"

"To-morrow! I want it now, to-day," said her friend, "to-day's better
than to-morrow."

Lily looked at the child and then at the dandelion. "I suppose it
would be mean to keep it," she said, "but it is so lovely--_can't_ you
wait?"

"Oh, well, keep it, you stingy girl!"

[Illustration: {THE LITTLE GIRL ASKS FOR THE DANDELION.}]

"Come and pick it yourself, then," said Lily, with tears in her eyes.

The next day, when Lily went into the yard, there were a dozen golden
dandelions, like stars in the grass, and a little blue violet was
blooming all alone by itself.

MARY N. PRESCOTT.

[Illustration: {A GIRL AND BOY WALK ALONG A ROAD.}]

WHERE?

Where is the honey-bee?
Where has the swallow flown?
Only the chickadee
Chirrups his song alone.

Where is the bobolink,
Bubbling with merriment?
What was the road, think,
The gadding fire-fly went?

Whither flew the little wings
Grown in green forest aisles?
Where are the pretty things
That blossomed miles on miles?

MARY N. PRESCOTT.

[Illustration: {THE GOAT ON THE RAILROAD TRACK.}]

A GOAT IN TROUBLE.

A few weeks ago, as I was crossing a railroad track just outside of
the city, a little goat stepped before me. With a sad cry, she seemed
to ask me to stop. I turned aside to pass on, but she kept brushing
against me, until I finally decided to find out what she wanted.

The goat had wandered from her usual browsing place. In crossing the
railroad track she had caught her chain on a rail, and could not get
away. I stooped down and let her loose. Then she pressed against me as
if to thank me, and bounded off quickly to her old pasture.

If we would always listen to the cries of animals in distress, we
might do a great deal of good. Just after I had released the goat, a
train of cars came rushing along, and she would certainly have been
killed if I had not attended to her.

L. B. P.

[Illustration: {THE BIRD SINGING.}]

A NEGRO MELODIST.

It has often been remarked that in the bird world the rule is for the
males to have the brilliant plumage, with all the beautiful colors and
for the females to be the dowdy ones--a rule which would entail a
revolution in fashions, startling and ludicrous, if it were to be
introduced for variety among our own kind. Again, gaily-dressed birds
have the least ple