illow, and got hardly a wink of sleep; for, all
night long, his fancy was painting pictures in the darkness. In the
morning, he hurried to the garret, and was seen no more till the
dinner-hour; nor did he give himself time to eat more than a mouthful or
two of food, before he hurried back to the garret again. The next day, and
the next, he was just as busy as ever; until at last his mother thought it
time to ascertain what he was about. She accordingly followed him to the
garret.

On opening the door, the first object that presented itself to her eyes
was our friend Benjamin, giving the last touches to a beautiful picture.
He had copied portions of two of the engravings, and made one picture out
of both, with such admirable skill that it was far more beautiful than the
originals. The grass, the trees, the water, the sky, and the houses, were
all painted in their proper colors. There, too, was the sunshine and the
shadow, looking as natural as life.

"My dear child, thou hast done wonders!" cried his mother.

The good lady was in an ecstasy of delight. And well might she be proud of
her boy; for there were touches in this picture, which old artists, who
had spent a lifetime in the business, need not have been ashamed of. Many
a year afterwards, this wonderful production was exhibited at the Royal
Academy in London.

When Benjamin was quite a large lad, he was sent to school at
Philadelphia. Not long after his arrival, he had a slight attack of fever,
which confined him to his bed. The light, which would otherwise have
disturbed him, was excluded from his chamber by means of closed wooden
shutters. At first, it appeared so totally dark, that Ben could not
distinguish any object in the room. By degrees, however, his eyes became
accustomed to the scanty light.

He was lying on his back, looking up towards the ceiling, when suddenly he
beheld the dim apparition of a white cow, moving slowly over his head! Ben
started, and rubbed his eyes, in the greatest amazement.

"What can this mean?" thought he.

The white cow disappeared; and next came several pigs, who trotted along
the ceiling, and vanished into the darkness of the chamber. So lifelike
did these grunters look, that Ben almost seemed to hear them squeak.

"Well, this is very strange!" said Ben to himself.

When the people of the house came to see him, Benjamin told them of the
marvellous circumstance which had occurred. But they would not believe
him.

"Ben