turkey, but he was alive and
well.

She looked so astonished that suddenly her uncle understood all her past
troubles.

"Why, Bessie," he said, "did you think I would kill your pet? No,
indeed, but I told you he should be on the table Thanksgiving Day, so
here he is."

Then Bessie's uncle struck the turkey gently with his carving-knife, the
way the queen strikes a man with a sword when she makes him a knight.

"Behold!" said Bessie's uncle, "I dub you 'Sir Gobble;' you shall never
be killed, but die a natural death, and never be parted from Bessie."

WHAT IS IT?

What is that ugly thing I see
Which follows, follows, follows me,
Which ever way I turn or go?
What is that thing? I want to know.

If I but turn to left or right
It does the same with all its might;
It looks so ugly and so black
When o'er my shoulder I look back.

Sometimes it runs ahead of me,
Sometimes quite short it seems to be,
And then again it's very tall;
I don't know what it is at all.

I'll climb into my little bed,
And on my pillow lay my bead,
For when I'm there I never see
That thing in front or back of me.

JOHN'S BRIGHT IDEA.

Mrs. Meredith was a most kind and thoughtful woman. She spent a great
deal of time visiting the poor. One morning she told her children about
a family which she had visited the day before. There was a man sick in
bed, his wife who took care of him, and could not go out to work, and
their little boy. The little boy--his name was Bernard--had interested
her very much.

"I wish you could see him," she said to her own children, John, Harry,
and Clara, "he is such a help to his mother. He wants very much to earn
some money, but I don't see what he can do."

After their mother had left the room, the children sat thinking about
little Bernard.

"I wish we could help him to earn money," said little Clara.

"So do I," said Harry.

For some moments John said nothing, but, suddenly, he sprang to his feet
and cried:

"I have an idea!"

The other children also jumped up all attention. When John had an idea,
it was sure to be a good one.

"I tell you what we can do," said John. "You know that big box of corn
Uncle Sam sent us for popping? Well, we can pop it, and put it into
paper bags, and Bernard can take it round to the houses and sell."

When Mrs. Meredith heard of John's idea, she, too, thought it a good
one.