be here!"

Just at this moment a man came galloping up at full speed, on a horse
covered with foam! It was Damon. In an instant he was on the scaffold,
and had Pythias in his arms. "My beloved friend," he cried, "the gods be
praised that you are safe. What agony have I suffered in the fear that
my delay was putting your life in danger!"

There was no joy in the face of Pythias, for he did not care to live if
his friend must die. But the king had heard all. At last he was forced
to believe in the unselfish friendship of these two. His hard heart
melted at the sight, and he set them both free, asking only that they
would be his friends, also.

CHARLOTTE M. YONGE

Honour and shame from no condition rise;
Act well your part, there all the honour lies.

POPE

THE WRECK OF THE ORPHEUS

All day, amid the masts and shrouds,
They hung above the wave;
The sky o'erhead was dark with clouds,
And dark beneath, their grave.
The water leaped against its prey,
Breaking with heavy crash,
And when some slack'ning hands gave way,
They fell with dull, low splash.

Captain and man ne'er thought to swerve;
The boats went to and fro;
With cheery face and tranquil nerve,
Each saw his brother go.
Each saw his brother go, and knew,
As night came swiftly on,
That less and less his own chance grew--
Night fell, and hope was gone.

The saved stood on the steamer's deck,
Straining their eyes to see
Their comrades clinging to the wreck
Upon that surging sea;
And still they gazed into the dark
Till, on their startled ears,
There came from that swift-sinking bark
A sound of gallant cheers.

Again, and yet again it rose;
Then silence round them fell--
Silence of death--and each man knows
It was a last farewell.
No cry of anguish, no wild shriek
Of men in agony--
No dropping down of watchers weak,
Weary and glad to die,

But death met with three British cheers--
Cheers of immortal fame;
For us the choking, blinding tears--
For them a glorious name.
Oh England, while thy sailor-host
Can live and die like these,
Be thy broad lands or won or lost,
Thou'rt mistress of the seas!

C. A. L.

THE TIDE RIVER

Clear and cool, clear and cool,
By laughing shallow, and dreaming pool;
Cool