ll hurt.

"It's all very well for you to laugh!" he said, when he had got up
again; "but that was the best catch I've ever had, and the wretched
fish must have got off the hook!"

Rita grew very thoughtful. Could her dream have been true? It really
did seem strange. Anyway, although she felt sorry for Frank, she could
not help feeling very pleased that the poor little fish had got free!

_Edith Robarts._

Merry Folk.

[Illustration:]

Merry folk tiny, merry folk tall,
Happy as can be, here they are all,
Spending the holidays 'midst the flowers,
Laughing away the joyous hours!

Merry folk sunny, merry folk sweet,
Pleasant to look at, happy to meet,
Nothing but smiling, never a sigh,
They are so glad to be here, that's why!

Merry girls dancing under the trees,
With their curls floating out on the breeze,
Merry boys playing all the day through,
Here you will find them waiting for you.

[Illustration:]

Why are they merry? I'll tell you why:
They know you will see them by-and-by;
They know that you all are going to look
At them in this merry picture-book.

[Illustration: TOBOGGANING.]

Auntie's Tea-Tray.

[Illustration:]

"Auntie dear, will you buy Molly and me a toboggan? There's such a
lovely slide on Heath Hill, and Toddy Graham and the Earles have
toboggans, and we want one too."

Auntie looked up from her sewing and shook her head. "No, my dears, I
can't. Run out and play with your hoops instead," she said, and then
she went on with her work.

Charlie _was_ angry. "I'm ever so much bigger than Toddy Graham," he
said indignantly, "and his mother lets him have a toboggan. It's a
shame! But never mind, Molly; we'll go all the same. I've got an idea.
You go to the hill and I'll come presently."

Molly trotted away, and in a minute or two Charlie came running
towards her, carrying his auntie's best tea-tray. "I had an awful
bother to get it," he said. "Jane saw me with the old one and took it
away; but I remembered this one was upstairs in auntie's room, so I
fetched it without anyone seeing me."

"But what's the good of a tea-tray?" asked Molly.

"Toboggan, you silly; come along," Charlie answered shortly; and in
another minute the two children were spinning away down the hill.

The first journey was most successful, but on the second. Charlie
forgot that a tea-tray requires careful management and good steering,