fat;
It may be all the fun you have in barn-loft warm and dry;
It may be mice you try to catch as by their hole you lie.

Perhaps you think of trees to climb, with birds that sing up there,
They always get away from you, although you creep with care.
Perhaps you think of warm, green grass, and basking in the sun,
Or of your ball, that slides so fast as after it you run.

I hope you think of me, sometimes, because I love you well;
I hope you love me back again, although you cannot tell;
And how I know you're thinking (it's a secret that I've found),
Is 'cause I hear, close to my ear, your thought-wheels going round.

THE SMALL GRAY MOUSE

BY NATHAN HASKELL DOLE

The small gray Mouse ran East
And the small gray Mouse ran West
And could not tell in the least
Which way was best.

The small gray Mouse ran North
And the small gray Mouse ran South
And scurried back and forth
To escape the Kitten's dreadful teeth-lined mouth!

But Kitty thought it precious fun
To see the panting Mousie run,
And when it almost got away
Her furry paw upon its back would lay.

But Kitty grew too vain and sure;
She thought she had the Mouse secure;
She turned her head, she shut her eyes.
That was not wise,
And ere she knew
The gray Mouse up the chimney flew,
Where dainty cats could not pursue.
So she had nothing else to do
But miew--oo--oo--!

[Illustration: "YOU MAKE SO MUCH NOISE I CAN'T SLEEP!"
FROM THE PAINTING BY J. H. DOLPH.]

THE RABBIT, THE TURTLE, AND THE OWL

The little girl and the little boy stood in the corn-field near the
hollow tree where the Owl lived. The corn was in shocks like wigwams,
and the yellow pumpkins lay on the ground. The Turtle came up from the
brook below the corn-field, and stuck his head out of his shell to
watch. The Rabbit sat on the edge of the slope, with his ears sticking
straight up, to listen.

The sleepy Owl stirred behind his knot-hole.

"Don't you think," said the little boy, "that the Rabbit--"

"And the Turtle--" said the little girl.

"And the Owl," went on the little boy, "should have a Thanksgiving
dinner?"

"Yes, a good dinner," replied the little girl, "right here in the
corn-field."

"We could have a pumpkin table," said the little boy.

"And pumpkin chairs," said the little girl.

So, a