only one which escaped the pestilence. Hence
arose the pious inscription of the grateful tenant.

An Ancient Monster.

Once upon a time, so long ago that I cannot tell when, strange creatures
lived on land and sea. They have all died out now, but their bones are
sometimes found in a fossil state, and by means of them scientific men
have been able to construct, or piece together, as it were, these
old-world monsters. You will see the picture of one of them in the new
Pocket-book heading. It is called by the long name "Ichthyosaurus"--a
Greek term meaning "fish-reptile." This animal was a huge creature
something like a crocodile, with four paddles and a tail, and its native
element was water. It had a large head with big eyes, and its jaws were
well filled with terrible teeth. It possessed features in common with
fishes as well as with reptiles, and hence its compound name.

Arabs of the Soudan.

Little folk who read their newspapers know something of the dauntless
courage of the Soudanese Arabs. The Soudan is a desert of vast extent,
partly bordering upon the boundaries of Upper Egypt. It is inhabited by
wandering Arabs and some other peoples. They are, most of them, quite
fearless, and even when opposed to British forces have shown a courage
worthy of their foes. Armed--like the one drawn in our heading--with
spear and shield--for but a few of them owned rifles and fired them
unskilfully--they rushed again and again right up to the serried ranks
of the British soldiers. These Arabs have several vices, but no one has
denied them the highest degree of bravery.

A Lesson in Charity.

It is related of the late Mr. Peter Cooper, an American benefactor, that
he was one day watching the pupils in the portrait class connected with
the Women's Art School of Cooper Institute. About thirty pupils were
engaged in drawing likenesses of the same model from various points of
view--some in profile, some full face, some nearer and others farther
from the light, and so forth. After studying the scene for a while Mr.
Cooper said, "Such a sight as this should be a lesson in charity, when
we perceive how the same person may be so different, according to the
way he is looked at by various people."

The Busy Bee.

Few little folk have any idea of the labour that bees have to expend in
the gathering of honey. Here is a calculation, which will show how
industrious the "busy" bee really is. Let us suppose the insects confine
t