_1st Maiden._ "Oh, Spring is here, the golden sun
Has routed Winter's gloom!"

_2nd Maiden._ "Good gracious! Jane has not _begun_
To scrub the dining-room!"

_1st Maiden._ "And now the first sweet buds appear,
Symbolic of new hope."

_2nd Maiden._ "I didn't say 'carbolic,' dear,
I want the _yellow_ soap."

_1st Maiden._ "Like nectar is the morning dew,
Its purity divine
Refreshes all the earth anew."

_2nd Maiden._ "Ah! here's the turpentine."

_1st Maiden._ "And crystal webs shine bright, as though
Spun on some fairy loom."

_2nd Maiden._ "A spider's web? I didn't know;
I'll run and fetch the broom!"

_1st Maiden._ "Blooms Nature scatters, fresh and free,
From out her treasure-house."

_2nd Maiden._ "I'll dust this cupboard thoroughly."

_Both together._ "Oh, horrors! There's a _mouse_!"

[Sidenote: A Canadian boy and girl together were at one moment as happy
as youth and health could make them, and at the next in imminent danger
of their lives.]

Out of Deadly Peril

BY

K. BALFOUR MURPHY

What on earth had happened to Gladys Merritt?

In the course of a few short weeks the girl was transformed from the
merriest, most light-hearted creature into one often thoughtful, silent,
and serious. The question then was, Why had she suddenly changed
completely? Many guessed, but only two knew the real reason.

Barrie, where Judge Merritt lived, lies at the head of lovely little
Lake Simcoe, in Western Ontario, Canada. In summer the lake is blue as
the heavens above, the borders of it are fringed with larch and maple
that grow right down to the rippling edge and bow to their own
reflections in the clear waters beneath, while on its glassy surface can
be seen daily numbers of boats and launches, the whole scene animated by
merry voices of happy folks, with picnic baskets, bound for the woods,
or others merely seeking relief from the intense heat on shore. Work is
finished early in the day in the Colonies, and when school is over and
the scorching sun begins slowly to sink to rest, social life begins.

But in Canada wint