eldom have seen.
Look! there in the distance it flutters once more,
Now right and now left by the summer-house door.'
And like one bewitched he set off at a bound,
Though jungles of grasses grew thickly around.

'Heed not,' cried the other, 'so simple a thing;
'Tis nothing on earth but a butterfly's wing.
They flit through the garden all hours of the day,
They turn to each bud in a purposeless way,
And many a time have they halted to see
What fun could be made of my neighbours and me.
But who cares for them? On their way let them go.
When the summer has passed they have nothing to show,
While one of our efforts more profit will bring
Than ten thousand strokes of a butterfly's wing.
Come! back to our work.'
And without more ado
He dug 'neath the soil where an artichoke grew.

The little ant followed, and though I must say
He worked in a rather preoccupied way,
He owned that to duty 'twas better to cling
Than follow the flight of a butterfly's wing.

'THOSE HORRID BOYS.'

[Illustration]

Dora and Nellie were on a visit to their grandfather, and, as Nellie
said, they might be having a lovely time if it were not for 'those
horrid boys.'

'I wish Grandfather would not ask us all at the same time,' sighed
Nellie. 'It quite spoils our fun.'

But Grandfather thought it was a good thing for the cousins to meet,
though Tom and Frank were a few years older than Dora and Nellie. The
two little girls would have thoroughly enjoyed their yearly visit to
Grandfather's, if it had not been for Tom and Frank's unmerciful
teasing. They could never play a peaceful game together without the
dread of being discovered; but this particular afternoon they had taken
their dolls to a new hiding-place, an old loft full of hay.

'Anyway, the boys won't dare to tease us much after what Grandfather
said this morning,' Dora remarked.

'No, they would be miserable if they couldn't go to the circus, said
Nellie. 'I'm very glad Grandfather heard them. Now he knows what they
are like, and Tom will have to be more careful.'

'Doesn't Arabella look lovely? said Dora, who had just dressed her best
doll in new clothes.

'Make haste, Nellie, we shall have to go and get ready ourselves very
soon.'

Just at that moment the boys' voices were heard in the stable below, and
the children stared at each other, dismayed.

'Come on, Frank, let's climb the ladder--I've nev