3. "Little friends," she said, "I wish I knew How it is you thrive on sun and dew!" And this is the story the berries told

To little Pearl Honeydew, six years old.

4. "You wish you knew? And so do we.
But we can't tell you, unless it be

That the same Kind Power that cares for you
Takes care of poor little berries, too.

5. "Tucked up snugly, and nestled below Our cover-lid of wind-woven snow,

We peep and listen, all winter long,

For the first spring day and the bluebird's song.

6. "When the swallows fly home to the old brown shed,

And the robins build on the bough overhead,

Then out from the mold, from the darkness and cold,

Blossom and runner and leaf unfold.

7. "Good children, then, if they come near, And hearken a good long while, may hear A wonderful tramping of little feet,—

So fast we grow in the summer heat.

8. "Our clocks are the flowers; and they count the hours

Till we can mellow in suns and showers,

With warmth of the west-wind and heat of the south,

A ripe red berry for a ripe red mouth.

9. "Apple-blooms whiten, and peach-blooms fall,
And roses are gay by the garden wall,
Ere the daisy's dial gives the sign

That we can invite little Pearl to dine.

10. "The days are longest, the month is June,
The year is nearing its golden noon,

The weather is fine, and our feast is spread
With a green cloth and berries red.

11. "Just take us betwixt your finger and thumb,-
And quick, Oh, quick! for, see! there come
Tom on all-fours, and Martin the man,
And Margaret, picking as fast as they can.

12. "Oh, dear! if you only knew how it shocks Nice berries like us to be sold by the box, And eaten by strangers, and paid for with pelf, You would surely take pity, and eat us yourself!"

13. And this is the story the small lips told
To dear Pearl Honeydew, six years old,
When she laid her head on the strawberry-bed
To hear what the red-cheeked berries said.

DEFINITIONS.-3. Thrive, to grow well, to flourish. 5. Něst ́led, gathered closely together. 6. Mold, fine, soft earth. Run'ner, a slender branch running along the ground. 8. Mellow, to ripen. 9. Di'al, the face of a time-piece. 10. Feast, a festive or joyous meal, a banquet. 12. Pělf, money.

EXERCISES.-What did little Pearl ask of the strawberries? What did they reply? Can you tell what name is given to this kind of story?

XXV. HARRY'S RICHES.

1. ONE day, our little Harry spent the morning with his young playmate, Johnny Crane, who lived in a fine house, and on Sundays rode to church in the grandest carriage to be seen in all the country round.

2. When Harry returned home, he said, "Mother, Johnny has money in both pockets!"

3. "Has he, dear?"

4. "Yes, ma'am; and he says he could get ever so much more if he wanted it."

5. "Well, now, that's very pleasant for him," I returned, cheerfully, as a reply was plainly expected. "Very pleasant; don't you think so?"

6. "Yes, ma'am; only—"

7. "Only what, Harry?"

8. "Why, he has a big pop-gun, and a watch, and a hobby-horse, and lots of things." And Harry looked up at my face with a disconsolate stare.

9. "Well, my boy, what of that?"

10. "Nothing, mother," and the tell-tale tears sprang to his eyes, "only I guess we are very poor, aren't

we?"

11. “No, indeed, Harry, we are very far from being poor. We are not so rich as Mr. Crane's family, if that is what you mean."

12. "O mother!" insisted the little fellow, "I do think we are very poor; anyhow, I am!"

13. "O Harry!" I exclaimed, reproachfully.

14. "Yes, ma'am I am," he sobbed; "I have, scarcely any thing-I mean any thing that's worth money-except things to eat and wear, and I'd have to have them any way."

15. "Have to have them?" I echoed, at the same time laying my sewing upon the table, so that I might reason with him on that point; "do you not know, my son—

16. Just then Uncle Ben looked up from the paper he had been reading: "Harry," said he, "I want to find out something about eyes; so, if you will let me have yours, I will give you a dollar apiece for them."

17. "For my eyes!" exclaimed Harry, very much astonished.

18. "Yes," resumed Uncle Ben, quietly, "for your eyes. I will give you chloroform, so it will not hurt you in the least, and you shall have a beautiful glass pair for nothing, to wear in their place. Come, a dollar apiece, cash down! What do you take them out as quick as a wink."

say? I will

19. "Give you my eyes, uncle!" cried Harry, looking wild at the very thought, "I think not." And the startled little fellow shook his head defiantly.

20. "Well, five, ten, twenty dollars, then." Harry shook his head at every offer.

21. "No, sir! I wouldn't let you have them for a thousand dollars! What could I do without my eyes? I couldn't see mother, nor the baby, nor the flowers, nor the horses, nor any thing," added Harry, growing warmer and warmer.

22. “I will give you two thousand," urged Uncle Ben, taking a roll of bank-notes out of his pocket. Harry, standing at a respectful distance, shouted that he never would do any such thing.

23. "Very well," continued the uncle, with a serious air, at the same time writing something in his note-book, "I can't afford to give you more than two

thousand dollars, so I shall have to do without your eyes; but," he added, "I will tell you what I will do, I will give you twenty dollars if you will let me put a few drops from this bottle in your ears. It will not hurt, but it will make you deaf. I want to try some experiments with deafness, you see. Come quickly, now! Here are the twenty dollars all ready for you."

24. "Make me deaf!" shouted Harry, without even looking at the gold pieces temptingly displayed upon the table. "I guess you will not do that, either. Why, I couldn't hear a single word if I were deaf, could I?"

25. "Probably not," replied Uncle Ben. So, of course, Harry refused again. He would never give up his hearing, he said, "no, not for three thousand dollars."

26. Uncle Ben made another note in his book, and then came out with large bids for "a right arm," then "left arm," "hands," "feet," "nose," finally ending with an offer of ten thousand dollars for "mother," and five thousand for "the baby."

27. To all of these offers Harry shook his head, his eyes flashing, and exclamations of surprise and indignation bursting from his lips. At last, Uncle Ben said he must give up his experiments, for Harry's prices were entirely too high.

28. "IIa! ha!" laughed the boy, exultingly, and he folded his dimpled arms and looked as if to say, "I'd like to see the man who could pay them!"

29. "Why, Harry, look here!" exclaimed Uncle Ben, peeping into his note-book, "here is a big addition sum, I tell you!" He added the numbers, and they amounted to thirty-two thousand dollars.