went\nfrom home.\n\n\u201cIf thou hadst been at the ball,\u201d said one of her sisters, \u201cthou\nwould\u2019st not have been tired with it. There came thither the finest\nPrincess, the most beautiful ever was seen with mortal eyes. She showed\nus a thousand civilities and gave us oranges and citrons.\u201d\n\nCinderella seemed very indifferent in the matter. Indeed, she asked them\nthe name of that Princess, but they told her they did not know it, and\nthat the King\u2019s son was very uneasy on her account, and would give all\nthe world to know who she was. At this Cinderella, smiling, replied:\n\n\u201cShe must, then, be very beautiful indeed. How happy you have been!\nCould not I see her? Ah! dear Miss Charlotte, do lend me your yellow\nsuit of clothes which you wear every day.\u201d\n\n\u201cAy, to be sure,\u201d cried Miss Charlotte; \u201clend my clothes to such it\ndirty cinder maid as thou art! I should be a fool.\u201d\n\nCinderella expected well such answer and was very glad of the refusal,\nfor she would have been sadly put to it if her sister had lent her what\nshe asked for jestingly.\n\nThe next day the two sisters were at the ball, and so was Cinderella,\nbut dressed more magnificently than before. The King\u2019s son was always by\nher, and never ceased his compliments and kind speeches to her, to whom\nall this was so far from being tiresome that she quite forgot what her\nGodmother had recommended to her, so that she at last counted the clock\nstriking twelve when she took it to be no more than eleven. She then\nrose up and fled as nimble as a deer. The Prince followed, but could\nnot overtake her. She left behind one of her glass slippers, which the\nPrince took up most carefully. She got home, but quite out of breath,\nand in her old clothes, having nothing left her of all her finery but\none of the little slippers, fellow to that she dropped. The guards at\nthe palace gate were asked if they had not seen a Princess go out.\n\nThey said they had seen nobody go out but a young girl, very meanly\ndressed, and who had more of the air of a poor country girl than a\ngentlewoman.\n\nWhen the two sisters returned from the ball Cinderella asked them if\nthey had been well diverted and if the beautiful Princess had been\nthere.\n\nThey told her yes, but that she hurried away immediately when the clock\nstruck twelve, and with so much haste that she dropped one of her little\nglass slippers, the prettiest in the world, which the King\u2019s son had\ntaken up; that he had done nothing but look at her all the time at\nthe ball, and that most certainly he was very much in love with the\nbeautiful person who owned the glass slipper.\n\nWhat they said was very true, for a few days after the King\u2019s son caused\nit to be proclaimed, by sound of trumpet, that he would marry her whose\nfoot this slipper would just fit. They whom he employed began to try it\nupon the Princesses, then the Duchesses and all the Court, but in vain.\nIt was brought to the two sisters, who did all they possibly could to\nthrust their feet into the slipper, but they could not effect it.\n\nOn the following morning there was a great noise of trumpets and drums,\nand a procession passed through the town, at the head of which rode the\nKing\u2019s son. Behind him came a herald, bearing a velvet cushion, upon\nwhich rested a little glass slipper. The herald blew a blast upon the\ntrumpet, and then read a proclamation saying that the King\u2019s son would\nwed any lady in the land who could fit the slipper upon her foot, if she\ncould produce another to match it.\n\nOf course, the sisters tried to squeeze their feet into the slipper, but\nit was of no use--they were much too large. Then Cinderella shyly begged\nthat she might try. How the sisters laughed with scorn when the Prince\nknelt to fit the slipper on the cinder maid\u2019s foot; but what was their\nsurprise when it slipped on with the greatest ease, and the next moment\nCinderella produced the other from her pocket! Once more she stood\nin the slippers, and once more the sisters saw before them the lovely\nPrincess who was to be the Prince\u2019s bride. For at the touch of the magic\nshoes the little gray frock disappeared forever, and in place of it she\nwore the beautiful robe the fairy Godmother had given to her.\n\nThe sisters hung their heads with sorrow and vexation; but kind little\nCinderella put her arms round their necks, kissed them, and forgave them\nfor all their unkindness, so that they could not help but love her.\n\nThe Prince could not bear to part from his little love again, so he\ncarried her back to the palace in his grand coach, and they were married\nthat very day. Cinderella\u2019s stepsisters were present at the feast, but\nin the place of honor sat the fairy Godmother.\n\nSo the poor little cinder maid married the Prince, and in time they came\nto be King and Queen, and lived happily ever after.\n\n\n\n\nFANNY\u2019S TELEPHONE ORDER.\n\nLittle Fanny Desmond was a dear child, and, like a good many other\nlittle children, she liked to do whatever she saw the grown people do.\n\nShe would listen with great interest when she saw her mother use the\ntelephone. She was especially surprised when her mother ordered things,\nand later in the day they would be brought to the house.\n\n\u201cI wish I had a telephone of my own,\u201d she said to her papa. \u201cMama just\nputs her mouth up to that funny thing, and gets whatever she asks for.\nYesterday she asked somebody to send us ice-cream for dinner, and sure\nenough, it came.\u201d\n\nPapa laughed. \u201cIt does seem a very convenient thing,\u201d he said. \u201cI will\ntry to arrange one for you.\u201d So papa took a horn which had been put away\nin a closet and hung it up where Fanny could talk into it. \u201cThere, that\nshall be your own private telephone,\u201d he said.\n\n\u201cNow, shall I get whatever I ask for?\u201d said Fanny.\n\n\u201cNot if you ask for impossible things,\u201d replied her papa.\n\n\u201cBut what are impossible things?\u201d asked Fanny.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d laughed papa, \u201cI think if you should ask for the moon you would\nnot get it.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut I don\u2019t want the moon,\u201d said Fanny.\n\n\u201cAsk for something before I go down-town,\u201d said papa.\n\nFanny thought a moment, and then spoke up quite distinctly:\n\n\u201cPlease send me some peppermints, and some new shoes for my doll, and\na bunch of pansies for my mama, and a new bicycle for my papa,\nand--and--that\u2019s all this time. Good-bye.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s a very good order,\u201d said her papa, \u201cbut kiss me good-bye, for I\nmust be off.\u201d\n\nAbout half an hour later the front door-bell rang. Very soon the\nmaid appeared with a package directed to Miss Fanny Desmond. In great\nexcitement, Fanny opened it. It was a box of peppermints. The child\u2019s\ndelight was great, but when, in another half hour, there came a bundle\nwhich proved to be a new pair of shoes for her doll, she was too happy\nfor words. But that surprise was hardly over when another package was\nbrought her. She opened it in great excitement, and behold there was a\nbunch of beautiful pansies.\n\n\u201cThey are for you, mama,\u201d she cried, \u201cand now everything has come but\npapa\u2019s new bicycle.\u201d\n\nJust then she looked out of the window, and there was her papa coming up\nthe drive on a fine new wheel. She rushed down to meet him, exclaiming,\nas she threw herself into his arms:\n\n\u201cOh, papa, papa, I did get everything; my telephone is beautiful, and\nthe man at the other end is just lovely!\u201d\n\n\u201cAh,\u201d said papa, \u201cI am delighted he is so satisfactory.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nTHE RAINDROPS\u2019 NEW DRESSES.\n\n     \u201cWe\u2019re so tired of these gray dresses!\u201d\n      Cried the little drops of rain,\n     As they came down helter-skelter\n     From the Nimbus cloud fast train.\n\n     And they bobbed against each other\n     In a spiteful sort of way,\n     Just like children when bad temper\n     Gets the upper hand some day.\n\n     Then the Sun peeped out a minute.\n     \u201cDears, be good and do not fight,\n     I have ordered you new dresses,\n     Dainty robes of purest white.\u201d\n\n     Ah! then all the tiny raindrops\n     Hummed a merry glad refrain,\n     And the old folks cried: \u201cHow pleasant\n     Is the music of the rain!\u201d\n\n     Just at even, when the children\n     Had been safely tucked in bed,\n     There was such a rush and bustle\n     In the dark clouds overhead!\n\n     Then those raindrops hurried earthward,\n     At the North Wind\u2019s call, you know,\n     And the wee folks, in the morning,\n     Laughed to see the flakes of snow.\n\n\n\n\nSIR GOBBLE.\n\nBessie Curtis was in a great deal of trouble. She was spending a year in\nthe country while her father and mother were in Europe. It was not that\nwhich was troubling her. She liked the country, she loved her uncle and\naunt with whom she lived, and she heard every week from her father\nand mother. But something disturbed her. As the summer passed, and the\nautumn came, she had moments when she looked very sober. What was the\nreason?\n\nI will tell you.\n\nEarly in the spring her uncle had given her a young turkey.\n\n\u201cThere, Bessie,\u201d he had said, \u201cthat is one of the prettiest turkeys I\nhave ever seen. I will give him into your care, and on Thanksgiving Day\nwe will have him on the dinner-table.\u201d\n\nFor some time Bessie fed the turkey every day without feeling\nparticularly fond of him. Very soon, however, he began to know her; he\nnot only ran to meet her when she brought him his corn and meal, but\nhe would follow her about just the way Mary\u2019s little lamb followed HER\nabout.\n\nHer uncle often called after her: \u201cAnd everywhere that Bessie goes, the\nturkey\u2019s sure to go.\u201d\n\nYes, round the garden, up and down the avenue, and even into the house\nitself the turkey followed Bessie.\n\nThen why was she so sad?\n\nAlas! she remembered her uncle\u2019s words when he gave her the turkey, \u201cOn\nThanksgiving Day we will have him on the table.\u201d\n\nThanksgiving Day would be here in a week.\n\nNow, if Bessie had been like some little girls, she would have told her\ntrouble to her uncle. But she never mentioned it to any one, although\nshe cried herself to sleep several nights before Thanksgiving Day.\n\nAt last the day came, and Bessie, instead of going out to the fowlyard\nas usual, kept in the house all the morning. She was afraid that, if she\nwent, she would not find her beloved friend. Dinner-time came, and,\nwith a heavy heart, she seated herself at the table. Her uncle and\naunt noticed her sober face, and thought that she missed her father and\nmother.\n\n\u201cCome, come,\u201d said her uncle, \u201cwe must cheer up; no sad looks on\nThanksgiving Day. Maria, BRING IN THE TURKEY.\u201d\n\nPoor Bessie! she could not look up as the door opened, and something\nwas brought in on a big platter. But, as the platter was placed on the\ntable, she saw that it did indeed hold her turkey, but he was alive and\nwell.\n\nShe looked so astonished that suddenly her uncle understood all her past\ntroubles.\n\n\u201cWhy, Bessie,\u201d he said, \u201cdid you think I would kill your pet? No,\nindeed, but I told you he should be on the table Thanksgiving Day, so\nhere he is.\u201d\n\nThen Bessie\u2019s uncle struck the turkey gently with his carving-knife, the\nway the queen strikes a man with a sword when she makes him a knight.\n\n\u201cBehold!\u201d said Bessie\u2019s uncle, \u201cI dub you \u2018Sir Gobble;\u2019 you shall never\nbe killed, but die a natural death, and never be parted from Bessie.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nWHAT IS IT?\n\n     What is that ugly thing I see\n     Which follows, follows, follows me,\n     Which ever way I turn or go?\n     What is that thing? I want to know.\n\n     If I but turn to left or right\n     It does the same with all its might;\n     It looks so ugly and so black\n     When o\u2019er my shoulder I look back.\n\n     Sometimes it runs ahead of me,\n     Sometimes quite short it seems to be,\n     And then again it\u2019s very tall;\n     I don\u2019t know what it is at all.\n\n     I\u2019ll climb into my little bed,\n     And on my pillow lay my bead,\n     For when I\u2019m there I never see\n     That thing in front or back of me.\n\n\n\n\nJOHN\u2019S BRIGHT IDEA.\n\nMrs. Meredith was a most kind and thoughtful woman. She spent a great\ndeal of time visiting the poor. One morning she told her children about\na family which she had visited the day before. There was a man sick in\nbed, his wife who took care of him, and could not go out to work, and\ntheir little boy. The little boy--his name was Bernard--had interested\nher very much.