t any prog,
Then shut him up in an iron bin,
Slipp'd the bolt and locked him in;
Then giving the key
To poor Min-Ne,
Said, "Love, there's something you _mustn't_ see
In the chest beneath the orange-tree."

* * * * *

Poor mangled Min-Ne! with her latest breath
She told her father the cause of her death;
And so it reach'd the Emperor's ear,
And his highness said, "It is very clear
Ho-Ho has committed a murder here!"
And he doom'd Ho-Ho to end his life
By the terrible dog that kill'd his wife;
But in mercy (let his praise be sung!)
His thirteen brothers were merely hung,
And his slaves bamboo'd in the mildest way,
For a calendar month, three times a day.
And that's the way that Justice dealt
With wicked Ho-Ho of the Golden Belt!

THE HIRED SQUIRREL.

_A RUSSIAN FABLE_.

BY LAURA SANFORD.

A lion to the Squirrel said:
"Work faithfully for me,
And when your task is done, my friend,
Rewarded you shall be
With a barrel-full of finest nuts,
Fresh from my own nut-tree."
"My Lion King," the Squirrel said,
"To this I do agree."

The Squirrel toiled both day and night,
Quite faithful to his hire;
So hungry and so faint sometimes
He thought he should expire.
But still he kept his courage up,
And tugged with might and main,
"How nice the nuts will taste," he thought,
"When I my barrel gain."

At last, when he was nearly dead,
And thin and old and grey,
Quoth th' Lion: "There's no more hard work
You're fit to do. I'll pay."
A barrel-full of nuts he gave--
Ripe, rich, and big; but oh!
The Squirrel's tears ran down his cheeks.
He'd _lost his teeth_, you know!

BALLAD OF THE TRAILING SKIRT.

NEW YORK "LIFE."

I met a girl the other day,
A girl with golden tresses,
Who wore the most bewitching air,
And daintiest of dresses.

I gazed at her with kindling eye
And admiration utter--
Until I saw her silken skirt