Laura might do something that they ought to be punished for; and Mrs. Crabtree certainly had more ears than other people, or slept with one eye open, as, whatever might be done, night or day, she overheard the lowest whisper of mischief, and appeared able to see what was going on in the dark.

When Harry was a very little boy, he sometimes put himself in the corner, after doing any thing wrong, apparently quite sensible that he deserved to be punished, and once, after being terribly scolded by Mrs. Crabtree, he drew in his stool beside her chair, with a funny penitent face, twirling his thumbs over and over each other, and saying, "Now, Mrs. Crabtree! look what a good boy I am going

to be!"

"You a good boy!" replied she contemptuously: "No! no! the world will be turned into a cream-cheese first!"

Lady Harriet gave Harry and Laura a closet of their own, in which she allowed them to keep their toys, and nobody could help laughing to see that, amidst the whole collection, there was seldom one unbroken. Frank wrote out a list once of what he found in this crowded little store-room, and amused himself often with reading it over afterwards. There were three dolls without faces, a horse with no legs, a drum with a hole in the top, a cart without wheels, a churn with no bottom, a kite without a tale, a skipping-rope with no handles, and a cup and ball that had lost the string. Lady Harriet called this closet the hospital for decayed toys, and she often employed herself as their doctor, mending legs and arms for soldiers, horses, and dolls, though her skill seldom succeeded long, because play-things must have been made of cast-iron to last a week with Harry. One cold winter morning when Laura entered the nursery, she found a large fire blazing, and all her wax dolls sitting in a row within the fender staring at the flames. Harry intended no mischief on this occasion, but great was his vexation when

Laura burst into tears, and showed him that their faces were running in a hot stream down upon their beautiful silk frocks, which were completely ruined, and not a doll had its nose remaining. Another time, Harry pricked a hole in his own beautiful large gas ball, wishing to see how the gas could possibly escape, after which, in a moment, it shrivelled up into a useless empty bladder,--and when his kite was flying up to the clouds, Harry often wished that he could be tied to the tail himself, so as to fly also through the air like a bird, and see every thing.

Mrs. Crabtree always wore a prodigious bunch of jingling keys in her pocket, that rung whenever she moved, as if she carried a dinner bell in her pocket, and Frank said it was like a rattlesnake giving warning of her approach, which was of great use, as everybody had time to put on a look of good behaviour before she arrived. Even Betty, the under nursery-maid, felt in terror of Mrs. Crabtree's entrance, and was obliged to work harder than any six house-maids united. Frank told her one day that he thought brooms might soon be invented, which would go by steam and brush carpets of themselves, but, in the meantime, not a grain of dust could lurk in any corner of the nursery without being dislodged. Betty would have required ten hands, and twenty pair of feet, to do all the work that was expected; but the grate looked like jet, the windows would not have soiled a cambric handkerchief, and the carpet was switched with so many tea-leaves, the Frank thought Mrs. Crabtree often took several additional cups of tea in order to leave a plentiful supply of leaves for sweeping the floor next morning.

If Laura and Harry left any breakfast, Mrs. Crabtree kept it carefully till dinner time, when they were obliged to finish the whole before tasting meat; and if they refused it at dinner, the remains were kept for supper. Mrs. Crabtree always informed them that she did it " for their good,"

though Harry never could see any good that it did to either of them; and when she mentioned how many poor children would be glad to eat what they despised, he often wished the hungry beggars had some of his own hot dinner, which he would gladly have spared to them; for Harry was really so generous, that he would have lived upon air, if he might be of use to anybody. Time passed on, and Lady Harriet engaged a master for some hours a-day to teach the children lessons, while even Mrs. Crabtree found no other fault to Harry and Laura, except that in respect to good behaviour their memories were like a sieve, which let out every thing they were desired to keep in mind. They seemed always to hope, somehow or other, when Mrs. Crabtree once turned her back, she would never shew her face again; so their promises of better conduct were all "wind without rain," very loud and plenty of them, but no good effect to be seen afterwards.