\n\n\u201cI wish you could see him,\u201d she said to her own children, John, Harry,\nand Clara, \u201che is such a help to his mother. He wants very much to earn\nsome money, but I don\u2019t see what he can do.\u201d\n\nAfter their mother had left the room, the children sat thinking about\nlittle Bernard.\n\n\u201cI wish we could help him to earn money,\u201d said little Clara.\n\n\u201cSo do I,\u201d said Harry.\n\nFor some moments John said nothing, but, suddenly, he sprang to his feet\nand cried:\n\n\u201cI have an idea!\u201d\n\nThe other children also jumped up all attention. When John had an idea,\nit was sure to be a good one.\n\n\u201cI tell you what we can do,\u201d said John. \u201cYou know that big box of corn\nUncle Sam sent us for popping? Well, we can pop it, and put it into\npaper bags, and Bernard can take it round to the houses and sell.\u201d\n\nWhen Mrs. Meredith heard of John\u2019s idea, she, too, thought it a good\none.\n\nVery soon the children were busy popping the corn, while their mother\nwent out to buy the paper bags. When she came back, she brought Bernard\nwith her.\n\nIn a short time, he started out on his new business, and, much sooner\nthan could be expected, returned with an empty basket.\n\nTucked into one of his mittens were ten nickels. He had never earned so\nmuch money before in his life. When he found that it was all to be his,\nhe was so delighted he could hardly speak, but his bright smiling face\nspoke for him. After he had run home to take the money to his mother,\nJohn said:\n\n\u201cWe have corn enough left to send Bernard out ever so many times. May we\ndo it again?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said Mrs. Meredith, \u201cyou may send him every Saturday morning, if\nyou will pop the corn for him yourselves. John, will you agree to take\ncharge of the work?\u201d\n\n\u201cIndeed I will,\u201d replied John, and he kept his word. For many weeks,\nevery Saturday morning, no matter what plan was on foot, no matter how\ngood the coasting or skating, he saw that the corn was all popped, the\npaper bags filled, and arranged in the basket when Bernard arrived.\n\nPeople began to watch for the \u201clittle pop-corn boy,\u201d and every week he\nhad at least fifty cents to take home, and often more. And all this was\nbecause of John\u2019s bright idea, and the way he carried it out.\n\n\n\n\nA SAD THANKSGIVING PARTY.\n\n     Four hungry-looking animals\n     All seated in a row;\n     Why does not some one speak to them?\n     That\u2019s what I want to know.\n\n     They all of them were bidden to\n     A fine Thanksgiving feast,\n     And now, it seems to me, their host\n     Might welcome them, at least.\n\n     \u2018Twas Master Pug invited them,\n     Why does he not appear?\n     \u2018Tis plain they think his absence looks\n     Extremely rude and queer.\n\n     Alas! poor Pug\u2019s in trouble sore,\n     The host he cannot play;\n     No feast for self or friends has he\n     On this Thanksgiving Day.\n\n     He saw a turkey, large and fat,\n     Upon the kitchen shelf.\n     \u201cThat\u2019s just the very thing I want,\u201d\n      Said he unto himself.\n\n     He caught the turkey, but the cook\n     Caught him with firmer grasp,\n     And shook him till he could not bark\n     But only choke and gasp.\n\n     Meanwhile, those hungry animals,\n     Who\u2019d waited there in vain,\n     Declared they never would be guest\n     Of Mr. Pug again.\n\n\n\n\nGUY AND THE BEE\n\n     One day a jolly bumble-bee,\n     In coat of black and yellow,\n     Got caught inside a window-pane;\n     The silly little  fellow.\n\n     He buzzed and buzzed against the glass,\n     To Guy\u2019s great enjoyment,\n     Who thought to watch this funny thing\n     Was just the best employment.\n\n     But soon to touch those gauzy wings,\n     Became Guy\u2019s great desire,\n     Although mama had told him that\n     A bee could sting like fire.\n\n     But Guy, silly as the bee,\n     Paid no heed to mama,\n     He touched the bee, then gave a howl\n     Which could be heard afar.\n\n     Mama a soothing poultice mixed,\n     And on his finger laid.\n     \u201cAnother time you\u2019ll be more wise,\u201d\n      Was everything she said.\n\n\n\n\nA MEAN BOY.\n\nHarry Burton woke one night and heard a strange noise in his closet. He\ngot out of bed, crossed the floor in his bare feet, and carefully opened\nthe closet door. The noise stopped, instantly.\n\n\u201cAh!\u201d said Harry, \u201cI knew it was mice made that noise. How I wish I\ncould catch them.\u201d\n\nThe next morning he told his mother about the noises he had heard.\n\n\u201cI will get you a mouse-trap,\u201d she said.\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t want the kind that kills the mice, I only want to catch them\nand tame them,\u201d said Harry.\n\nHis mother laughed and told him when he had tamed his mice he must keep\nthem well out of her way.\n\nThe trap was set, the mice were caught, and sure enough, in a short time\nwere so tame they would eat from Harry\u2019s hand. He made a little house\nfor them, and kept in it his bedroom. Whenever he went out, he always\nshut the door carefully.\n\nNow it happened that among Harry\u2019s acquaintances, there was one very\ndisagreeable boy. His name was Dick Taft. Harry did not play with him\nvery often, for he was so ugly it was hard to get along with him.\n\nDick never liked to be beaten at any game, and sometimes made it very\nuncomfortable for the one who got ahead of him.\n\nOne day Harry happened to beat him at one of their school games. Dick\ncalled after him when it was over, \u201cI\u2019ll pay you for this, see if I\ndon\u2019t.\u201d\n\nHarry only laughed as he walked away going in the opposite direction\nfrom his own house.\n\nWhen he was out of sight, Dick ran to Harry\u2019s house, made some excuse to\ngo up in his bedroom, and let in the big cat, who was eagerly watching\noutside.\n\nWhen Harry came home, the mouse house was open, and not one of his pets\nwas to be seen. The poor fellow was almost heart-broken. He asked every\none in the house who had left his door open. The maid told him she\nthought it must have been that boy he sent up to his room.\n\nShe described the boy, and Harry knew in a moment that it was Dick Taft.\n\n\u201cSo that is the way he paid me for beating him at a game,\u201d cried Harry.\n\u201cWell, never again, so long as I live, will I play with a boy who is\nmean enough to do such a trick as that.\u201d\n\nAnd he kept his word.\n\n\n\n\nA NAUGHTY PUMPKIN\u2019S FATE.\n\n      A queer little pumpkin, a jolly fat fellow,\n      Stood close to his mother so rotund and yellow.\n      \u201cWhat a stupid old place! how I long to aspire,\u201d\n       Cried he, \u201cI was destined for something much higher.\u201d\n\n      \u201cMy son,\u201d said the mother, \u201cpray do be content,\n      There\u2019s great satisfaction in life that\u2019s well spent!\u201d\n       But he shrugged up his shoulders, this pumpkin, \u2018t is true,\n      And acted just like some bad children will do.\n\n      With a shout and a whoop, in the garden they ran,\n      Tom and Ned, for they\u2019d thought of the loveliest plan\n      To astonish their friends from the city, you see,\n      With a fine Jack-o\u2019-lantern--\u201cAh, this one suits me!\u201d\n\n      Neddie seized the bad pumpkin, and dug out his brains,\n      Till he felt so light-headed and brimful of pains;\n      Then two eyes, a long nose, and a mouth big and wide,\n      They cut in a minute, and laid him aside\n\n      Until night, when they hung him upon a stout limb,\n      With a candle inside; how his poor head did swim,\n      As they twisted him this way, then twirled him round that,\n      Till at last, with a crash, he fell on the ground flat,\n\n      A wreck of the once jolly, fat little fellow,\n      Who stood by his mother so rotund and yellow.\n      Just then a lean cow, who was passing that way,\n      Ate him up, just to finish HER \u201cThanksgiving Day.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nSOMETHING ABOUT FIRES.\n\nIt was a cold day. Fred was tired of reading, tired of looking out of\nthe window, and so he poked the fire for a change.\n\n\u201cI suppose there are a good many different sorts of fires,\u201d he said to\nhis mamma, as he laid down the poker.\n\n\u201cYes, indeed,\u201d she answered. \u201cIt is very interesting to know how people\nkeep warm in all parts of the world, especially where fuel is scarce and\ndear. In Iceland, for example, fires are often made of fish-bones! Think\nof that. In Holland and other countries a kind of turf called peat is\ndug up in great quantities and used for fuel. And in France a coarse\nyellow and brown sea-weed, which is found in Finistere, is carefully\ndried and piled up for winter use. A false log, resembling wood, but\nmade of some composition which does not consume, is often used in that\ncountry. It absorbs and throws out the heat, and adds to the looks of\nthe hearth and to the comfort of the room.\n\n\u201cThe French have also a movable stove, which can be wheeled from room to\nroom, or even carried up or down stairs while full of burning coke. In\nRussia the poorer people use a large porcelain stove, flat on top like\na great table, with a small fire inside which gives out a gentle,\nsummer-like warmth. It often serves as a bed for the whole family, who\nsleep on top of it.\n\n\u201cThere are, besides gas-stoves, oil-stoves, various methods of obtaining\nwarmth by heated air and steam, and, doubtless, other devices that I\nnever heard of.\n\n\u201cIn some countries, however, no fires are needed. In looking at pictures\nof tropical towns you will at once notice the absence of chimneys.\u201d\n\nFred looked admiringly at his mamma as she paused.\n\n\u201cThere never was such a little mother,\u201d he said; \u201cyou can think of\nsomething to say about everything.\u201d\n\nHis mamma was pleased at this pleasant compliment.\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d she replied, laughing, \u201cI could go on and tell you more about\nbonfires, beacon-fires, signals, drift-wood fires, and gypsy-tea fires;\nbut I have told you enough for to-day.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nTHE ICE-KING\u2019S REIGN.\n\n     The sun had gone down with promises sweet,\n     When, keen from the north, the wind\n     Came blustering along on its coursers fleet,\n     And left frozen tracks behind.\n\n     Maude stood at the window; the moon shimmered down\n     On whirling leaves, stiff and dead,\n     All piteously driven; she turned with a frown,\n     And soft to herself she said:--\n\n     \u201cThe old tyrant Winter leaves nothing to prize,\n     Leaves nothing that\u2019s bright or fair;\n     He has stolen the blue from the bending skies,\n     The warmth from the earth and air.\n\n     \u201cThe summer\u2019s dear blossoms are withered and dead;\n     My garden is brown and bare;\n     The chipper of birds in the nest overhead\n     Is hushed, for no birdlings are here.\n\n     \u201cThe woodlands no longer are shady and sweet,\n     Dry leafage encumbers the ground;\n     The pathways, once verdant and soft to my feet,\n     In fetters of ice are bound.\n\n     \u201cThe pride of the barn-yard sits humped with the cold,\n     One frozen foot under his wing;\n     And the sheep huddle closely, for warmth, in their fold;\n     The ice tyrant reigns as king.\u201d\n\n     She turns from this picture of ruin and death,\n     And seeks the broad casement again;\n     And, lo! from the dews of her wasted breath\n     Great forests have grown on the pane.\n\n     Such beautiful trees! such ferns! and such flowers!\n     Such rivers and mountains bold!\n     Such charming cascades! she gazes for hours,\n     And worships the ice king cold.\n\n\n\n\nMALMO, THE WOUNDED RAT.\n\nA poor man saw, by the roadside, a large white rat. It seemed to be\ndead. Moving it gently he found it was alive, but had a broken leg. He\ntook it up and carried it to his lonely home. He bound up the bruised\nleg, fed the poor creature, and soon it was quite well.\n\nSam Tills trained the rat to gentle ways, and taught it many little\ntricks. Malmo was the only company Sam had. He worked in a cotton mill,\nand took Malmo with him. He rode in his master\u2019s coat-pocket. It looked\ndroll to see his white head peeping out.\n\nSundays both went to dine with Sam\u2019s sister. Malmo\u2019s funny ways made\neverybody laugh. When Sam said, \u201cMalmo, go sit in my hat,\u201d he went at\nonce. He curled himself up in it, and nodded off to sleep.