, here I get thyme, sage, and mint,
Sweet marjoram and savory;
(Cook says they always give a hint
Of summer, rich and flavory);
Here's caraway--take, if you will:
Fennel and coriander
Hang over beds of daffodil,
And myrtles close meander.
What's next to come, one may not know--
But then I like surprises:
Just here, where tender roses blow,
A tiger-lily rises.
Here cock's-comb flaunts, and columbine
Stands shaded by sweetbrier,
And marigolds and poppies shine
Like beds of glowing fire.
A group of honest sunflowers tall
Keep sentry in yon corner;
And close beside them on the wall,
The peacock, strutting scorner,
Spreads out his rainbow plumes alone,
Or stoops to pick a berry,
Where briers climb the mossy stone
Beneath those clumps of cherry.
Now we'll turn back: you've seen but few
Of my old-fashioned beauties,
But take away a nosegay new
To cheer you at your duties;
Take pansies and forget-me-nots;
Pluck pinks, bluebells, and roses,
And tell me if you know a spot
Where flourish fairer posies.
Grandma herself no lovelier ground
This side of paradise has found.

M.A.C.

[Illustration]

GREAT-AUNT PATIENCE AND HER LITTLE LION.

"What relation is she to me?" said black-eyed Fred, as he heard his
mother say that her Aunt Patience was coming to visit them.

"She is your _great_-aunt," said mamma; "and I want you and Bertie to be
very polite to her."

The little boys had heard their mamma say that Aunt Patience was "a lady
of the old school," and that she was afraid the children would trouble
her, as they were not quite so still as the little boys and girls used
to be forty or fifty years ago.

So Fred and Bertie stood somewhat in awe of this Great-Aunt Patience;
and when the dear old lady arrived, and papa and mamma went to the cars
to meet her, the two boys were watching rather timidly for the carriage,
at the parlor-windows.

As she came up the steps, leaning on papa's arm, little Bertie
exclaimed, "Oh, see, Freddie! she is not _great_ at all: she is as
little as a girl."

"Yes, and she laughs too," said Fred; "and her eyes are as blue as
mamma's, and her hair as white as a snowdrift."

Just then, the driver took off a strange-looking thing from the
carriage, and brought it up the steps. It was an old-fashioned trunk,
covered with stiff, reddish-brown hair.