"The Story of
George Washington" too. I am eleven years old.

W. B.

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MEXIA, TEXAS.

I have had a present of a little canary, but it does not sing. The
lady who gave it to me said it had been a beautiful singer, but it
became sick. She gave it castor-oil, and it recovered, but has
never sung since that time. The little bird has a nice cage,
always fresh water for drinking and bathing, bird seed, fish-bone,
and plenty of green leaves and grass. I wish some one could tell
me how to make it sing again.

ADELE M.

It is not easy to restore song to a silent canary, and as you will see
from a letter in this "Post-office Box," you are not the only one
seeking a remedy for this trouble. The companionship of a singing-bird
will sometimes arouse a canary to display its own musical talent. Your
bird may be silent from overfeeding, as too much green food, like
lettuce leaves, makes a bird grow fat and stupid, and less likely to
sing. Try to place your bird near singing canaries for a few weeks, if
you can, and if that does not affect it favorably, we fear nothing will.

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Cora R. Price and Mamie E. Evans both send the following legend of the
forget-me-not, in answer to the inquiry of "A Constant Reader": Some
flower seeds having been cast away by a traveller from a distant
country, they fell by the edge of a lake. Some time afterward two lovers
were wandering by the lake's side, and the lady, seeing the strange
flowers, entreated her companion to gather some. As the gallant knight
reached to pluck the blossoms, he fell in a quicksand, and was drawn
into the treacherous pool, flinging the flowers at the maiden's feet,
and crying, "Forget me not," as he disappeared forever.

Here is still another fanciful legend, sent by Ethel Sophia Mason: When
Adam and Eve were driven from Eden, the flowers all shrank away from Eve
with the exception of a little blue blossom, which Eve had named
"heaven's flower," as its color was so much like the blue sky. As Eve
passed, it seemed to murmur, "Forget me not," and she gratefully
gathered it, saying, "Henceforth, dear flower, that shall be thy name."
It was the only plant transplanted from Paradise, or that survived the
flood. It is said to have the power of speaking at midnight, and telling
the legend of its sweet name.

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