\n\nWhen his master said, \u201cMalmo, we\u2019re going now; slip in,\u201d the droll pet\njumped from the hat, ran up to his pocket-nest, said good-by in his\nown fashion, and was ready to start. Evenings, when Sam was reading or\nsinging from his mother\u2019s hymn-book, Malmo had a nap on his master\u2019s\nhead. When it was time to go to bed Sam stroked Malmo\u2019s soft fur. The\nrat rubbed himself against his master\u2019s hand. It was their good-night to\neach other. Then Malmo crept into his basket, and the candle was blown\nout. Soon both were fast asleep.\n\n\n\n\nMAMA\u2019S HAPPY CHRISTMAS.\n\nIt had seemed to the little Wendell children that they would have a\nvery sad Christmas. Mama had been very ill, and papa had been so anxious\nabout mama that he could not think of anything else.\n\nWhen Christmas Day came, however, mama was so much better that she could\nlie on the lounge. The children all brought their stockings into her\nroom to open them.\n\n\u201cYou children all seem as happy as if you had had your usual Christmas\ntree,\u201d said mama, as they sat around her.\n\n\u201cWhy, I NEVER had such a happy Christmas before,\u201d said sweet little\nAgnes. \u201cAnd it\u2019s just because you are well again.\u201d\n\n\u201cNow I think you must all run out for the rest of the day,\u201d said the\nnurse, \u201cbecause your mama wants to see you all again this evening.\u201d\n\n\u201cI wish we could get up something expressly for mama\u2019s amusement,\u201d said\nAgnes, when they had gone into the nursery.\n\n\u201cHow would you like to have some tableaux in here?\u201d asked their French\ngoverness, Miss Marcelle.\n\n\u201cOh, yes,\u201d they all cried, \u201cit would be fun, mama loves tableaux.\u201d\n\nSo all day long they were busy arranging five tableaux for the evening.\nThe tableaux were to be in the room which had folding-doors opening into\nMrs. Wendell\u2019s sitting-room.\n\nAt the proper time Miss Marcelle stepped outside the folding-doors and\nmade a pretty little speech. She said that some young ladies and a young\ngentleman had asked permission to show some tableaux to Mrs. Wendell\nif she would like to see them. Mrs. Wendell replied that she would be\ncharmed.\n\nThen mademoiselle announced the tableaux; opening the doors wide for\neach one. This is a list of the tableaux: First, The Sleeping Beauty;\nsecond, Little Red Riding Hood third, The Fairy Queen; fourth, Old\nMother Hubbard; fifth, The Lord High Admiral.\n\nMiss Marcelle had arranged everything so nicely, and Celeste, the French\nmaid, helped so much with the dressing, that the pictures all went off\nwithout a single mistake.\n\nMama was delighted. She said she must kiss those dear young ladies, and\nthat delightful young man who had given her such a charming surprise.\n\nSo all the children came in rosy and smiling.\n\n\u201cWhy, didn\u2019t you know us?\u201d asked the little Lord Admiral.\n\n\u201cI know this,\u201d said mama, \u201cI am like Agnes. I NEVER had such a happy\nChristmas before.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nCURED OF CARELESSNESS.\n\nMrs. Bertram sat reading a book one morning, or trying to. It was not\neasy to do so, for her little boy, Roger, was out in the hall playing\nwith his drum. Suddenly the drumming ceased, and in a moment Roger\nrushed into the room crying as if his heart would break.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve burst it. I\u2019ve burst it,\u201d he sobbed.\n\n\u201cYour drum,\u201d asked his mother. \u201cHow did you do that?\u201d\n\n\u201cI was beating it with the poker and the tongs and--\u201d\n\n\u201cWith the poker and tongs!\u201d exclaimed his mother. \u201cWhy, where were your\ndrum-sticks?\u201d\n\nThen Roger stopped crying, and hung his head with shame.\n\n\u201cWhere are your drum-sticks?\u201d asked his mother, again.\n\n\u201cI--I--don\u2019t know,\u201d sobbed Roger.\n\n\u201cHave you lost those, too?\u201d said Mrs. Bertram. She needed no words for\nanswer. Roger\u2019s manner was quite enough. \u201cYou know, dear, what I said\nwould happen the next time you lost anything.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said Roger, \u201cI you said I must give away all my toys to some\nlittle boys who would take care of them.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said his mother. \u201cI see you remember. I shall send them all\nto-night to the Children\u2019s Hospital.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut, mama,\u201d said Roger, \u201cif I don\u2019t have any toys to take care of, how\ncan I learn to take care of them?\u201d\n\nMrs. Bertram had to turn away so that Roger should not see her smile.\n\n\u201cI shall have to think of some other way to teach you to be careful. Now\ngo and bring me all your toys.\u201d\n\nRoger went out of the room to do as his mother said. When he had gone,\nMrs. Bertram sat thinking until he came back.\n\n\u201cI have decided that I want you to dust the library every morning.\u201d\n\nRoger looked astonished. \u201cBoys don\u2019t dust,\u201d he said.\n\n\u201cSometimes,\u201d said his mother, smilingly. \u201cYour Uncle Fred had to dust\nhis own room when he was at West Point. Now if you dust the library\nevery morning for two months faithfully, and do not break a single\nornament, I shall know you have grown careful in one way, and that may\nhelp you to be careful in another.\u201d\n\nThe next morning Roger began his work. At first he disliked it very\nmuch, but after a while he grew very particular. It was not pleasant to\nbe without any toys, and he determined to earn them.\n\nThe day when his trial of two months would be up, would be Christmas\nDay. He did not know if his presents this year would be toys or useful\nthings. All his mother had said about his work was, \u201cMy dear, you are\nimproving.\u201d\n\nChristmas night came, and with it a beautiful tree. Imagine Roger\u2019s\ndelight when he saw on and about it new skates, a new sled, a new violin\nand a new drum.\n\nAnd up in the highest branches, in letters of gold, these words: \u201cFor\nthe boy who has proved he can be careful when he tries.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nA VISIT FROM A PRINCE.\n\nHarry was playing with his letter blocks one afternoon, when a prince\ncame to visit him.\n\nHarry knew the prince very well, indeed. As soon as the prince came into\nthe room Harry said:\n\n\u201cHullo, old fellow, is that you?\u201d\n\nWas not that a very strange way to greet a prince?\n\nAnd wasn\u2019t it stranger yet for Harry to say next:\n\n\u201cCome, sit up, old boy, and give us your--\u201d\n\nWas it hand Harry was going to say? No, indeed, it was paw. \u201cSit up, old\nboy, and give us your paw.\u201d\n\nPrince was a beautiful dog, as black as a coal. Indeed, his real name,\nhis whole name, was Edward, the Black Prince. Now you must ask somebody\nto tell you about the man who was called the \u201cBlack Prince,\u201d the man for\nwhom Harry\u2019s dog was named.\n\nWhen Harry asked Prince to give his paw, the dog did not do it as\nquickly as he ought to have done.\n\nDid Harry beat him for that? No, indeed. Did he say, \u201cNever mind,\nPrince, you need not obey me if you do not want to?\u201d No, indeed, again.\n\nHe sat up himself, and then he made Prince sit up on his hind legs. Then\nhe ordered Prince to give his paw. Prince did so. Then Harry made him\ndo it again, then again and again and again, until the dog seemed to\nunderstand that he must learn to obey when he was spoken to.\n\nAfter Prince appeared to have learned that lesson quite perfectly, Harry\ntaught him something new.\n\nHe taught him to stand on his hind legs and hold a pipe in his mouth.\n\nThis he soon did so well that Harry clapped his hands and cried,\n\u201cGood, good, you smoke as well as his royal highness, the Black Prince,\nhimself.\u201d\n\nWhich remark showed that Harry had not yet begun to study history. If\nhe had, he would have known that in the country where the Black Prince\nlived, tobacco was never heard of until many, many, MANY years after his\ndeath.\n\n\n\n\nSTRINGING CRANBERRIES.\n\nArthur Bancroft was feeling very cross one morning in December. He had\na bad cold, and his mother did not think it would be wise for him to go\nout-of-doors. That was why he was cross. The skating was finer than it\nhad been that season; every other boy he knew was enjoying it.\n\nHe walked about the house with a very sulky face; would take no notice\nof books or games, and seemed determined to be miserable.\n\nHe was standing looking out of the window when his sister Laura\ncame into the room. Laura carried in her hand a basket filled with\ncranberries.\n\nShe put the basket on the table, took a needle from her mother\u2019s needle\nbook, threaded it with a long, stout thread, and began stringing the\nberries.\n\nLaura was a dear little thing! She was always busy. No one ever heard\nher say, \u201cI wish I had something to do.\u201d And she was generally doing\nsomething for some one else.\n\nShe made a sweet little picture as she sat bending over the basket of\ncrimson cranberries. Some such idea may have come into Arthur\u2019s mind\nas he turned and looked at her. As he watched her silently for some\nmoments, the cross expression on his face became a little less cross.\n\n\u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d he asked.\n\n\u201cStringing cranberries for the Mullins\u2019 Christmas tree,\u201d answered Laura.\n\u201cDon\u2019t you want to help me?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s girls\u2019 work,\u201d replied Arthur.\n\n\u201cIsn\u2019t a boy smart enough to do a girl\u2019s work?\u201d asked Laura.\n\n\u201cOf course, he\u2019s SMART enough. I don\u2019t mean that! Perhaps he doesn\u2019t\nwant to.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh,\u201d said Laura, \u201cI wish you did want to.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy?\u201d asked Arthur.\n\n\u201cI promised to string all these for the Mullins\u2019 Christmas tree,\u201d replied\nLaura. \u201cThe market-man brought them so late, I have not much time now.\u201d\n\n\u201cThread another needle,\u201d said Arthur.\n\nIn a few moments he was working as busily as Laura, herself. As Arthur\nfinished his last long string, he tied the ends together and threw it\naround Laura\u2019s neck. When she bent her head a little, it reached the\nfloor.\n\n\u201cThere,\u201d said he, \u201cthat proves that a boy can do a girl\u2019s work.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said Laura, \u201cwhen\u201d--then she stopped and smiled.\n\n\u201cWhen what?\u201d asked Arthur.\n\n\u201cWhen he has a girl to show him how,\u201d laughed Laura, as she danced out\nof the room with the cranberry strings.\n\n\n\n\nCHRISTMAS IN CALIFORNIA.\n\n     \u201cTo think that this is Christmas Day!\u201d\n      Said Harold to his aunt,\n     \u201cI know it really is, and yet,\n     Believe it--well, I can\u2019t!\n     I\u2019ve had a tree, my stocking, too,\n     This morning full I found,\n     But how can I believe it\n     With no snow upon the ground?\n\n     Look at the sea so bright and blue,\n     And feel the soft, warm air,\n     And there are roses all in bloom,\n     And lilies, I declare!\n     I think that California\n     Is lovely, but it\u2019s queer,\n     How different Christmas is at home\n     From what it is out here.\u201d\n\n     \u201cAh, Harold!\u201d gently said his aunt,\n     \u201cNo matter where you go,\n     In country strewn with flowers like this,\n     Or clad in ice and snow,\n     The birthday of the Christ-child is\n     The same in every place,\n     And happy greetings in His name,\n     Bring smiles to every face.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nA TROUBLESOME CALL.\n\n     We were going, on Saturday, ever so far,--\n     My mamma and I,--to the Dollies\u2019 Bazaar,\n     Where fifty wax dollies,--the loveliest show,\n     Went walking about when they wound \u2018em, you know.\n\n     You wouldn\u2019t believe half the things they could do:\n     Why, one said \u201cGood morning,\u201d as plainly as you.\n     One played the piano, and one, dressed in lace,\n     Walked up to a mirror and powdered her face.\n\n     Well, when we were ready we stepped in the hall,\n     And there was a lady a-coming to call.\n     She said she just chanced to be passing that way,\n     And she really had only a minute to stay.\n\n     We waited and waited, and hoped she would go,\n     Till I saw it was almost the time for the show,\n     For I heard the clocks striking all over the town,\n     And I knew that the dollies would all be run down.\n\n     And so I just said, \u201cI should s\u2019pose, Mrs. Black,\n     Your little girl wonders why don\u2019t you come back.