the loft:
I like to hold them in my lap,
They feel so warm and soft.
Joe broke my little spade one day,
Digging the earth for bait:
Does your big brother call you names,
And pull you off the gate?

I go to school. I'm at the head:
You ought to hear me spell!
I and another girl are in
The class. There goes the bell!
I'll have to run, and get my books.
Oh, dear! I shall be late:
Another scolding I shall get
For swinging on the gate!

H. B.

GEORGE'S BOAT.

[Illustration]

GEORGE had a boat on a little stream that ran not far from the house.
The boat was flat; and George pushed it along with a pole. It did not go
fast.

One day Mabel asked her brother if she might go in the boat with him.
George said, "Oh, yes!" So he pushed up to the shore, and helped Mabel
in. Then he pushed off.

How far did they go in the boat? As far as the bridge, by the great
elm-tree. George thought that was far enough.

[Illustration]

Rover saw George and Mabel in the boat, and he wanted to go too. He ran
down to the shore, and barked. But George said there would not be room
for him.

[Illustration]

There was a place where the grapevines hung over the water. George
pushed the boat to the place; and he and Mabel picked some grapes.

[Illustration]

By and by the sun was almost down. George and Mabel thought it was time
to go home. Their mother had told them to come home before dark.

W. O. C.

THE LITTLE CARPENTER.

THE picture of the little boy on the opposite page is from a photograph
from life: so you may look on it as on a real likeness of some one in
England. I do not know his name; but I think he must be some one whose
parents have fitted up a little carpenter's shop for him, so that he may
learn to do something useful.

The picture reminds me of a true story. About sixty years ago, there was
a rich man in Germany, of the name of Reinhold, who had seen so much of
the changes of life, that he resolved that each of his children, both
boys and girls, should learn some useful trade or profession.

Rudolf, the eldest boy, learned to be a carpenter. But, when he was
twenty-one years of age, he came into the possession of a large fortune.
He married, and thought tha