nd one day, before all the
school and a number of visitors, the prizes were presented to him. Now
besides the medal and lyre which every one who gained them valued very
much, there was something else which they thought far grander. A statue
of the prize-winner was placed in the school and crowned with laurel.

You may imagine how the boy's heart beat with joy as he saw the judge
step forward to crown his statue, but just at that moment Lucius caught
sight of a young man who had also tried for the prize, and who looked
most downcast and miserable.

Lucius sprang forward, seized the laurel crown, and put it on the head
of the poor fellow who had been unsuccessful.

"You are more deserving of it than I am," he said; "I obtained it more
on account of my youth than my merit, and rather as an encouragement
than as a reward."

Then the people set up a great shout of joy, for they knew that a noble
heart was worth more than all the poems in the world, and they gave a
new name to Lucius Valerius in memory of that day.

So Lucius was always called Pudens, which means Modest, and you may be
sure he valued his new title as much as he deserved it, for "Kind hearts
are more than coronets."

E. M. W.

THE CHILDREN'S OWN GARDEN IN OCTOBER.

The Flower Garden will now be fast losing its beauty, and the cold winds
and frosty nights will be everywhere heralding the coming of winter,
when, more through force of circumstances than choice, our Gardening
proclivities become considerably abated. Throughout the present month,
however, the remaining floral vestiges of summer are often numerous, but
especially so when the weather of early autumnal months happens to be of
a mild and congenial nature. By this season the greater number of plants
will have performed those functions, and have passed through the various
stages, which each and every year exacts. In the case of plants known as
annuals, an entire life is projected and perfected within the short
space of a few months. Various trees and shrubs will now be assuming
the rich autumnal tints, and the leaves rapidly drop at the approach of
winter, and vital energy is being stored up until the following spring,
when new leaves are produced.

* * * * *

The month of October is, notwithstanding its lack of floral ornaments,
one in which the amount of work to be done is by no means
inconsiderable, and the pretty little girl, with her hoe an