\u201d\n      That\u2019s all that I spoke, every \u2018dentical word;\n     But she said, \u201cLittle girls should be seen and not heard.\u201d\n\n     I guess that\u2019s a proverb, so maybe \u2018tis true;\n     But, if people won\u2019t see, what can little girls do?\n     My mamma looked queer, but that ended the call,\n     And we went to the Dollies\u2019 Bazaar, after all.\n\n\n\n\nBERTIE\u2019S CORN-POPPER\n\nBertie had the desire of his heart,--a corn-popper! He had wanted it for\na long time,--three weeks, at least. Mamma brought it when she came home\nfrom the city, and gave it to him for his very own. A bushel of corn,\nready popped, would not have been half so good. There was all the\ndelight of popping in store for the long winter evenings.\n\nBertie could hardly wait to eat his supper before he tried his\ncorn-popper. It proved to be a very good one. He popped corn that\nevening, and the next, and the next. He fed all the family, gave some\nto all his playmates, and carried a bag of pop-corn to school for his\nteacher.\n\nTrip, the shaggy, little, yellow dog, came in for a share, and Mintie\ntoo. Who or what was Mintie?\n\nMintie was a bantam biddy, very small, white as snow, and very pretty.\nShe had been left an orphan chick, and for a while kept in the house,\nnear the kitchen fire. She had been Bertie\u2019s especial charge, and he fed\nand tended her faithfully.\n\nAs she grew older she would rove about with the larger hens, but was\nvery tame, and always liked the house. She would come in very often.\nWhen Bertie happened to pop corn in the daytime she was pretty apt to be\naround, and pick up the kernels he threw to her.\n\nOne night he left his corn-popper on the kitchen table. It was open, and\ntwo or three small kernels were still in it.\n\nEarly next morning, long before Bertie was dressed, Mintie came into the\nkitchen. She flew up on the table, and helped herself to the corn in the\npopper. The girl was busy getting breakfast, and did not mind much about\nher. Presently she went down cellar, and Mintie had the room to herself.\n\nWhen Bertie came down to breakfast there was a white egg in the\ncorn-popper! It was so small that it looked almost like a bird\u2019s; but it\nwas Mintie\u2019s first egg.\n\nBertie clapped his hands; he was very much pleased.\n\n\u201cMamma! mamma!\u201d he shouted. \u201cSee this pretty egg! Mintie put it into my\npopper, and must have meant to give it to me.\u201d\n\nAnd mamma said, \u201cVery likely she did.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nFIRE! FIRE!! FIRE!!!\n\nWhere is it? Where is it? Why, it is in the water! Isn\u2019t that funny? But\nyou see it isn\u2019t a real fire, but only a fire-fish. [*] Sweet creature,\nisn\u2019t he? Suppose you were a little, innocent mermaid, swimming alone\nfor the first time; how would you feel if you were to meet this fellow\ndarting towards you with his great red mouth open? Why, you would scream\nwith fright, and swim to your mother as fast as you could, and catch\nhold of her tail for protection. At least, that is what I should do if I\nwere a mermaid. But Mrs. Mermaid won\u2019t tell you that the fire-fish will\nnot hurt you unless you hurt him first, in which case he will prick you\ndreadfully with his long, sharp spines.\n\n     * Project Gutenberg ed. note: The picture is of a fish also\n     known as a scorpionfish.\n\n\nI never see his picture without thinking of a red Indian in his warpaint\nand feathers. Perhaps--who knows?-perhaps when Indians are greedy, and\neat too much fish, they may turn into fire-fish, and have to swim about\nforever under water, and never see a green forest again. If you are an\nIndian I advise you to be careful, my dear.\n\nNobody knows why this fish has such enormous, wing-like fins. Wise men\nused to think that he could raise himself out of the water with them,\nlike the flying-fish; but it is now proved that he cannot, and there\nseems to be no reason why a set of plain, small fins would not serve him\njust as well for swimming. He prefers warm water to cold; so he lives\nin the tropical seas, swimming about the coasts of India, Africa, and\nAustralia. The natives of Ceylon call him Gini-maha, and they think he\nis very good to eat. They take great care in catching him, for they are\nvery much afraid of him, thinking that his sharp spines are poisoned,\nand can inflict a deadly wound. But in this they are too hard upon the\nfellow. He can prick them deeply and painfully, and he will if they\nmeddle with him; but he is a perfectly respectable fish, and would not\nthink of such a cowardly thing as poisoning anybody.\n\n\n\n\nTHE DOLLS AND THE OTHER DOLLS.\n\n\u201cMamma,\u201d little Nellie asked, \u201cis it right to give away things that have\nbeen given to you?\u201d\n\nHer mamma replied that it might be quite right sometimes; and she said,\n\u201cBut I should feel sorry if I had made a little friend a present she did\nnot value, and so was glad to part with it.\u201d\n\n\u201cO mamma!\u201d said Nellie, \u201cyou know how I value my dollies, every one,\nthat my dear aunts and cousins sent me because I was sick. Now I am well\nagain. To-morrow is New-Year\u2019s. Some sick little girls in the hospital\nwant dollies. Could I, if I knew which one to choose, keep only one\nfor myself, and send the whole five of them for those poor children who\nhaven\u2019t any?\u201d\n\nHer mamma liked the plan. She gave Nellie a box, and Nellie began\nkissing her babies, and laying them, one after another, in the box.\n\nThere were two of nearly the same size, that were very dear to this\nlittle mother. She called them twins. They wore white frocks and blue\nkid boots. They had real blonde hair and their eyes would open and shut.\n\nThese lovely twins Nellie held in her arms a long time before she could\ndecide which to part with. When she did place one in the box, to be her\nown no more, a tear was on the doll\u2019s cheek. I do not think the drop\ncame from dolly\u2019s eye.\n\nA few days after the dolls were given Nellie\u2019s mamma let her invite\nthree little girls to play with her. Each girl brought her Christmas or\nher New-Year\u2019s doll; and the three dolls, with Nellie\u2019s, looked sweetly\nsitting together in a row.\n\nBy and by Nellie\u2019s mamma came to her room, which she had given to the\nparty for its use that afternoon. She told the children she would give\nthem a little supper of cakes and pears and grapes, and it would be\nready as soon as Biddy could bring the ice-cream from down street.\n\nThe smiling child-visitors gathered around the kind lady, saying, \u201cWe\nthank you, and we love you ever so much.\u201d\n\nNellie said softly, \u201cMamma dear, I wouldn\u2019t take my dollies back if I\ncould. I love to think they amuse the sick children. But I do wish that\nfor just a minute we had as many at this party.\u201d\n\nHer mamma turned to her dressing-case. It stood low enough for the\nsmallest child to look into the mirror at the back easily. Moving off\nthe toilet cushions and cologne-bottles, the lady put the four dolls in\nfront of the looking-glass. Their reflection in the glass showed four\nmore.\n\n\u201cSix, seven, eight,\u201d cried the girls, delighted. \u201cAnd all are\ntwins--four pairs of twins!\u201d\n\nAfter supper they made, the twins sit, and stand, and dance, bow and\nshake hands, before the looking-glass. So they played till dusk, when\nthe other little girls\u2019 mammas sent to take them home, after kissing\nNellie good-night.\n\n\n\n\nWHY DID MAMMA CHANGE HER MIND?\n\nMamma Miller told Fay and Lonnie that they might have a party, so they\ntried to get ready for it. But the party was very different to what they\nexpected. It always happens so about everything, if we pay no regard to\none another\u2019s wishes.\n\nMrs. Miller said they might invite ten children.\n\n\u201cYou write to five little girls, Fay,\u201d said she, \u201cand Lonnie will write\nto the five little boys.\u201d\n\nSo they went into the library. Lonnie sat down in papa\u2019s big chair,\nwhile Fay climbed up on one arm, close beside him, and they tried to\nthink whom they would like to come to their party.\n\n\u201cMake out your list first,\u201d said Lonnie. Fay did, and her brother agreed\nto all the girls. But as soon as Lonnie commenced writing his names, Fay\nbegan to find fault.\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t like boys, anyway,\u201d said Fay, \u201conly you, Lonnie. Let\u2019s have all\ngirls at our party.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut it won\u2019t be my party,\u201d said Lonnie, \u201cif you have all girls.\u201d\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t care, all those are horrid,\u201d pointing to his paper.\n\n\u201cYou say that because you don\u2019t like boys.\u201d And then he told his sister\nthat every little fellow whose name he had written was just as good as\ngold. And so they were just as good as Lonnie Miller, and he was one of\nthe best boys that ever lived, so everybody said.\n\n\u201cI sha\u2019n\u2019t play with him if he comes,\u201d Fay kept saying to every name\nLonnie wrote.\n\n\u201cYou can have your party,\u201d said Lonnie, getting up out of the easy-chair\nand sitting down in a smaller one, \u201cyou and your girls. I\u2019m going to\nlearn some new pieces,\u201d taking up his little silver blower.\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t like boys,\u201d Fay kept saying, jumping down off the arm of the\nchair, and aiming a blow at the spot where her brother had sat with the\nrustic stick their sister Lucia had brought home May Day.\n\nLucia was passing the door just then, so she thought she would see what\nall the noise was about.\n\n\u201cI\u2019d better call you to lunch,\u201d said she, and there they were just\nthrough breakfast.\n\nMamma herself came hurrying in at sound of the bell. When they told her\nabout the invitations, she said, \u201cI shall not let you have any party at\nall, now.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat makes you change your mind?\u201d said Fay.\n\n\u201cMamma will give her little girl just one week to find out why she has\nchanged her mind,\u201d said Mrs. Miller.\n\nAnd for all Fay\u2019s coaxing, she could not be persuaded to stay a minute\nlonger.\n\n\n\n\nCLARA\u2019S \u201cFUNERAL.\u201d\n\nClara was the most unfortunate of dollies. She had had the mumps and\nwhooping cough; and no sooner did she recover from the scarlet fever\nthan she contracted pneumonia and nearly died. One morning Blanche was\napplying hot bandages to relieve bronchitis, and before night Clara had\nthe small-pox.\n\nThe next day mamma stopped at the nursery door.\n\n\u201cGood morning, little nurse,\u201d she said; \u201chow is poor Clara this\nmorning?\u201d\n\n\u201cShe\u2019s DEADED,\u201d said Blanche, with a long face.\n\n\u201cDreadful! What did she die of, small-pox? It seems to me that that was\nwhat she was suffering from last evening.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo\u2019m\u2019\u201d said Blanche, \u201c\u2018twasn\u2019t small-pox. She DID have that bad; but I\nthink she DIED of measles. The SUNERAL (Blanche could not say \u2018funeral\u2019)\nis to be at twelve sharp. Will you come, mamma?\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019m so sorry, darling, but I must go to lunch with Mrs. Mathews at one.\nBut Jack will go.\u201d\n\nThe \u201csuneral\u201d took place at noon, and Blanche and Daisy, Jack and old\nHector followed poor Clara in Benny\u2019s wagon to the grave yard at the\nbottom of the orchard. It was rather a jolly \u201csuneral,\u201d for they had\n\u201crefreshments\u201d under the trees afterward.\n\nIn the afternoon, as mamma, came up the orchard path, she was surprised\nto see a doll\u2019s foot and leg sticking straight up out of the ground.\n\n\u201cWhy did you leave her foot out in this way?\u201d asked mamma.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said Blanche, \u201cI thought perhaps she could get to Heaven\neasier.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nTHE CHICKADEE-DEE.\n\n     Little darling of the snow,\n     Careless how the winds may blow,\n     Happy as a bird can be,\n     Singing, oh, so cheerily,\n     Chickadee-dee! Chickadee-dee!\n\n     When the skies are cold and gray,\n     When he trills his happiest lay,\n     Through the clouds he seems to see\n     Hidden things to you and me.\n     Chickadee-dee! chickadee-dee!\n\n     Very likely little birds\n     Have their thoughts too deep for word,\n     But we know, and all agree,\n     That the world would dreary be\n     Without birds, dear chickadee!\n\n\n\n\nTHE CHILDREN\u2019S PARTY.\n\n     What a merry, merry rout!\n     See the wee ones dance about!