re tired many a time; once they stayed to rest upon the French
coast, and once, in the Bay of Biscay, they clung to the rigging of a
ship all through the night, but in the morning they went on again.

Far away in the south, two English children were looking from the
turret window of an old castle.

"Here are the swallows," they said; "perhaps they have come from
England. Dear swallows, have you brought us a message?" they asked.

"It was very cold, we had no time for messages; and we must not lose
the track of summer," the swallows twittered, and they flew on till
they reached the African shore.

"Poor little swallows," said the English children, as they watched the
ship come into port that was to take them back to their own land; "they
have to chase the summer and the sun, but we do not mind whether it is
summer or winter, for if we only keep our hearts warm, the rest does
not matter."

"It is very good of the swallows to come to us," the elder sister said,
in the next spring, when she heard their first soft twitter beneath the
eaves, "for the summer is in many places, and we are so far from the
south."

"Yes, it is very good of them to come," the children answered; "dear
little swallows, perhaps they love us!"

A FIRST LOVE-MAKING.

A land there is beyond the sea
That I have never seen,
But Johnny says he'll take me there,
And I shall be a queen.
He'll build for me a palace there,
Its roof will be of thatch,
And it will have a little porch
And everything to match.

And he'll give me a garden-green,
And he'll give me a crown
Of flowers that love the wood and field
And never grow in town.
And we shall be so happy there,
And never, never part,
And I shall be the grandest queen--
The queen of Johnny's heart.

Then, Johnny, man your little boat
To sail across the sea;
There's only room for king and queen--
For Johnny and for me.
And, Johnny dear, I'm not afraid
Of any wind or tide,
For I am always safe, my dear,
If you are by my side.

SMUT.

Now, this story is quite true. Once upon a time there was a cat called
Mr. Puff; he lived in a grand house, quite close to the Turkish
Embassy. A lord and a lady and several servants lived with Mr. Puff; he
was very kind to them, letting them do in all things as they liked, and
never sending them away or keeping the house to