What does little baby say,

In her bed at peep of day?
Baby says like little birdie,
"Let me rise and fly away."

Baby, sleep a little longer,

Till the little limbs are stronger.

If she sleeps a little longer,

Baby, too, shall fly away.

THE ROCK-A-BY LADY

THE

EUGENE FIELD

HE Rock-a-by Lady from Hush-a-by street,
Comes stealing; comes creeping;

The poppies they hang from her head to her feet,
And each hath a dream that is tiny and fleet

She bringeth her poppies to you, my sweet,
When she findeth you sleeping.

There is one little dream of a beautiful drum

"Rub-a-dub!" it goeth;

There is one little dream of a big sugar-plum, And lo! thick and fast the other dreams come Of popguns that bang, and tin tops that hum, And a trumpet that bloweth.

And dollies peep out from those wee little dreams

With laughter and singing;

And boats go a-floating on silvery streams,

And the stars peek-a-boo with their own misty gleams, And up, up, and up, where the mother moon beams, The fairies go winging!

Would you dream all these dreams that are tiny and fleet?

They'll come to. you sleeping;

So shut the two eyes that are weary, my sweet,
For the Rock-a-by Lady from Hush-a-by street,
With poppies that hang from her head to her feet,
Comes stealing; comes creeping.

From "Poems of Childhood," copyright, 1904, by Charles Scribner's Sons.

THE THREE BEARS

LONG time ago there were three bears who lived together in a house of their own in a wood; one, a great huge bear, which was the father; one, a middlesized bear, which was the mother; and a little wee bear, which was the son.

They had each a basin for their milk and honey; a great huge basin for the great huge bear, a middle-sized basin for the middle-sized bear, and a little wee basin for the little wee bear.

They had each a chair to sit on; a great huge chair for the great huge bear, a middle-sized chair for the middle-sized bear, and a little wee chair for the little wee bear.

And they also had each a bed to sleep in; a great huge bed for the great huge bear, a middle-sized bed for the middle-sized bear, and a little wee bed for the little wee bear.

One morning after they had boiled the milk and honey for their breakfast, and poured it into their basins, they went into the wood to take a walk. A few minutes after they had gone, a little girl, named Golden-hair, came to the house and looked in at the window, then she peeped in at the keyhole, and not seeing anybody in the house, she lifted the latch.

The doors were not fastened, because the bears were good and honest bears, who did nobody any harm, and never thought that anybody would harm them. So little Golden-hair opened the door and went in. She was well pleased when she saw the milk and honey in the basins. If she had been a good child, she would have waited until the bears came home, when perhaps they would have asked her to take some with them, for they were good, kind-hearted bears.

But the little Golden-hair did not wait. She first tasted the milk and honey of the great huge bear, and that was too hot for her; then she tasted the milk and

honey of the middle-sized bear, and that was too cold for her; and then she tasted the milk and honey of the

little wee bear, and that was neither too hot nor too cold, but just what she liked.

She took the basin in her hand and sat in a chair, which was the chair of the great huge bear, but that was too hard for her; then she sat down in the next chair, which was the chair of the middle-sized bear, and that was too soft for her; so she tried the other, which was the chair of the little wee bear, and that was neither too hard nor too soft, but just what she liked.

Then she sat down to eat the milk and honey which she held in her hand; but before she had quite finished it, the chair broke and let her fall, basin and all.

After this, little Golden-hair went upstairs into the bears' sleeping room, where she saw three beds. First she lay down upon the bed of the great huge bear, but that was too high at the head for her; then she lay down upon the bed of the middle-sized bear, and that was too high at the foot for her; and then she lay down upon the bed of the little wee bear, and that was neither too high at the head nor too high at the 'foot, but just what she liked; so she got snugly into it and fell fast asleep, just as the three bears came home, thinking their milk and honey would be quite cool enough.

Little Golden-hair had left the spoon of the great huge bear standing in his milk and honey.

"SOMEBODY HAS BEEN AT MY MILK AND HONEY," said the

great huge bear in

his great huge voice.

"SOMEBODY

HAS BEEN AT MY MILK AND HONEY," said the middle-sized bear in a middle-sized voice; and then the little wee bear

looked for his basin, and saw it on the floor.