\n     Dickie\u2019s leading off the ball;\n     There,--he almost had a fall.\n\n     Who\u2019s his partner in the whirls,\n     --Rosiest of all the girls?\n     But a doll--a DOLL you say;\n     Dancing in that sprightly way?\n\n     Well I never! Oh, see there,\n     See--just see those horses tear!\n     Meg and Madge will sure be thrown.\n     What a vicious looking roan!\n\n     Not a real live horse you say,\n     Prancing in that frightful way?\n     Well, I never! Toys to-day\n     Surely seem more \u201creal\u201d than \u201cplay.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nBRAVE TOMASSO.\n\nThere were once two very beautiful cats named Tomasso and Lilia. It\nwould be very hard indeed to say which was more beautiful than the\nother, Tomasso the husband, or Lilia his wife.\n\nThey were about the same size, although, perhaps, Tomasso was a little\nthe stouter of the two. There could be no question that at times the\nexpression of his face was decidedly more fierce than that of his gentle\nwife.\n\nThe fur of each of them was as white as the driven snow, and as soft,\nand fine, and glossy as the most perfect silk gloss.\n\nAdd to these natural charms the fact that they always kept themselves\nbeautifully clean, and always wore round their necks cravats made of the\nrichest satin ribbon, and I am sure you will agree with me in thinking\nthat they were cats of very high degree.\n\nTheir neighbors considered them extremely proud and haughty. They never\nwere known to play with any of the cats in their street. To be with each\nother was all they asked. Sometimes these neighbors took a great deal of\npains to get a glimpse of Tomasso and Lilia as, paw in paw, they danced\na minuet together.\n\nEven the most grumpy grimalkin declared it was a beautiful sight. There\nwas no doubt the young couple was very graceful and their manners were\nperfect. Then he said that cats brought up as Tomasso and his wife had\nalways lived, OUGHT to be amiable and beautiful. He understood that\na jar of Orange County cream was ordered for them every day. Then he\nmuttered something which sounded very much as if he thought Tomasso\nwould be not over courageous in a moment of danger. \u201cAlone, white tail\nis all very fine,\u201d said he, \u201cbut mark my word, at a sudden fright it\nwould turn into a white feather. I should pity his wife if she had no\none but him to protect her.\u201d\n\nNow it happened that that very afternoon Tomasso\u2019s courage was put to\nthe test. As he and Lilia were taking a quiet walk, suddenly a huge dog\nrushed out at them. In an instant Tomasso placed himself across Lilia\u2019s\ntrembling body. She had fallen to the ground in terror. The great dog\nmade a jump at Tomasso, but was met with such a snarl, and then such a\nblow from a set of sharp claws that he ran away howling.\n\nThat night the news of Tomasso\u2019s bravery spread through the whole\nneighborhood. But he was very quiet and modest. His proud wife was much\ndisturbed at a bad scratch Tomasso had received in the struggle. They\nboth examined it carefully with the aid of a hand-glass.\n\n\u201cI hope it will not leave a scar,\u201d said Lilia, \u201cbut if it does it will\nonly be a proof of the noble courage of my brave Tomasso.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nTOMMY FROST SEES A BEAR.\n\nTommy Frost was making his first visit in the country. He was enjoying\nit very much. He liked to ramble about in the woods close by the house\nof his aunt, Mrs. Drew. Tommy had never even seen any birds before this,\nbut pigeons and sparrows. That is, any birds out of cages. He had lived\nall his short life in the centre of a great city. He wanted very much to\nsee a wild animal. He had heard Mr. Drew and some of his friends talking\nabout \u201cbear tracks\u201d in the woods. Mr. Drew said they must go off some\nday and hunt for that bear.\n\nNow Tommy had no idea what a bear was like. He wished very much that he\nmight see one. Every day he said to himself, \u201cIf I could only find the\none the big men were talking about I\u2019d feel proud.\u201d One day as he was\nstrolling about, he suddenly saw something moving in one of the trees.\nHe stopped, and looked up excitedly, then he rushed for the house\nscreaming at the top of his voice, \u201cAunt Maria! Aunt Maria! come quick,\nI\u2019ve seen it, it\u2019s in the woods.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat is in the woods?\u201d asked Mrs. Drew.\n\n\u201cThe bear!\u201d cried Tommy.\n\n\u201cThe bear?\u201d repeated Mrs. Drew, hardly understanding.\n\nThen she drew a long breath and turned very white as she stood a moment\nshielding her eyes from the sun, looking in the direction in which Tommy\npointed. Then she ran back into the house, and came out in a moment,\nbringing with her a huge horn. It was a megaphone. She was trembling so\nshe could scarcely lift it, but she managed to raise it to her mouth and\ncall through it. \u201cJohn! Murray! come! come this instant! The bear is in\nthe woods back of the house.\u201d\n\nIn a few moments her husband and brother came running from the field\nwhere they were at work.\n\nThey stopped for no questions, but rushed into the house for their guns.\nBut as they came out Mr. Drew asked, \u201cWho saw it? When, where?\u201d\n\n\u201cI did,\u201d said Tommy, not a bit frightened, but feeling very excited and\nproud. \u201cI did, back there in a tree.\u201d\n\n\u201cIn a tree?\u201d cried Mrs. Drew\u2019s brother, stopping in his quick run for\nthe woods.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said Tommy, \u201cit was a bear, but it looked,--it LOOKED just like\nmy picture of a wiggle-tail.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh,\u201d cried Mrs. Drew, as she sank on the door-step, \u201cthe child has seen\na gray squirrel!\u201d\n\n\n\n\nMYSELF.\n\n     One little head so smooth and round,\n     With soft hair covered, golden or brown,\n     One little forehead smooth and white,\n     Two little eye-brows dark or light.\n     Two little eyes that we see through.\n     See us looking, now, at you?\n     Two little cheeks so plump and round,\n     Where the red rose of health is found.\n     Two little ears where sound comes in;\n     One little nose and mouth and chin.\n     Rows of little teeth all in white;\n     Ready for use when lunch is in sight.\n     One little tongue kind words to say--\n     Bright little smiles which round them play.\n     One little head where all are seen.\n     One little neck which stands between\n     Head and shoulders to hold them fast.\n     Now are we ready to find, at last,\n     One little body with arms and hands\n     Two legs and two feet on which it stands.\n\n\n\n\nTWO STRANGE SIGHTS.\n\n     \u201cOh come into the dining-room!\u201d\n      Cries Fred, \u201ccome, grandma, dear.\n     For something very strange indeed\n     Is going on in here!\u201d\n      And sure enough, when grandma comes,\n     Perhaps at first with fright,\n     She stands quite still, astonished at\n     An unexpected sight.\n\n     For there upon the woollen rug,\n     A jug between her feet,\n     Sits Freddy\u2019s little sister Bess\n     Absorbed in pleasures sweet.\n     Her finger in the syrup now\n     Behold she slyly dips,\n     And carries it with great delight\n     To her own rosy lips.\n\n     \u201cYou little witch!\u201d cries grandmama,\n     \u201cYou\u2019re like the naughty rat\n     I found within the cellar once,\n     Who on a barrel sat,\n     Filled with molasses, which he reached\n     By dipping in the hole\n     His great long tail from which he licked\n     The sweets he thus had stole.\n\n     \u201cThe rat was shot, but grandma\u2019s babe,\n     Well, till she\u2019s learned to know\n     Such tricks are wrong, why we of course\n     Must naught but patience show.\u201d\n      Then grandma took her little pet,\n     And washed her sticky face,\n     Then put that tempting syrup-jug\n     Up in a safer place.\n\n\n\n\nA CAT\u2019S INSTINCTS.\n\n\u201cTake that! and that! and that!\u201d These words came from an angry little\ngirl. She was leaning over a big gray puss which she was holding down\nwith one hand, while with the other she struck him a sharp blow every\ntime she said \u201cTHAT.\u201d\n\nIt is a wonder puss did not bite her, for he was so strong he could have\ndone so. He was a very gentle cat. \u201cGentle?\u201d I hear some one ask. Then\nwhy did he deserve such a whipping as the little girl was giving him?\n\nThat is a question we must try to have answered. For my part I do not\nbelieve he deserved it at all. Let us see what happened next. Just as\nthe little girl struck the last blow her Aunt Margaret came into the\nroom. Aunt Margaret stopped in the doorway, astonished.\n\n\u201cWhy Flora,\u201d she said, as puss darted out of the room, \u201cwhat are you\nbeating Griffin for?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat do you think he was doing?\u201d cried Flora, her cheeks still flushed\nwith anger. \u201cHe was on the table just ready to spring at this beautiful\nbird in my new hat. If I had not come he would have torn it to pieces.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut he knew no better,\u201d said Aunt Margaret, \u201cit is perfectly natural for\na cat to spring at a bird. Yes, and for him to kill it too, if he has\nnot been trained to do otherwise.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut it would have made me feel dreadfully to have this beautiful bird\ntorn to bits. I really love it. Besides, it was killed long ago.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said Aunt Margaret, \u201ckilled that you might wear it on a hat.\u201d\n\nThere was something in Aunt Margaret\u2019s voice which made Flora and the\nlittle girls who were visiting her stand very still and look up.\n\n\u201cYou say,\u201d continued Aunt Margaret very gently, \u201cyou say you love your\nbeautiful bird. That you would feel dreadfully if it were torn to bits.\nHow do you think its bird-mother felt when it was torn from her nest,\nand she never saw it again?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh,\u201d said Flora, \u201cI never thought of that before. I\u2019m afraid,--I\u2019m\nafraid I\u2019m more to blame than the cat.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nDINAH\u2019S NEW YEAR\u2019S PRESENT.\n\nDinah Morris is a colored girl. She lives in the South. By South we mean\nin the southern part of the United States.\n\nDinah is one of the most good-natured children that ever lived, but she\nis very, very lazy. There is nothing she likes, or used to like, so much\nas to curl up in some warm corner in the sun and do nothing.\n\nDinah\u2019s mother wished very much that her child should learn to read,\nbut the lady who tried to teach her soon gave it up. \u201cIt is no use,\u201d she\nsaid, \u201cDinah will not learn. She is not a stupid child, but she is too\nlazy for anything.\u201d\n\nIt happened, soon after this, that a young man from Massachusetts came\nto the house where Dinah lived. He brought with him something no one\nelse in the neighborhood had ever seen before--a pair of roller-skates.\n\nWhen Dinah saw the young man going rapidly up and down the piazza on\nhis skates she was so astonished she hardly knew what to think. She ran\nafter him like a cat, her black eyes shining as they had never shone\nbefore.\n\nOne day the young man allowed her to try on the skates. The child was\ntoo happy for words. Of course she fell down, and sprawled about the\nfloor, but did not mind at all.\n\n\u201cLook here, Dinah,\u201d said the young man, \u201cI understand that my aunt has\nbeen trying to teach you to read.\u201d\n\nDinah answered that she certainly had.\n\n\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you learn?\u201d asked the young man. \u201cYou need not trouble to\nanswer,\u201d said he, \u201cit was just because you are too lazy. Now, if, on the\nfirst of January, you can read, I tell you what I will do. I will send\nyou as good a pair of roller-skates as I can buy in Boston.\u201d\n\nHow Dinah\u2019s eyes snapped. For a moment she said nothing, then exclaimed\ndecidedly, \u201cI\u2019ll have those skates, sure.\u201d\n\nAnd she did. When she bent her mind on her work she could always do it\nwell, no matter what it was.\n\nThe lady who had before this found her such a difficult child to\nteach, now had no trouble. If Dinah showed the least sign of her former\nlaziness the word SKATES! was enough to make her bend her mind on her\nlesson instantly.\n\nOn New Year\u2019s morning she received a box marked in large printed\nletters:\n\n     MISS DINAH MORRIS,\n     Care of Mrs. Lawrence Delaney,\n     NEW ORLEANS, LA.