s, he clapped his
hands with delight; for there, rocking on the billows, was a beautiful
ship with sails as white as a lady's hands.

"I knew there would be a way!" said the little boy, as he sprang on deck
and went sailing over the deep blue sea,--sailing, sailing, sailing, day
after day, night after night, over the beautiful sea.

At night the stars would look down, twinkling and blinking; and as the
little boy watched them, he would say:--

"_Little stars, little stars, shining so bright!
Carry a message for me to-night:
My love to my mother, wherever she be;
I know she is always thinking of me_."

The little boy went on sailing, sailing, day and night, until he came to
a land beyond the sea,--a land so full of delight that the little boy
felt that his journey was ended, until one day when a great storm came.

The wind blew, the thunder crashed, the lightning flashed, the rain came
pouring down, and the little boy wanted to go home.

"I will find a way!" he cried at last; and, just as he spoke, the sun
came bursting out, the storm clouds rolled away, and there in the sky
was a rainbow bridge that seemed to touch both sky and earth.

Then the little boy's heart leaped for joy, and he ran with feet as
light as feathers up the shining bow; and when he reached the highest
arch, he looked down on the other side and saw home and his mother at
the rainbow's end.

"Mother! Mother!" he called, as he ran down into her arms. "Mother, I've
always been thinking of you, and God has taken care of me."

_THE OPEN GATE_

MOTTO FOR THE MOTHER

_Early teach your child, through play, to guard
that which is dear to him from the danger of loss_.

FROEBEL.

One bright summer afternoon, Fleet, the good old shepherd dog that
helped to take care of the farmyard, decided that he would step into the
barn to see his friend Mrs. Muffet and her two little kittens, for he
had not been able to chat with them for some time.

On his way, Fleet looked around to see that all was right. The weather
was warm and the hens were taking a dust bath under the apple tree, and
the brindle calf was asleep in the shadow of the barn. The ducks and
geese were at the pond, the horses were at work in a distant field, the
cows and sheep were in pasture, and only the brown colt kicked up his
heels in the farmyard; so Fleet barked with satisfaction, and walked
into the barn.

Inside he found Mrs. Muffet washi