as left there the other day by old Mrs. Merton," said Reka.
"The dog is her son's terrier; and his name is Beauty."

"He is any thing but a beauty," said Matty. "I think him the ugliest dog
I ever saw."

"I suppose they call him Beauty to make up for the bad word he gets from
every one as being ugly," said Reka. "He is a good dog, nevertheless;
and he knows that shawl belongs to his mistress.--Don't you, Beauty?"

Here Beauty tore out from under the shawl, and began barking in a very
intelligent manner.

"Now I will tell you what we will do," said Reka. "Put on your shoes and
stockings, Matty, and we will all go and call on Mrs. Merton, who is
ill; and we'll take back her shawl, and give her this beautiful bunch of
grapes."

"Bow, wow, wow!" cried Beauty, jumping up, and trying to lick Reka's
face.

When the children left Mrs. Merton's, after they had presented the
grapes, Henry Lane made this remark, "I'll tell you what it is, girls,
to see that old lady so pleased by our attention gave me more pleasure
than a big feast on grapes, ice-creams, and sponge-cake, with lemonade
thrown in."

DORA BURNSIDE.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

A TRUE STORY ABOUT A DOG.

I AM a middle-aged gentleman who is blessed with only one child, a
little girl now nearly six years old. Her name is Fanny; and her cousin
Gracie, who is about the same age, lives with us.

Both of these little girls are very fond of having me tell them stories;
and I have often told them about a dog I once had. They liked this story
so much, that they made me promise I would send it to "The Nursery," so
that a great many little girls and boys might hear it also. This is the
story:--

When I was a little boy, not more than eight
years old, my mother consented to my having a
dog which a friend offered to give me. He was a
little pup then, not more than five weeks old.
I fed him on milk for a while, and he grew very
fast. I named him Caesar.

When he got to be six months old, he became
very mischievous. Things were constantly being
missed from the house. Handkerchiefs, slippers,
shoes, towels, aprons, and napkins disappeared;
and no one could tell what became of them. One
day Caesar was seen going into the garden with a
slipper in his mouth; and I followed him to a
far-off corn