ry quiet and still in the bay; the
gentle lapping of the waves as the tide rose was the only sound. As she
glanced round her at the gulls and then towards the cave, where Alan and
Marjorie still lingered, she became aware that the tide was coming in,
and that Thomas was nowhere visible. She was always timid, and a real
terror seized her now. With a frightened glance to see how near the boat
was to the water, she sprang up and rushed over to where her cousins
were standing.

'Alan! Marjorie!' she cried. 'See how high the sea is getting! Isn't it
time to go back? Where is Thomas?'

In another minute that question was exciting all the children. They
called to him, they searched the caves as well as it was possible for
them to do, but Thomas was not to be found, nor was there any answer to
their shouts.

(_Continued on page 22._)

A SEASONABLE ANSWER.

A seasonable answer was given by the minister Cyneas to the ambitious
Pyrrhus, King of Epirus, when that great conqueror began to speak of his
designs (B.C. 280).

'Well,' said Cyneas, 'when thou has vanquished the Romans, what wilt
thou then do?'

'I will then,' said Pyrrhus, 'sail over to Sicily.'

'And what wilt thou do when that is won?'

'Then we will subdue Africa.'

'Well, when that is effected, what wilt thou then do?' asked Cyneas.

'Why, then,' said Pyrrhus, 'we will sit down and spend the rest of our
time merrily and contentedly.'

'And what hinders thee,' said Cyneas, 'that without all this labour and
peril thou canst not now do so beforehand?'

PEEPS INTO NATURE'S NURSERIES.

I.--THE LIFE-HISTORY OF THE COMMON FROG.

How is it that people as a rule have such a dislike for frogs? Many
people, even those who live in the country, credit them with the power
of spitting poison, and even those who do not share this belief, regard
them as creatures to be shunned. Perhaps this short outline of the
life-history of these poor creatures, so unjustly 'sent to Coventry,'
may gain for them at least a favourable hearing. Frogs make most
charming pets, and I am never without a few on my study table. From
their lives these facts are taken.

Let us begin from the very beginning--the hatching out of the eggs.
Frogs' eggs and birds' eggs are really not so unlike as they seem at
first sight, for though the frog's eggs have no shell, yet, just as in
the bird's egg, there are two essential parts to be distinguished--the
formative material out of wh