\n\n     If she can read what is on the outside of\n     this box she can have what is inside.\n\nAnd as Dinah read every word plainly and quickly, of course she had for\nher very own the fine roller-skates the box held. And now sitting curled\nup in the sun, doing nothing, is not the thing she likes to do best.\n\n\n\n\nNIGHT FLOWERS.\n\nThere are some flowers that never see the sun. One of the most curious\nis the \u201cevening primrose.\u201d About six o\u2019clock it suddenly bursts open,\nwith a popping sound, and at six next morning closes.\n\nIf you watch that pretty flower, and listen, you can hear this strange\nperformance.\n\nThis is why it does so. The little calyx holds the petals in such a way\nthat the moment it turns back they are let loose. At once it bursts out\ninto full flower, with this funny noise, like a pop-gun.\n\nSo the \u201cnight-blooming cereus\u201d blossom in the night, only for an hour,\ngiving out its sweet fragrance, and then dies. Just think of never\nseeing the sun at all!\n\nIn a far Eastern country there is a kind of jasmine called the\n\u201csorrowful tree.\u201d It droops as if sick in the daytime, and at night\ngrows fresh and bright. It opens its lovely flowers with a very pleasant\nodor till morning, and then wilts and looks wretched again.\n\n\n\n\nTHE FIRST SNOW-STORM.\n\nAway off on a warm sunny island, little Harry Hall was born. Flowers\nbloomed all the year round. The sun shone most of the time, although now\nand then there were thunder-showers.\n\nMany wonderful plants grew wild, while on the shore shells and seaweed\nand queer little fishes were often to be found.\n\nWhen Harry was six years old his parents took a journey to New York.\n\nIt seemed very odd to the little boy to live in a place where there were\nso many people, and such great houses. After a while the weather grew\ncold, and he had to wear thick woollen clothing. The house in which they\nlived was heated by a furnace; but one day they had a fire of logs on\nthe hearth. Harry enjoyed it very much, and thought the bright blaze so\npretty.\n\nThe sky was gray and cloudy one afternoon, and Harry had been standing\nby the window watching the street cars. Suddenly the air grew thick, and\nhe could scarcely see the houses opposite. Something white and feathery\nfell slowly down and rested on the window ledge. Then it disappeared.\nBut more and more of the little flakes came, until there was quite a\nridge outside of the window.\n\nHarry opened the sash gently, fearing it might fly away. He was\nsurprised when he touched it to find it so cold. He took some up in his\nhand, but in a moment it was only a drop of water.\n\nBy that time the street and the men\u2019s hats and coats were quite white.\nHarry was puzzled to find a name for the beautiful white substance, so\nhe ran to his mamma and asked her about it.\n\nShe told him it was snow, and because the air was so warm on the\nbeautiful island where he was born they never had any.\n\nThe next morning he saw the little children of the neighborhood playing\nin it; but before noon the sun was so bright and warm the snow had all\nmelted away.\n\nWhen the second snow-storm came Harry\u2019s papa brought home a beautiful\nsleigh, and gave his little boy great pleasure by drawing him up and\ndown the street.\n\nHarry soon learned to go out by himself, and made many friends;\nespecially of the little girls, as he was very generous with his sleigh.\n\nBut he has never forgotten his surprise when he saw the first\nsnow-storm.\n\n\n\n\nFRED\u2019S STOLEN RIDE.\n\nOne day little Fred\u2019s mother, who had been sick a long time, told him\nshe was going out with a friend to take a drive. Fred wanted to go, too,\nbut his mother said there would not be room in the buggy. Fred felt very\ncross and unhappy, and sat down on the front steps, ready to cry as soon\nas he should see his mother go away.\n\nA buggy came to the gate, and the gentleman who was driving went into\nthe house. Fred ran out and climbed into the buggy to sit there until\nhis mother came out.\n\nIn looking around he saw there was a wide space under the seat, in which\na boy might hide. He crawled in, thinking he would take a ride, and his\nmother would not know it.\n\nHe waited a long time, but no one came, and at last he grew tired and\nfell asleep.\n\nHe was waked by feeling a big jolt, as a wheel of the buggy struck a\nstone; but he kept still. After what seemed to him a long time the\nbuggy stopped and he heard some one taking the horse from the shafts. He\nwaited until all was quiet, and then crawled out from his hiding-place.\n\nHe found it was almost dark, and everything about him was strange. He\nwas very much frightened, but he jumped down and went to a farm-house\nclose by. A woman he had never seen before came to the door. When he\ntold her where he lived she said he was fifteen miles from home, and he\nfound that he had taken his stolen ride in the buggy of a man who had\ncalled to see his father on business.\n\nIt was too late for Fred to go home that night, and he had to stay at\nthe farmer\u2019s house until the next day. Then he was taken home, and I am\nvery sure he never tried to steal another ride.\n\n\n\n\nA VALENTINE PARTY.\n\nThe children had a valentine party, the very nicest party,--they all\ndeclared, that they had ever been to in their lives. All the cousins in\nthe neighborhood--and there were a lot of them--were there.\n\nWhat fun they had opening their valentines, which a \u201creally\u201d postman\nbrought with his gray uniform and his whistle and his great leather\npack.\n\n\u201cDear me,\u201d he said, pretending to groan, as he handed the missives, \u201cif\nyou had a party every day here I think I should be completely worn out!\u201d\n But his eyes twinkled merrily.\n\nSuch shouts and exclamations as the valentines were opened and read!\nAnd such fun looking at everybody else\u2019s. Here are two, Bessie\u2019s and\nFred\u2019s:--\n\n     I\u2019m for the boy\n     Who can stand on his head,\n     And who NEVER likes\n     To go to bed.\n     If there\u2019s more than one of them,--\n     I\u2019m for FRED!\n\n     I bring a kiss\n     From far away;\n     It\u2019s travelled many\n     Miles to-day.\n\n     Take it, my dear,\n     And send one back\n     To your old, loving\n     Uncle Jack.\n\nDon\u2019t you think that the children OUGHT to have had a good time if all\nreceived as dear little valentines as these?\n\n\n\n\nTHE VENTURESOME RAT.\n\nHe was a fine young rat and lived with his father and mother, and\nbrothers and sisters in a farm-cellar.\n\nNow this young rat was not of a very quiet disposition. In fact he was\nquite gay, and thought the life in the farm-cellar was very dull and\nstupid and longed to see more of the world.\n\nHe sat near his father and mother one day when they were entertaining a\ncaller, a stranger who seemed to have travelled all over the world, and\ntold in a very interesting manner of the many wonderful things he had\nseen. \u201cWhy,\u201d said the caller, \u201chow you can be contented to live as you\ndo I cannot imagine, and to bring up your children in such ignorance\nfills me with surprise. They would learn more in one night prowling\nthrough the big house to which this farm belongs than they will learn\nhere for the rest of their lives.\u201d\n\nAfter this caller had taken his leave, the young rat decided that he\nwould venture forth himself. He would that very night visit the big\nhouse and see what was to be seen there. He pretended to cuddle down on\nhis own bed, and go sound asleep. He was really watching his parents\nout of the corners of his wicked eyes, and as soon as they were sound\nasleep, off he started. He found his way to the house much more easily\nthan he had expected; in short, almost before he could believe it, he\nwas in a fine great pantry. A pantry whose shelves were covered with\nsuch good things to eat as he had never seen. Rich cake, pies, cookies,\nand cheese such as he had heard the caller describe. The first nibble\nfairly melted in his mouth.\n\nAfter he had eaten his fill he began looking about the pantry for other\nmeans of amusement. Suddenly he saw a curious thing; it seemed to be a\nlittle house or hut made of wire. Inside the hut was a piece of cheese.\n\u201cI really think I have eaten enough,\u201d said the young rat, \u201cbut if that\ncheese is so fine that it is kept in a house by itself it must be very\nfine indeed.\u201d With these words he crawled into the hole in the side\nof the hut and ate the cheese, but when, later, he tried to get out he\ncould not to save his life.\n\nHours and hours he remained there until the night passed, and the day\ncame. Indeed he had fallen into a little nap when he was awakened by a\nloud cry. Some one was shouting, \u201cwe\u2019ve caught the rascal at last, now\nwe\u2019ll drown him.\u201d\n\nThe poor little fellow knew they were wrong; he could not be the rascal\nthey meant, for this was the first time he had ever been in the house.\nAt that moment a boy\u2019s voice was heard to say. \u201cLet me see him. No, you\nshall not drown him. I will tame him if I can.\u201d\n\nAnd so it came about that the young rat did see a good deal of the\nworld, but how? THROUGH THE BARS OF A CAGE.\n\n\n\n\nTHE BEARS\u2019 FEAST.\n\nA man had come to town with two tame bears. They were very clever bears,\nand could climb posts and trees, dance and turn summersets and do a\ngreat many other tricks besides.\n\nOne day the man was taken ill and had to stay in the house all day. He\nthought the bears were locked up in the barn. But the bears decided\nthey would go for a walk by themselves. They managed to get away without\nbeing seen and started in the direction of the schoolhouse.\n\nThe children were at recess when they suddenly saw the bears. They were\nfrightened and ran screaming into the school-house.\n\nThe bears were very tame and kind and wanted to make friends with the\nchildren, so they followed them.\n\nThe children jumped on the desks screaming and crying and the teachers\nwere frightened too.\n\nWhen the bears saw that they could not make friends or play they began\nquietly walking about the school-room.\n\nFinally they came to the dressing-room where all the dinner-pails and\nbaskets were hanging.\n\nSmelling the food, they managed to knock some of the baskets down and\nthen such a feast as they had!\n\nThey sat on their haunches and ate sandwiches and fruit and drank milk\nout of the bottles just as the children would do. When they had eaten\nenough they quietly left the school-house and trotted down the road\ntoward home.\n\nAfter the bears were gone the children became calm again and returned to\ntheir lessons.\n\nThe man and the bears disappeared the next day and were never seen\nagain.\n\n\n\n\nPATTY-SAYINGS.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve been reading Bible stories,\u201d Patty said, \u201cand I believe That\nAdam\u2019s name MEANT \u2018Morning,\u2019 Because his wife was \u2018Eve.\u2019\u201d\n\n\n\n\nBABIE\u2019S CURLS.\n\n     Little Bessie Boothby\n     Had a little sister Sue:\n     And a baby brother,\n     Whom she thought the world of, too.\n\n     Only one thing troubled\n     These dear little girls;\n     \u2018Though baby Tom was pretty,\n     He hadn\u2019t any curls.\n\n     They found a box of vaseline\n     And rubbed it on his head;\n     But even then no hair would grow:\n     It made his head quite red.\n\n     Bessie once was brushing\n     Dollie\u2019s golden hair,\n     When off it fell, alas! and left\n     Poor dollie\u2019s head quite bare.\n\n     Little Sue was frightened,\n     But to comfort, Bessie said,\n     \u201cSusie dear, do listen,\n     \u2018Tis just like babie\u2019s head.\n\n     \u201cLet\u2019s put the wig on baby Tom,\n     And then he\u2019ll have some curls;\n     I would not even be surprised\n     If he looked just like us girls.\u201d\n\n     When Mamma saw her baby boy\n     With all this growth of hair,\n     She laughed until she nearly cried,\n     At the naughty little pair.\n\n\n\n\nTHE RED APPLES.\n\nOne windy day in March Kitty Miller was on her way to school, when she\nspied in a store window, a great pile of lovely red apples.\n\n\u201cOh,\u201d she said, \u201chow lovely! if Mamma could only have one!\u201d\n\nKittie\u2019s mother was very poor. She had been a dress-maker ever since\nMr. Miller died, and had worked so hard to earn a living for herself and\nKitty that she had become sick. She was obliged to lie in bed all day,\nand when Kitty was away at school, the house was very lonesome to the\ninvalid.\n\nWhen Kitty reached the school that day her thoughts were full of her\nsick mother and the lovely apples.