lantern go by, he called, and his father came.

"What are you doing here, sir?"

"Nothing," said Que.

"Get up, then."

"I can't," said Que.

"You've been asleep, sir."

"Yes, sir," said Que.

"What have you done with the mail-bag?"

"It is the mail-bag that's done with me," said Que.

Then his father took him by the collar, and stood him up, and saw at
once what was the matter. Que had sprained his ankle.

It seemed to Que, during the next four weeks, as if that ankle never
would heal; but it did at last, and John Lee, who had carried the mail
in the mean time, was loath to give the job to Que again. He felt for
Que through his pain, but charged him one twelfth of fifty dollars for
doing his work a month, and would like to do it a while longer.

There isn't much more to tell of Que as a mail-boy. The end of the
year found him the possessor of forty-five dollars and five shillings.

The next year the Point afforded a horse, and Que took the mail on the
horse's back; the year following they had a horse and wagon, and Que
drove that; when they have a railway I have no doubt Que will be a
conductor; and when the mail is blown through a tunnel, Que, of
course, will blow it.

Even the second snag, you see, needn't lay you a dead weight on the
earth.

MARY B. HARRIS.

WHAT THE CLOCK SAYS.

The clock's loud tick
Says, "Time flies quick."
"Listen," says the chime;
"Make the most of time,
For remember, young and old,
Minutes are like grains of gold;
Spend them wisely, spend them well,
For their worth can no man tell."

[Illustration: THE SNOW-FALL.]

THE SNOW-FALL.

Old Winter comes forth in his robe of white,
He sends the sweet flowers far out of sight,
He robs the trees of their green leaves quite,
And freezes the pond and the river;
He has spoiled the butterfly's pretty nest,
And ordered the birds not to build their nest,
And banished the frog to a four months' rest,
And makes all the children shiver.

Yet he does some good with his icy tread,
For he keeps the corn-seeds warm in their bed,
He dries up the damp which the rain had spread,
And renders the air more healthy;
He taught the boys to slide, and he flung
Rich Christmas gifts o'er the old and young,
And when cries for food from the poor were wrung,
He opened the pu