. At nightfall a
gentle shower came, and by holding my mouth open I managed to relieve my
thirst a little. As soon as it became dark the birds and the sharks left
me, and presently, utterly exhausted, I fell asleep, leaning against the
flipper. I remember that I was quite conscious of the danger of falling
off my perch into the sea and drowning; but I didn't care. How long I
slept I do not know. It must have been five or six hours. I was awakened
by a heavy shock, and I found myself plunged into the sea. Involuntarily
I uttered a scream for help.

"'Great Scott! there's a man,' I heard a voice say. 'Hang on there, lad.
Catch this.'

"Plump came a circular white life-buoy into the sea, luckily falling
within my reach. A few minutes later a boat had been lowered away, and I
learned that my dead whale had been run down in the darkness by the ship
_Full Moon_, bound for Liverpool from Hong-Kong. And so I was taken to
England, with a pretty clear determination in my head never to go
whaling again."

JUNE FLOWERS.

Here and there a daisy?
And now and then a clover?
And once a week a buttercup,
And so the whole land over?

A rose within the garden?
A lily in the sun?
Does dear old Mother Nature
Count flowers one by one?

No; daisies by the acre,
And clovers millionfold,
The meadows pink with blushing,
The pastures white and gold.

And roses, like the children,
Abloom at every door,
And buttercups as countless
As the sand upon the shore.

Dear Mother Nature scatters
Her flowers on road-side edge;
She carpets every forest,
And curtains every ledge.

And then she sets us dancing
To such a merry tune,
For all the world is laughing,
And, darlings, this is June!

* * * * *

"Harry, here are three apples; now suppose I wanted you to divide them
equally between James, John, and yourself, how would you do it.'"

"I'd give them one and keep the others."

"Why, how do you make that out?"

"Well, you see, it would be one for those two, and one for me, _too_."

STORIES OF OUR GOVERNMENT.

WHAT OUR REPRESENTATIVES DO.

BY THE HONORABLE HENRY CABOT LODGE,

UNITED STATES SENATOR FROM MASSACHUSETTS.

[Illustration: HON. C. F. CRISP, SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE.]

It is not easy to describe in a short article an average day in the
House of Representatives. The great days are exceptional, and a sing