cise of those affections, and in the performance of those
numberless offices of kindness by which alone friendship is secured and
perpetuated?

'All like the _purchase_, _few_ the _price_ will pay;
And this makes friends such miracles below.'

Hast thou hoped for the society of the wise and good? Then with
diligence and untiring zeal you should seek to fit yourself for such
companionship. Have your early companions got before you in the race of
life; and yet you remain at ease, dreaming over the past? Awake, young
man, ere yet your day is done, and address yourself to your work with
renewed energy; look forward to the future instead of brooding over the
past, and be assured you will acquire wisdom, friends and every other
needful blessing." With these words the aged man disappeared, and the
student awoke. His fire had gone out and his lamp burned but dimly. He
rose, replenished his fire, trimmed his lamp, and resumed his studies
with ardor. This dream was not lost upon Arthur Wilton. Instead of now
wasting his time in regrets for the past, he looked forward with a
steady purpose of improvement, and from that period no harder student
was to be found in the college; and he finally graduated with high
honors. In after years he often related this dream to those of his
acquaintances whom he thought in danger of falling into the same habit
to which he himself had been so prone in his youthful days.

UNCLE EPHRAIM.

For some years, when a child, I used daily to pass the dwelling of
Uncle Ephraim, on my way to and from school. He was not my uncle; indeed
he bore no relationship whatever to me, but Uncle Ephraim was the
familiar appellation by which he was known by all the school-boys in the
vicinity. He was among the oldest residents in the section, and although
a very eccentric person, was much respected by all his neighbors. How
plainly do I yet remember him, after the lapse of so many years! His
tall figure, shoulders that slightly stooped, his florid complexion,
clear blue eyes, and hair bleached by the frosts of time to snowy
whiteness. The farm on which he resided had improved under the hand of
industry, till since my earliest recollection, it was in a state of high
cultivation. His dwelling was an old-fashioned structure, placed a
little back from the main road, and almost hidden from view by thick
trees. In an open space, a little to one side, was the draw-well with
its long pole and sweep; and I hav