sides, on the plains, and down in the
deep green valleys. Little children know them best, as they seem to be
modest, retiring families, seldom or never intruding themselves on the
notice of others. I conjecture, from the freedom with which little
children use their names, that they must be a kindly, simple people. My
little Mary, or Minnie, tells me almost every day of little Johnnie He
or little Sallie She, and in my mind's eye I see little Johnnie He
coming through his father's gate on his way to school--a plump,
rosy-cheeked little fellow in white pants and blouse.

Most amiable and fair he looks,
That little Johnnie He,
While following close behind his heels
Is little Sallie She.
With flaxen curls and laughing eyes,
This little girl we greet,
Exclaim, "How fair is Johnnie He!
And Sallie She, how sweet!"

Very little is known of the ancestors of these simple people who dwell
among the hills. It is believed they were a worthy, renowned family in
their day and generation; but, alas! history has given us all too little
of them. It is known that they were born hundreds of years ago, living
bright and useful lives in the earliest ages of civilization. History
speaks freely of one who may have been the great-great-grandfather of
the present Hes (much less is known of the Shes), and while speaking of
him forgets not to take his travelling artist along to sketch him. This
noble ancestor is Mr. Zaccheus He, and he is in the act of performing
the feat that saves his name from utter oblivion. The deed is made
doubly impressive by the travelling artist sketching the same. The poet
too lends his sublime aid to render the act one never to be forgotten.
In the present age of the world, many parents, from some deep-seated
prejudice, strive to blot out this unpretending family entirely; but
little children with tearful eyes bring the Historian, the Artist, and
the Poet at once to the rescue, exclaiming, "Then why does the book say,

"Zaccheus He
Did climb the tree?'"

CHIN-FAN, THE CANTON BOAT-BOY.

BY THOMAS W. KNOX.

How many readers of HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE are aware that in China, on
the other side of the world, there are thousands and thousands of boys
and girls that live in boats? There is a great city in China called
Canton, and at this city there is a river which is so crowded with boats
that it is not easy to get around among them. They are not large boats
like the great steamer