ABLE.

The baby held it in his hand,
An acorn green and small,
He toyed with it, he tossed it high,
And then he let it fall!

He sought for it, and sorely wept,
Or did his mother know
(Though sweet she kissed and clasped her boy)
What loss had grieved him so.

Then he was borne to other lands,
And there he grew to man,
And wrought his best, and did his most,
And lived as heroes can.

But in old age it came to pass
He trod his native shore,
Yet did not know the pleasant fields
Where he had played before.

Beneath a spreading oak he sat,
A wearied man and old,
And said,--"I feel a strange content
My inmost heart enfold.

"As if some sweet old secret wish
Was secretly fulfilled,
As if I traced the plan of life
Which God Himself has willed!

"Oh, bonnie tree which shelters me,
Where summer sunbeams glow,
I've surely seen thee in my dreams!--
Why do I love thee so?"

ISABELLA FYVIE MAYO.

[Illustration: MATCHES.]

COMFORTABLE MRS. CROOK.

BY RUTH LAMB.

If Mrs. Jemima Crook happened to be in a very good temper, when taking
a cup of tea with some old acquaintance, she would sometimes allude to
her private affairs in these words: "I don't deny it; Crook has left
me comfortable." This was not much to tell, for Mrs. Crook was not
given to confidences, and a frequent remark of hers was: "I know my
own business, and that is enough for me. I don't see that I have any
call to fill other people's minds and mouths with what does not
concern them."

Seeing, however, that Mrs. Crook's own mind and heart were entirely
filled by Mrs. Crook herself, it was, perhaps, as well that she should
not occupy too much of the attention and affection of her neighbors.

It is a poor, narrow heart, and a small mind, that find self enough to
fill them; but these sorts are not unknown, and Mrs. Crook was a
sample of such.

When she spoke of having been left "comfortable" by her deceased
partner, there was a look of triumph and satisfaction on her face, and
a "No-thanks-to-any-of-you" kind of tone in her voice, that must have
jarred on the ear of a listener.

No one ever saw a tear in Mrs. Crook's eye, or heard an expression of
regret for the loss of "Crook" himself. He had been dead and out of
sight and mind almost these ten years past. He was me