rue Maiden-hair Fern is
amongst the rarest of our native ferns. What is so commonly grown by
gardeners, and used for bouquets and buttonholes, is the Black
Maiden-hair, a rather stronger plant.

THE CONTENTED PANSY.

'I wish,' said the Pansy, 'I had not been planted
To catch the full force of the wind from the east;
But, somehow, the gardener takes it for granted
That that's not a hardship I mind in the least.
'Twas all very well while the laurel was growing,
Her glittering leaves were a capital shield;
But now she is gone, and the chilly winds blowing
Can whistle unchecked from the neighbouring field.

'The pinks and the roses are grandly protected,
They're touched but by winds from the south and the west;
Yet here, in exposure, I'm always expected
To blossom in colours my brightest and best.
The sun on my home his warm light seldom squanders,
And only when night is beginning to fall;
While if through the garden the honey-bee wanders,
He never looks twice at my corner at all.

'But light is my heart as the fairest of roses,
For yesterday morning, in kindliest tone,
I heard some one say, who was gathering posies,
"I'm fond of that pansy that blossoms alone."
Just think of it! Some one has noticed me growing!
I don't want the wind from the south and the west,
And, spite of the hurricane bitterly blowing,
I'll blossom in colours the brightest and best.'

HOW HETAIS WORE HIS MEDAL.

A True Story.

Hetais was a French sailor, a carpenter of the _Ville de Paris_, and he
and his ship-mates took part with our soldiers in the siege of
Sebastopol in 1854, where Hetais, having shown great gallantry during
one of the sorties, was adjudged that coveted decoration, the _medaille
militaire_--a medal that is only given to privates and non-commissioned
officers.

The presentation of this medal was to be made on a certain evening, and
on the morning, as he and his mates were on duty in the trenches, the
chief subject of conversation was the honour that had befallen Hetais.

He was a modest, brave-hearted fellow, and though much pleased at the
prospect of his medal, was pleased, too, to think of the treat he meant
to give his comrades to celebrate the event.

'Look here,' he said to his particular chum, 'I have just drawn out all
the money owing to me, and I mean you fellows to have a go