Jack Tar,
who stood above it, fairly clapped his hands with glee. Two neat little
maids swept the floor, and two little men with their tiny brushes took
up the dust. The highest shelf in the book-case was soon mounted by one
of the pygmies, whilst two on the next shelf dusted and handed him the
books. The carpet-cleaner stretched and nailed down a corner of the
drugget which had been kicked up. The coachman, footman, butler, and
buttons stood in readiness to carry out the orders of Policeman X. It
was a good thing Policeman X was there; for quite a crowd had collected
to see the work so briskly going on. The three little pygmies climbed up
the rail of a chair to beeswax and polish it. A bookbinder sat
cross-legged on one corner, arranging the loose leaves of a book; and a
fat cobbler sat balanced on the rail below, singing, "A stitch in time
saves nine."

The work was soon done; and when Aunt Susan came into the room she
praised little Winnie, and said the white hen had laid her an egg for
breakfast.

Now, perhaps, you would like to know the names of the two fairies who
attended the little girls. The good fairy was called Work-with-a-will;
the bad fairy, No-will-to-work.

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HELPING MOTHER.

It was a lovely summer's day; there was a hot sun with a nice breeze,
and Mrs. Jones, who had a heavy wash on her hands, was delighted.

"I shall get all dried off before night," she exclaimed, as she hung out
the snowy sheets, and the children's shirts and pinafores, which latter
looked rather like doll's clothes as they hung on the line beside
father's great stockings.

Tommy and Jeannie, of course, were there too, and very busy, as they had
taken it into their heads to plant all the clothes-pegs they could lay
hands upon, under the idea that they would soon grow into cabbages!

"Dear! dear!" exclaimed poor Mrs. Jones, when she turned round, having
filled the line, and found out what her children had been after. "Did
any one ever see such children? I must get them away from the wash
somehow. See now, duckies, I'll get you some cherries off the tree, and
you'll play pretty on the bench, and let mother get on with her work,
won't you?"

"Yes, mother, we'll be ever so good," declared Tommy; and Jeannie, who
could not speak plainly, echoed solemnly, "Never good!"

So Mrs. Jones fetched a ladder and gathered some juicy cherries, and for
a long time the