hand. "Peep!" they said sweeping the ground
with their tails, and blinking with one eye at the roses, they had not
looked at them long before they were convinced that they were their
old neighbours. And so they really were. The painter who had drawn the
rose-bush near the ruined house, had afterwards obtained permission to
dig it up, and had given it to the architect, for finer roses had
never been seen. The architect had planted it upon Thorwaldsen's
grave, where it bloomed as an emblem of 'the beautiful' and yielded
fragrant red rose-leaves to be carried as mementoes to distant lands.

"Have you obtained an appointment here in the city?" asked the
sparrows. The roses nodded; they recognized their grey neighbours
and were pleased to see them again. "How glorious it is to live and to
bloom, to see old friends again, and happy faces every day. It is as
if every day were a festival." "Peep!" said the sparrows. "Yes, they
are really our old neighbours; we remember their origin near the pond.
Peep! how they have got on. Yes, some succeed while they are asleep.
Ah! there's a faded leaf; I can see that quite plainly." And they
pecked at it till it fell off. But the tree stood there fresher and
greener than ever; the roses bloomed in the sunshine on
Thorwaldsen's grave and became associated with his immortal name.

THE NIGHTINGALE

In China, you know, the emperor is a Chinese, and all those
about him are Chinamen also. The story I am going to tell you happened
a great many years ago, so it is well to hear it now before it is
forgotten. The emperor's palace was the most beautiful in the world.
It was built entirely of porcelain, and very costly, but so delicate
and brittle that whoever touched it was obliged to be careful. In
the garden could be seen the most singular flowers, with pretty silver
bells tied to them, which tinkled so that every one who passed could
not help noticing the flowers. Indeed, everything in the emperor's
garden was remarkable, and it extended so far that the gardener
himself did not know where it ended. Those who travelled beyond its
limits knew that there was a noble forest, with lofty trees, sloping
down to the deep blue sea, and the great ships sailed under the shadow
of its branches. In one of these trees lived a nightingale, who sang
so beautifully that even the poor fishermen, who had so many other
things to do, would stop and listen. Sometimes, when they went at
night to spread their net