s away."

"I don't like such a fashion as that," cried Harry, decidedly. "Why,
they are regular cannibals."

"And what do the rest of the poor ants do for their honey?" asked
Willie.

"I fear they must pass a hard winter, if they do not die of hunger,"
replied Uncle Ben.

BEAUTIES OF THE UNDER-GROUND WORLD.

It has often happened that in the course of excavations in search of
minerals, the workmen have come upon some singular hollows or openings
in the rock, caused by convulsions of the earth or earthquakes, or
caverns through which torrents have flowed in former ages, and have left
them for nature to ornament in the most beautiful and fantastic manner.

You will understand how the natural caverns are formed that you may have
seen on the sea-coast; the moving waters, carrying with them gravel and
sand, enter the cracks and crevices in the rocks, and increase their
size by wearing away portions of the rock until caverns are formed. Some
of these are of immense size, and the extent of many is unknown.

Many caverns are lined with beautiful crystals, called _calcareous
spar_, or substances containing much lime, and generally colored by the
impurities of the water that has dropped on them. Sometimes these
crystals are of a pure white, and have, when the cave is lighted up, a
richness and transparency that can scarcely be imagined. Others have the
appearance of stone, moss, and shells, in every variety of color.

Caverns of enormous extent occur in Iceland; that of Gurtshellir being
forty feet in height, fifty in breadth, and nearly a mile in length. It
is situated in the lava that has flowed from a volcano. Beautiful black
stalactites hang from the spacious vault, and the sides are covered with
glazed stripes, a thick covering of ice, clear as crystal, coating the
floor. One spot in particular is mentioned by a traveller, when seen by
torch-light, as surpassing anything that can be described. The roof and
sides of the cave were decorated with the most superb icicles,
crystallized in every possible form, many of which rivalled in delicacy
the clearest froth or foam, while from the icy floor arose pillars of
the same substance, in all the curious and fantastic shapes that can be
imagined. A more brilliant scene, perhaps, never presented itself to the
human eye.

A WELL-MEANING LITTLE BUSYBODY.

BY MRS. L. G. MORSE.

They say I am full of mischief, but they don't speak the truth. Maria is
the only