Among her many other torments, Mrs. Crabtree rolled up Laura's hair every night on all sides of her head, in large stiff curl-papers, till they were as round and hard as walnuts, after which, she tied on a night-cap, as tightly as possible above all, saying this would curl the hair still better. Laura could not lay any part of her head on the pillow, without suffering so much pain that, night after night, she sat up in bed, after Mrs. Crabtree had bustled out of the room, and quietly took the cruel papers out, though she was punished so severely for doing so, that she obeyed orders at last, and lay wide awake half the night with torture; and it was but small comfort to Laura afterwards, that Lady Harriet's visitors frequently admired the forest of long glossy ringlets that adorned her head, and complimented Mrs. Crabtree on the trouble it must cost her to keep that charming hair in order. Often did Laura wish that it were ornamenting any wig-block, rather than her own head; and one day Lady Harriet laughed heartily, when some stran

gers admired her little grand-daughter's ringlets, and Laura asked, very anxiously, if they would like to cut off a few of the longest, and keep them for her sake.

"Your hair does curl like a cork-screw," said Frank, laughing. "If I want to draw a cork out of a beer bottle any day, I shall borrow one of those ringlets, Laura !”

“You may laugh, Frank, for it is fun to you and death to me," answered poor Laura, gravely shaking her curls at him. "I wish we were all bald, like uncle David! During the night, I cannot lie still on account of those tiresome curls, and all day I dare not stir for fear of spoiling them, so they are never out of my head."

"Nor off your head! How pleasant it must be to have Mrs. Crabtree combing and scolding, and scolding and combing, for hours every day! Poor Laura! we must get Dr. Bell to say that they shall be taken off on pain of death, and then, perhaps, grandmama would order some Irish reapers to cut them down with a sickle.”

"Frank! what a lucky boy you are to be at school, and not in the nursery! I wish next year would come immediately, for then I shall have a governess, after which goodbye to Mrs. Crabtree, and the wearisome curl-papers." "I don't like school!" said Harry. sense to plague me with lessons now. read and write, so, of course, I shall others. There is no hurry about it!"

"It is perfect nonAll big people can be able to do like

Never was there a more amiable, pious, excellent boy than Frank, who read his Bible so attentively, and said his prayers so regularly every morning and evening, that he soon learned both to know his duty and to do it. Though he laughed heartily at the scrapes which Harry and Laura so constantly fell into, he often also helped them out of their difficulties; being very different from most elderly boys, who find an odd kind of pleasure in teazing younger children—pulling their hair-pinching their arms-twitch

ing away their dinners-and twenty more plans for tormenting, which Frank never attempted to enjoy, but he often gave Harry and Laura a great deal of kind, sober, good advice, which they listened to very attentively while they were in any new distress, but generally forgot again as soon as their spirits rose. Frank came home only upon Saturdays and Sundays, because he attended during most of the week at Mr. Lexicon's academy, where he gradually became so clever, that the masters all praised his extraordinary attention, and covered him with medals, while Major Graham often filled his pockets with a reward of money, after which he ran towards the nearest shop to spend his little fortune in buying a present for somebody. Frank scarcely ever wanted anything for himself, but he always wished to contrive some kind generous plan for other people; and Major Graham used to say, "if that boy had only sixpence in the world, he would lay it all out on penny tarts to distribute among half-a-dozen of his friends." He even saved his pocket-money once, during three whole months, to purchase a gown for Mrs. Crabtree, who looked almost good-humoured during the space of five minutes, when Frank presented it to her, saying, in his joyous merry voice, "Mrs. Crabtree! I wish you health to wear it, strength to tear it, and money to buy another !"

Certainly there never was such a gown before! It had been chosen by Frank and Harry together, who thought nothing could be more perfect. The colour was so bright an apple-green, that it would have put any body's teeth on edge to look at it, and the whole was dotted over with large round spots of every colour, as if a box of wafers had been showered upon the surface. Laura wished Mrs. Crabtree might receive a present every day, as it put her in such good-humour, and nearly three weeks after passed this, without a single scold being heard in the nursery ; SO