\n\nShe was usually a good scholar, but to-day she made so many blunders\nthat the teacher looked at her in surprise. The little girl could\nonly sit at her desk, with her book before her, and dream of those red\napples. When school was dismissed, Kitty started slowly homeward. She\nhad gone only a short distance when she saw a gentleman in front of her\ndrop his purse. Running quickly forward she picked it up. It felt quite\nheavy in Kittie\u2019s little hand.\n\n\u201cThere must be a good deal of money in it,\u201d thought Kitty. \u201cHow I wish\nI could keep it. Then I could buy Mamma a red apple and so many other\nthings she needs.\u201d\n\nBut she knew this would not be right, so she hurried after the\ngentleman. Touching him on the arm, she said, \u201cPlease, Sir, you dropped\nyour purse.\u201d\n\n\u201cThank you, dear,\u201d said the gentleman taking the purse.\n\nThen noticing how poorly dressed she was, he said, \u201cWhy did you not keep\nthe purse, my child?\u201d\n\n\u201cBecause that would be stealing,\u201d replied Kitty. \u201cBut,\u201d she continued\nhonestly, \u201cbefore I thought I must give it back to you, I did wish I\ncould keep it, for then I could buy Mamma a red apple.\u201d\n\nThe gentleman smiled kindly and said, \u201cYou are a good little girl to\nreturn my purse. I would like to give you a little present and then you\ncan buy a red apple.\u201d\n\nHe handed her a silver dollar and then bade her good-by.\n\nKitty was so surprised that she started hastily for home, forgetting all\nabout the red apples until she stood in front of the store.\n\nThe store-keeper happened to look out and saw the same little girl who\nstood looking so longingly in at his window in the morning. He quickly\npicked out the biggest, roundest, reddest apple he could find and taking\nit out to Kitty said, \u201cWould you like this, my dear?\u201d\n\nShe took the apple, looking so pleased and thanking him so prettily,\nthat the good man thought of it for many a day. When Kitty reached home\nwith her treasures she found her mother fast asleep. So she put the\napple and silver piece on a plate where her mother could see them when\nshe awoke.\n\nWhen Mrs. Miller was told the wonderful story, she kissed her little\ndaughter and said, \u201cYou see, dear, it always pays to be honest and\ntruthful.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nBUBBLES.\n\n\u201cNow, Tommie, what will you do while I write letters this morning?\u201d\n\n\u201cBlow soap bubbles, Mamma, please,\u201d and Tommie jumped up and down,\nclapping his hands for pleasure.\n\n\u201cWell, run and get me your pipe and bowl and I will mix you some suds.\u201d\n\nThe soap-suds were soon ready, and Tommie took his favorite position on\nthe broad window-sill with the bowl in his lap.\n\nMamma, writing in the next room, could hear the Oh\u2019s and squeals of\ndelight, as the bubbles grew larger and rounder.\n\n\u201cWhy is Tommie in all the bubbles?\u201d asked the little boy at last.\n\n\u201cBecause,\u201d said Mamma, \u201cthe bubbles are like a mirror, and when my little\nboy is near enough to look at them, he will be reflected in them, just\nthe same as when he looks in Mamma\u2019s long mirror.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut the mirror doesn\u2019t break like the bubbles,\u201d said Tommie. \u201cWhere do\nthey go when they break, Mamma?\u201d\n\n\u201cThey evaporate, dear; that is a big word for my little boy. Spell\nit after Mamma and then perhaps you will remember. E-v-a-p-o-r-a-t-e\nevaporate.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat does evaporate mean,\u201d asked Tommie bringing out the long word with\na jerk.\n\n\u201cDo you remember, dear,\u201d answered Mamma, \u201cthat early in the morning when\nthe grass is all wet with dew, my little boy cannot run in it without\nhis rubbers? But before long it is all dry and then my little boy takes\noff his rubbers and does not get his feet wet. The sun and the air\nabsorb or suck up the water and carry it off to their homes. Now, the\nbubbles are made of a little water and a little air. The water is on the\nend of the pipe, and Tommie blows the air into the pipe, and the bubble\ngrows big and round. When it breaks, the air sucks up the water, which\nwas the outside of the bubble, and the air which was inside mixes with\nthe air in the room.\u201d\n\n\u201cNow do you suppose you can tell Papa all about it, when he comes home\nto dinner?\u201d asked Mamma.\n\n\u201cOf course I can,\u201d said Tommie, proudly. \u201cHaven\u2019t you just told me all\nabout it?\u201d\n\n\n\n\nA HORSE WHO WORE SNOW SHOES.\n\nMr. Brown had to go to his camp at Pine Tree Valley, which is in the\nmidst of the mountains in California.\n\nHis men were cutting down the giant trees, and piling them in readiness\nfor the Spring freshet, or floods of the river, when the snows melted.\nThen they would slide them down the mountain sides to the little\nvillages below.\n\nThere was a great deal of snow on the mountains, and Mr. Brown knew it\nwould be hard work climbing to the camp, but Lady Gray was strong, and\nused to it.\n\nLady Gray was Mr. Brown\u2019s pet horse, and carried him everywhere. She was\nalways happy when her master was in the saddle.\n\nBut to-day the snow was very deep and soon Mr. Brown had to get off,\nthrow away the saddle, and lead her. They had to stop very often, and\nlean against the trees and rocks for support, while they rested and\nregained their breath.\n\nIn places the snow was so deep and soft, that they sank above their\nknees. Late in the afternoon they reached the camp nearly exhausted, and\nit was several days before they were able to return.\n\nThe snow was still deep and Mr. Brown knew he must go back on\nsnow-shoes, but he was afraid Lady Gray would have to be left behind.\n\nFinally one of the men suggested making her some snow-shoes. They cut\nfour round pieces of board, twelve inches across, and fastened them on\nwith rope. Lady Gray seemed to understand what they were for and tried\nvery hard to walk in them.\n\nShe was very awkward at first and could hardly stand up, but by\npracticing a little every day she was soon able to manage nicely.\n\nSo Mr. Brown and Lady Gray both returned on snow-shoes, and how every\none did laugh when they saw them.\n\nBut Lady Gray never could have done it if she had not tried.\n\n\n\n\nTHE ANGRY BOBOLINK.\n\n     Pretty little bobolink\n     In your satin coat,\n     Trimmed with white across the neck\n     Black about the throat,\n     Why so angry do you seem?\n     Why so fierce your mien?\n     That you\u2019re scolding somebody\n     Plainly can be seen.\n\n     \u201cDon\u2019t you know,\u201d says bobolink,\n     As he shakes his head,\n     That my nest is hidden in\n     This soft grassy bed?\n     Somebody has come too near,\n     And I wish to say\n     There is no admittance here\n     Pass the other way.\n\n     \u201cIf my gentle little wife\n     Sits so calm above,\n     It\u2019s because she knows I\u2019ll guard\n     This dear nest we love.\u201d\n      Fear not, pretty bobolink,\n     Sing your joyous song,\n     Never will I trouble you,\n     Sing, the whole day long.\n\n\n\n\nHOW HIRAM SPENT HIS SHRIMP MONEY.\n\n\u201cI wish my mother had a ring like those the ladies wear at the hotel,\u201d\n said Hiram Green to himself one day. \u201cThere isn\u2019t one of those ladies as\npretty as my mother; she ought to wear rings too.\u201d\n\nHiram was the son of a fisherman, but the fisherman had died when Hiram\nwas a little boy. Hiram\u2019s mother took in sewing and fancy work to earn\nmoney to support herself and her son. He helped her what he could out of\nschool hours, and in vacation. He had two uncles who wad taught him how\nto catch shrimps. With the money he earned by selling them he could buy\nthings for his own use or pleasure. He had a bank almost full of what he\ncalled his \u201cshrimp-money.\u201d He did not mean to count his money until the\nbank was full.\n\nNow Hiram loved his mother more than anything else in the world.\nWhenever he dreamed of being rich some time, as boys often do, it was\nnot for himself he wanted the money, but that his dear little mother\nmight drive in a carriage, drawn by a pair of horses with clanking\nchains.\n\nThe sight of the flashing gems on the hands of some of the summer\nvisitors at the fishing village in which he lived had added a new\narticle to the list of beautiful things his mother was some day to\nown. He had heard that just one single diamond was sometimes worth five\nhundred dollars or more. This had discouraged him very much. But one\nday happening to pass a shop in the neighboring town he saw a number of\nrings displayed in the window. Diamond rings which flashed and sparkled,\nit seemed to him, just as those worn by the ladies in the hotels. He\nstopped fascinated, ana pressed his face against the glass eagerly to\nsee if any prices were marked upon them. Imagine his surprise when he\nsaw upon the largest one a tag marked $4.75. He looked again to see\nif he had not made a mistake. Perhaps it was $475.00. But no, he knew\nenough about figures to see that he was right the first time.\n\nHome he went as fast as he could get there, and ran up into his bedroom.\nThen, for the first time since he had begun to save his \u201cshrimp-money\u201d\n he opened his bank and counted its contents. \u201cThree dollars and\ntwenty-two cents!\u201d he cried, \u201calmost enough. I was going to buy\nsomething for myself this time, but I\u2019ll have that ring before another\nweek.\u201d\n\nHiram worked early and late for the next few days. He caught more\nshrimps than he had ever caught in the same length of time, and sold\nthem readily.\n\n\u201cI think there must be something you are wanting, very much, my boy,\u201d\n said his mother.\n\n\u201cYes, there is,\u201d replied Hiram.\n\nAt the end of the week he had the sum he desired. Hurrying to the shop\nwhere he had seen the ring, before going inside he gave one hasty,\nalmost frightened look into the window. Could it be gone! No, there it\nwas flashing and sparkling as before.\n\nThat evening, he placed it on his mother\u2019s finger. She looked at it in\nsurprise. \u201cIt is yours, mother,\u201d he cried, proudly, \u201cyour very own, I\nbought it with my shrimp money. I was determined my mother should have a\nring as handsome as those ladies wear.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy dear boy,\u201d said his mother, while something as bright as the shining\nstone flashed in her eyes, \u201cNot one of those ladies can value their\nrings as I shall value mine.\u201d\n\nYears afterwards Hiram learned that what he had bought for a diamond was\nonly a bit of glass.\n\n\u201cDid you know it then, mother?\u201d he asked.\n\nHis mother nodded. \u201cAnd you never told me.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt was brighter to me than any real diamond,\u201d she said, \u201cthe brightness\nI saw flash in it was the unselfish love of my boy.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nTHE ANT\u2019S HOUSE.\n\n\u201cWhat a curious picture that is at the head of this story.\u201d That is what\nI think I hear some of the \u201cLittle Ones\u201d say. \u201cWhat does it mean?\u201d some\none asks. It looks like a procession of ants. That is just what it is.\nA procession of ants all marching off to find a new home. Some one has\ndestroyed their old one. Let us hope no one did it on purpose.\n\nThe ants are very busy and very nice little creatures. If their houses\nare stepped upon, or injured so as to be useless the ants immediately go\nto work to repair damages. They do not sit down and fuss about it first,\nbut I have no doubt they let each other know what they think. And how\ndo you suppose they do this? By touching each other with their tiny\nfeelers.\n\nAfter they have talked in this way, and decided what is to be done some\nof them take the eggs from the ruins and carry them to a safe place.\nLook carefully at the pictures, and you will see that almost every ant\nis carrying an egg. They know that if they lose the eggs all the young\nants inside the eggs will be lost too.\n\nWhile ants do not seem to have a very keen sense of hearing, their sense\nof smell is very strong. And where do you think it lies? In the same\nlittle feelers with which they talk to each other. The first ant\u2019s\nhouse seen in the round picture has been cut in two to show you how\nwonderfully these little creatures can build.\n\nIt was made by the ants that live in tropical countries. The house at\nthe back of the picture has not been disturbed. Does it not look as if\nan architect had planned it? Ask some of the older people in your family\nto tell you something more about ants. There is much more of interest in\nregard to them than I have space to write you.\n\n\n\n\nTHE FOOLISH PUG.