A cowardly set,
Who waited for John to be gone,
That they might get
A chance to upset
The plans of the planter of corn.

They were no kin to John,
Though they bore his name
And belonged to the family Crow;
He'd scorn to claim
Any part of the fame
That is theirs wherever you go.

So he has stuck to the field
And watched the corn,
And been watched by the crows from the hill;
Till at length they're gone,
And so is the corn--
They away, and it to the mill.

Now the work is done,
And it's time for play,
For which John is glad I know;
For though made of hay,
If he could he would say,
"It's stupid to be a scarecrow."

But though it is stupid,
And though it is slow,
To fill such an humble position;
To be a _good_ scarecrow
Is better I know
Than to scorn a lowly condition.

SILVER LOCKS AND THE BEARS.

Versified by Mrs. Clara Doty Bates.

Silver Locks was a little girl,
Lovely and good;
She strayed out one day
And got lost in the wood,
And was lonely and sad,
Till she came where there stood
The house which belonged to the Bears.

She pulled the latch string,
And the door opened wide;
She peeped softly first,
And at last stepped inside;
So tired her little feet
Were that she cried,
And so hungry she, sobbed to herself.

She did not know
Whether to stay or to go;
But there were three chairs
Standing all in a row,
And there were three bowls
Full of milk white as snow,
And there were three beds by the wall.

But the Father Bear's chair
Was too hard to sit in it,
And the Mother Bear's chair
Was too hard to sit in it;
But the Baby Bear's chair
Was so soft in a minute
She had broken it all into pieces.

And the Father Bear's milk
Was too sour to drink,
And the Mother Bear's milk
Was too sour to drink;
But the Baby Bear's milk
Was so sweet, only think,
When she tasted she drank it all up.

And the Father Bear's bed
Was as hard as a stone,
And the Mother Bear's bed
Was as hard as a stone;
But the Baby Bear's bed
Was so soft she lay down,
And before she could wink was asleep.

By and by came the scratch
Of old Father Bear's claw,
And the fumbling knock
Of old Mother Bear's paw,
And the l