hiveringly about; and a primrose leaf
peeped through the ground, and died of cold. Then some violets opened
their blue eyes, and, hidden beneath the tangle of the wood, listened
to the twittering of the birds. The little ragged boy came by; he saw
the tender flowers, and, stooping down, gathered them one by one, and
put them into a wicker basket that hung upon his arm.

"Dear flowers," he said, with a sigh, as if loth to pick them, "you
will buy poor mother some breakfast," and, tying them up into little
bunches, he carried them to the town. All the morning he stood by the
road-side, offering his flowers to the passers-by, but no one took any
notice of him; and his face grew sad and troubled. "Poor mother!" he
said, longingly; and the flowers heard him, and sighed.

"Those violets are very sweet," a lady said as she passed; the boy ran
after her.

"Only a penny," he said, "just one penny, for mother is at home." Then
the lady bought them, and carried them to the beautiful house in which
she lived, and gave them some water, touching them so softly that the
poor violets forgot to long for the woods, and looked gratefully up
into her face.

"Mother," said the boy, "see, I have brought some bread for your
breakfast. The violets sent it to you," and he put the little loaf down
before her.

The birds knew nothing of all this, and went on singing till the ground
was covered with flowers, till the leaves had hidden the brown branches
of the trees, and the pathway through the woods was all shade, save for
the sunshine that flecked it with light.

THE FIDDLER.

The fiddler played upon his fiddle
All through that leafy June,
He always played hey-diddle-diddle,
And played it out of tune.

And down the hill the children came,
And down the valley too:
I never heard the fiddler's name,
So cannot tell it you.
Hey-diddle-diddle, diddle-diddle-dee.

On--on they came, and when they heard
That tune so swift and sweet,
They did not say a single word,
But shuffled with their feet.

Then round they went, and round and round,
All to that cracked old fiddle,
And still was heard the magic sound,
Hey-diddle-diddle-diddle,
Hey-diddle-diddle, diddle-diddle-dee.

THE BROKEN HORSE.

They were all very sad, and the girl in the pink frock was crying
bitterly, for they had been to the woods, and on the way home the
wooden ho