PLAID. A striped or checkered cloth much worn by the Highlanders, and Indicating, by the variety of its patterns, the different Scottish clans Scottish pronunciation of this word is plāde. The Cast your plaids, draw your blades, Pibroch of Donald Dhu, 1 GENTLEŞ. Those above the common people in birth and breeding. 2 CŎM'MONŞ. The common people. 3 PĚN'NON. Banner, standard. BÄRGE. A large boat. 5 TÄRGE. A round shield. 6 VAS'SAL. A tenant who rendered his lord military service. 7 HEATH'ER (Scottish pronunciation heth'er). A kind of low shrub. XV.-FIVE IN THE PEA-SHELL. HANS ANDERSEN. 1. FIVE peas sat in a pea-shell. They were green, and the shell was green; therefore, they thought that the whole world must be green; in which opinion they were about right. 2. The shell grew, and the peas grew too. They could accommodate' themselves very well to their narrow house, and sat very happily together, all five in a row. The sun shone outside and warmed the shell. The rain made it so clear that you could see through it. It was very warm and pleasant in there, clear by day and dark by night, just as it should be. The five peas grew very fast, and became more intelligent' the older they were. 3. "Shall I always be compelled to sit here?" said one to the rest. "I really am hard from sitting constantly. afraid that I shall get I do believe strange things are going on outside of our shell as well as in here." 4. Weeks passed on, and the peas pecame yellow, and the shell grew yellow too. "All the world is yellow!" said they. And we cannot blame them, under the circumstances, for the exclamation.* 5. One day their house was struck as if by lightning. They were torn off by somebody's hand, and were put into a coat-pocket which was already nearly filled with peas. "Now there is going to be an end of us," they sighed to one another, and they began to prepare themselves for their change. "But if we live, I should like to hear from the one who goes farthest," said the largest pea. 5 6. "It will soon be over with us all," said the smallest pea. But the largest one replied, "Come what will, I am ready." 7. Knack! The shell burst, and all five rolled out into the bright sunshine. Soon they lay in a little. boy's hand. He held them fast, and said they would be excellent for his little gun. Almost immediately they were rolling down the barrel of his shot-gun. Out again they went into the wide world. 8. "Now I am flying out into the world. Catch me if you can." So said one, and he was very soon out of sight. 9. The second said: "I am going to fly up to the sun. That is a charming shell, and would be just about large enough for me." And off he flew. 10. "Wherever we go we are going to bed," said two others; and they hit the roof of a great stone house, and rolled down on the ground. 11. "I am going to make the best of my lot," said the last one; and it went high up, but came down against the balcony window of an old house, and caught there in a little tuft of moss. The moss closed up and there lay the pea. Everybody seemed to forget that little pea. But not so; God remembered it well. 12. “I shall make the best of my lot," it said as it lay there. A poor woman lived in a room back of the balcony window. She spent the whole day in making little toys of wood and shells, which was her way of getting a little money. She had a good, strong body, but nevertheless she was a very poor widow, and the prospect was that she would always be one. In that little room lived her half-grown, delicate' daughter. A whole year she had been lying there, and it seemed as if she could neither live nor die. 8 13. She will soon go off to see her little sister!” sighed the mother. "I had two children, and it was a difficult task for me to take care of them both. But the Lord has taken one of them to live with him. I should like to keep this one with me; but it appears as if God wants them both with him. Soon she will go and see her sister." 14. But the sick girl still lived, and lay patiently' on her sick bed, while her mother worked hard for their daily bread. 1 AC-COM'MO-DĀTE. Adapt, fit. knowing. 3 COM-PELLED'. Forced, constrained. 4 EX-CLA-MA'TION. Outcry, sudden or emphatic utterance. 5 SIGHED (sid). Gave out a deep, long breath, as in grief; here, said with a sigh or sighs. 6 BĂL'CO-NY. A platform having a 7 DĚL'I-CATE. Nice; here, not able XVI. — FIVE IN THE PEA-SHELL, CONCLUDED. 1. BY-AND-BY spring-time came on. One morning when the industrious mother was going about her work the friendly sun shone through the little window and all along the little roof. The sick girl looked down at the bottom of the window and saw something growing. 2. What kind of weed is that?" she asked. "It is going to grow against the window. See, the wind is shaking it." 3. And the mother came to the window and opened it a little. "Just see!" she exclaimed. "This is a slender pea-vine. It is now shooting out its green leaves. How it likes the little crevice! Soon we shall have a garden!" 4. Then the sick girl's bed was moved closer to the window, so that she could see the little climbing pea. Then her mother went to work again. 5. "Mother, I really believe I shall get well again," said the daughter one evening to her mother. "The sun has been shining into the window so kindly to-day, and the pea-vine is growing so fast that I believe I shall soon be able to go out into the bright sunshine." 6. "I pray to God it may be so!" said the mother; but she did not believe it could come to pass. Then she stuck down a little stick for the pea-vine to run on, and tied a string around the vine to keep the wind from blowing it away. Every day it grew higher and larger. 7. "Now it is almost ready to blossom," said the 1 |