Their little ones are

66 calves" - and cows'

Rich milk produces cream,

Which butter makes, and nice cheese-cakes

With curd, whey, and caseine.

And now 'tis funny, but 'tis true,
Some children young and mazy,

Have thought their eyes were used some-wise
To make the ox-eyed daisy.

This cannot be, yet creatures' bones
Placed round trees, plants, and bowers
Will serve to feed just what they need,
To grow fine fruits and flowers.

MRS. PUSSY.

MRS

RS. PUSSY, sleek and fat,
With her kittens four

Went to sleep upon the mat
By the kitchen door.

Mrs. Pussy heard a noise,
Up she jumped to see;
"Kittens, maybe that's a mouse,
Let us go and see."

Creeping, creeping, creeping on,

Silently they stole,

But that little mouse had gone

Back into its hole.

"Well," said Mrs. Pussy, there,
"To the barn we'll go;

We shall find the swallows there
Flying to and fro.”

So the cat and kittens four

Tried their very best;
But the swallows flying fast
Safely reached the nest.

Home went hungry Mrs. Puss
And her kittens four;
Found their dinner on a plate,
By the kitchen door.

As they gathered round the plate,

They agreed 'twas nice

That it couldn't run away

Like the birds and mice.

- Emilie Poulsson

WHE

A BOY'S SONG.

WHERE the pools are bright and deep,
Where the gray trout lies asleep,

Up the river and over the lea,

That's the way for Billy and me.

Where the blackbird sings the latest,

Where the hawthorn blooms the sweetest,
Where the nestlings chirp and flee,

That's the way for Billy and me.

Where the mowers mow the cleanest,
Where the hay lies thick and greenest,
There to trace the homeward bee,
That's the way for Billy and me.

Where the hazel bank is steepest,
Where the shadow falls the deepest,
Where the clustering nuts fall free,
That's the way for Billy and me.

Why the boys should drive away
Little sweet maidens from the play,
Or love to banter and fight so well,
That's the thing I never could tell.

But this I know, I love to play,
Through the meadow, among the hay;
Up the water and o'er the lea,
That's the way for Billy and me.

-

- The Ettrick Shepherd

THE COTTON PLANT.

SING

ING, oh sing for the cotton plant
Bravely may it grow,

Bearing in its seeded pod
Cotton white as snow!

Spin the cotton into thread:
Weave it in the loom;

Wear it now, dear little child,
In your happy home.

When you've worn it well and long,
Will it worthless be?

No; a book made from this dress
You yet, in time, may see.

Sort the rags and grind the pulp;

Weave the paper fair;

Now it only waits for words

To be printed there.

Thoughts from God to man sent down

May these pages show.

Sing, oh sing for the cotton plant!
Bravely may it grow!

May ten thousand cotton plants
Spring up fresh and fair,

That words of wisdom and of love

O'er all the world shall bear.

-Selected.

TWO OF A TRADE.

`HE dragon-fly and I together

Sail up the stream in the summer weather:

He at the stern, all green and gold,
And I at the oars, our course to hold.

Above the floor of the level river

The bent blades dip and spring and quiver;
And the dragon-fly is here and there
Along the water and in the air.

And thus we go as the sunshine mellows,
A pair of nature's merriest fellows;
For the Spanish cedar is light and true,
And instead of one, it has carried two.

And thus we sail without care or sorrow,
With trust for to-day and hope for to-morrow;
He at the stern, all green and gold,

And I at the oars, our course to hold.

-S. W. Duffield.

THE

A SUMMER LULLABY.

HE sun has gone from the shining skies;
Bye, baby, bye,

The dandelions have closed their eyes;

Bye, baby, bye.

And the stars are lighting their lamps to see
If the babies and squirrels and birds, all three,
Are sound asleep as they ought to be.
Bye, baby, bye.

The squirrel is dressed in a coat of gray;
Bye, baby, bye.

He wears it by night as well as by day;
Bye, baby, bye.

The robin sleeps in his feathers and down,

With the warm red breast and the wings of brown;

But the baby wears a little white gown.

Bye, baby, bye.

N