\n\n     A pompous pug once thought that he\n     A dashing swell would try to be,\n     And on his neighbors one and all,\n     Sat out to make a stylish call.\n\n     He wore a glass upon one eye,\n     And on his head a silk hat high;\n     A wide, stiff collar around his throat,\n     And last an English overcoat.\n\n     So fine and splendid was his air\n     The very birds stood still to stare,\n     As walking on his two hind feet\n     He sauntered boldly down the street.\n\n     But oh, alas! it comes to all\n     To learn that pride must have a fall,\n     And e\u2019er the corner he had turned\n     Poor pug that bitter lesson learned.\n\n     A saucy maid with one great whack,\n     Brought down her broom upon his back,\n     And as he raised a frightened wail\n     Another soused him from her pail.\n\n     Poor pug! that night he sat and thought\n     Of all the trouble he had brought\n     Upon himself, because that he\n     A foolish dude had tried to be.\n\n\n\n\nTHE SILHOUETTE PARTY\n\n\u201cChildren,\u201d said Grandpa, one afternoon, \u201cI am going to build a bonfire\nthis evening, to burn up this rubbish, so you may have a silhouette\nparty.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, what is a silhouette party?\u201d asked Lucy, opening her eyes very\nwide.\n\n\u201cI know,\u201d said Ralph, \u201cit is funny black pictures on something white.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s right,\u201d laughed Grandpa. \u201cNow you fly round and write your\nfriends and Grandma and I will get everything ready.\u201d\n\nWhen the young people arrived at half past seven, they found a blazing\nfire, and in front of it was stretched a sheet between two large apple\ntrees.\n\nQuite a distance in front of the sheet were some seats, where Grandpa\ntold some of the children to sit, while the others took part in the\npictures.\n\nHe then disappeared with them in a tent close by where Grandma was\nwaiting to dress them in their different costumes. Shouts of laughter\ncame from the tent as the children put on their odd dresses; indeed\nthere was so much fun that it took quite some time.\n\nWhen all was ready Grandpa came out and addressing the children who were\nwaiting said, \u201cThese are to be Mother Goose pictures, which you will\nall know. You must guess whom they represent and the one who guesses\ncorrectly the largest number will receive a prize.\u201d\n\nHe threw a large pine knot on the fire, which burned up brightly, and\nthere the children saw a shadow on the sheet, a little bent figure with\na broom over its shoulder.\n\n\u201cThe old woman who swept the cob-webs out of the sky,\u201d cried some one.\n\nFollowing this, came a figure with a long cloak and tall peaked hat,\nleading a dog.\n\n\u201cOld Mother Hubbard,\u201d guessed another.\n\nThen came a boy and a girl carrying a pail.\n\n\u201cJack and Jill,\u201d chorused the children.\n\nAfter this a girl with a shepherd\u2019s crook.\n\n\u201cLittle Bo-peep,\u201d again was guessed.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d said Grandpa, \u201cit is time the others had their turn at acting.\u201d\n\nSo the exchange being made, the pictures continued.\n\n\u201cJack Horner,\u201d \u201cLittle Miss Muffet,\u201d \u201cOld King Cole,\u201d and \u201cMary, who had\na little lamb,\u201d followed in quick succession.\n\nThen Grandpa announced that the pictures were over.\n\n\u201cAs we cannot decide who has guessed the largest number of pictures,\u201d\n said he, \u201cI will give you each a prize.\u201d And he passed them each a card.\n\nIt proved to be a picture of Ralph and Lucy cut from black paper and\npasted on a white card.\n\n\u201cThese,\u201d said Grandpa, \u201care silhouette pictures too. Will you always\nknow what a silhouette picture is now?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh yes,\u201d said the children.\n\n\n\n\nTHE SNOW BIRDS.\n\nIt had snowed very hard. Ralph and Edward, who were visiting Grandma in\nthe country, had to stay in the house all day.\n\nWhen they went to bed it was still snowing, and every time they woke up\nduring the night, they could hear the wind sighing and whistling around\nthe house, and through he branches of the old pine tres.\n\nBut the next morning the sun was shining brightly. Such a glorious day!\nHow the branches of the pine trees did sparkle.\n\n\u201cIt looks as if they had been sprinkled with gold dust and diamonds,\u201d\n exclaimed Ralph.\n\n\u201cOh Grandma! Please do hurry breakfast. We are going out to build a\nfort,\u201d cried the boys, bursting into the dining-room.\n\nGrandma smiled and told them to eat a good breakfast, for building a\nfort was hard work.\n\nThey were soon out in the snow, and what a splendid time they did have.\n\nThe fort did not grow very fast, for they had to stop so often to\nsnow-ball each other.\n\nWhen Grandma called them in to dinner they wondered where the time had\ngone since breakfast.\n\nAfter dinner, Ralph was looking out of the window, when he spied two\nlittle birds cuddled up on a branch of a pine-tree.\n\n\u201cOh, Edward! come here,\u201d he called. \u201cSee those poor little birds. They\nlook half frozen and so hungry.\u201d\n\n\u201cPoor little things,\u201d replied Edward. \u201cDoesn\u2019t it make you feel mean to\nthink what a jolly time we had this morning out of the snow which has\ncovered up the places where they get their food?\u201d\n\n\u201cLet us get some food from Grandma and throw it out to them,\u201d said\nRalph. \u201cPerhaps they will find it.\u201d\n\nThe little birds were soon chirpping and flying about merrily and Ralph\nsaid it sounded as if they kept saying, \u201cthank you.\u201d\n\nWill not other little children be as kind as Ralph and Edward?\n\n\n\n\nA KIND HEART.\n\nThe day Ethel Brown was seven years old she had a tea party.\n\nMrs. Brown had sent tiny cards of invitation to all the little girls on\nthe street to come and bring their dolls. She also sent one to Nellie\nDay, her washer-woman\u2019s little girl, at Ethel\u2019s special request.\n\n\u201cShe is a nice little girl,\u201d said Ethel, \u201cand doesn\u2019t ever go anywhere\nlike me. May I have her at my party?\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is right, little daughter,\u201d said Mrs. Brown. \u201cAlways be kind to\nthose who have less pleasure than yourself. Of course she may come to\nyour party.\u201d\n\nThey all arrived at four o\u2019clock and looked very pretty in their white\ndresses and bright ribbons, and the dolls looked nearly as pretty as the\nlittle girls themselves.\n\nEthel noticed that Nellie Day did not have a doll with her. \u201cSo,\u201d thought\nshe, \u201cI will ask her to pour the tea and then she won\u2019t feel bad because\nshe hasn\u2019t one.\u201d\n\nThe little girls talked and played games and Ethel\u2019s grown up sister\nplayed on the piano and then they sang.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d said Mrs. Brown, coming into the room, \u201cif you will choose\npartners, Florence will play for you and you can march out to tea.\u201d\n\nDuring the confusion Ethel said to her mamma, \u201cI shall ask Nellie to\npour the tea because she has not any doll.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well, dear,\u201d answered Mrs. Brown.\n\nBut when they turned to find her, she was not with the others.\n\n\u201cWhere can she be?\u201d exclaimed Ethel.\n\nAnd then began the search. Tea was delayed and they hunted the house\nover for her. Finally Mrs. Brown went out on a side porch seldom used,\nand there she found the little girl.\n\nThe child had brought a cushion to sit on, and clasped tightly in her\narms were three of Ethel\u2019s dolls. Mrs. Brown persuaded her to come in\nwith the promise that she might keep the dolls.\n\nSo Ethel rang the bell, and they all marched in to tea again, with\nNellie Day leading the line, holding her three dollies.\n\n\u201cMamma,\u201d said Ethel, as the little girls were going home, \u201cmay I give\nNellie Day the dolls? I have so many and she has not one.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes indeed,\u201d replied Mrs. Brown, as she kissed her little daughter. \u201cI am\nsure it will make her very happy.\u201d\n\nAnd Nellie Day went home that night, the happiest little girl in the\ntown.\n\n\n\n\nTOWSER TALKS.\n\nI am not a big dog and I don\u2019t know very much, but I know more than I\nused to. The reason why I know more than I used to is because I asked\nCarlo some questions once. I asked him what made him so gaunt and thin\nand why he had such an enquiring expression on his face and such a hump\non the top of his head. He didn\u2019t answer right away, and--I noticed the\nenquiring expression vanished. He looked quite decided. Then something\nhappened,--I don\u2019t know exactly what, but Mary, the cook, told the\nbutler that it made her dizzy just to look on. And then Carlo said:--\n\n\u201cOne reason why I am gaunt and thin is because I am not a little\nup-start of a pug,--of no earthly use under Heaven, and nothing to do\nbut waddle around and accumulate fat.\n\n\u201cThe reason I have an enquiring expression on my face is because I am\never on the outlook to anticipate my master\u2019s will and do his slightest\nbidding.\n\n\u201cAs for the hump on the top of my head, that is a mark given by the\nCreator only to dogs that have intellect. Pray that yours may grow!\u201d\n\nThat is all he said, but it was enough for one day and has furnished me\nfood for thought ever since.\n\n\n\n\nJUST AS SHE PLEASED.\n\n\u201cNow, children, I am tired of you; I am going down stairs for the rest\nof the morning,\u201d and Polly started to leave the nursery.\n\n\u201cPut your dolls away before you go,\u201d said Nurse, \u201cI don\u2019t want them left\nin the middle of the floor.\u201d\n\n\u201cI won\u2019t. I did not put them there.\u201d Polly tossed her head and ran\nquickly out of the room.\n\nNurse had baby in her lap and could not run after her.\n\nThe little girl went to the kitchen, but cook was cross and said she\nwould not have Polly bothering her.\n\nThen she went to the library hoping to find her Uncle Edward, but he was\nnot there.\n\nShe wandered from room to room and could find nothing to amuse her.\n\nShe wanted to go back into the nursery, but she had told a lie when she\nsaid she had not put the dolls on the floor, and she was afraid to.\n\nShe felt lonesome and a few tears ran down her face.\n\nAt that moment Uncle Edward entered the room, and, seeing the doleful\nlittle face, took her in his arms, tossing her into the air.\n\nAs he did so, he knocked over a vase which fell to the floor, broken.\n\n\u201cOh! see what you have done,\u201d cried Polly.\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t care. I shall say I didn\u2019t do it,\u201d replied Uncle Edward.\n\n\u201cOh! But that would be a lie,\u201d said Polly.\n\n\u201cWell, who put the dolls on the nursery floor?\u201d\n\n\u201cNurse must have told you. But I am sorry,\u201d and Polly began to cry\nagain.\n\n\u201cThere, there!\u201d said Uncle Edward. \u201cWe will go up and tell Nurse we are\nsorry.\u201d\n\nThey went up to the nursery but Nurse and baby had gone and the dolls\nwere still on the floor.\n\nPolly wanted to play circus and Uncle Edward made believe he was the\nelephant and gave the dollies a ride. He kicked so once that black Diana\nfell off and broke her neck.\n\nAfter a while Nurse came in with baby and interrupted the frolic.\n\nWhen Polly told her she was sorry because she had told a lie, Nursie\nsaid she would forgive her and Polly promised not to do so again.\n\n\n\n\nTHE WORKING TOOLS OF INSECTS.\n\nI wonder if you know that the smallest insects you see about you have\ntools given them to do their work with. There is a little fly called\na saw-fly, because it has a saw to work with. It is really a very much\nnicer saw than you could make, if you were ever so old.\n\nThe fly uses it to make places where the eggs will be safe. What is more\nstrange, it has a sort of homemade glue which fastens them where they\nare laid.\n\nSome insects have cutting instruments that work just as your scissors\ndo. The poppy-bee is one of them, whose work is wonderful. This bee has\na boring tool, too. Its nest is usually made in old wood. This borer\ncleans out the nest ready for use. When all is ready the insect cuts out\npieces of leaves to line the nest and to make the cells. These linings\nare out in the shape of the cells. You, would be surprised to see the\ncare taken to have every piece of just the right size, so that it will\nfit. When they are fitted, the pieces are nicely fastened together and\nput into the nest.","title":"Cinderella; Or, The Little Glass Slipper, and Other Stories","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":19062}