WHEN THE LITTLE BOY RAN AWAY

When the little boy ran away from home,

The birds in the treetops knew,

And they all sang "Stay!"

But he wandered away

Under the skies of blue.

And the wind came whispering from the tree,

"Follow follow me!"

And it sang him a song that was soft and sweet,
And scattered the roses before his feet

The violet whispered; "Your eyes are blue

And lovely and bright to see;

And so are mine, and I'm kin to you,

So dwell in the light with me!"

But the little boy laughed, while the wind in glee

Said, "Follow me - follow me!"

And the wind called the clouds from their home in

the skies.

And said to the violet, "Shut your eyes!"

That day that day

When the little boy ran away.

Then the wind played leapfrog over the hills
And twisted each leaf and limb;

And all the rivers and all the rills,

Were foaming mad with him!

And it was dark as darkest night could be,
But still came the wind's voice, "Follow me!"
And over the mountain and up from the hollow
Came echoing voices with "Follow him, follow!"
That awful day

When the little boy ran away.

Then the little boy cried, "Let me go let me go!"

For a scared, scared boy was he!

But the thunder growled from the black cloud, "No!"
And the wind roared, "Follow me!"

And an old gray Owl from a tree top flew
Saying, "Who are you-oo? Who are you-oo?"
And the little boy sobbed, "I'm lost away,

And I want to go home where my parents stay!"
Oh! the awful day

When the little boy ran away.

Then the Moon looked out from the cloud and said, "Are you sorry you ran away?

If I light you home to your trundle-bed,

Will you stay, little boy, will you stay?"

And the little boy promised - and cried and cried

He would never leave his mother's side;

And the Moonlight led him over the plain,

And his mother welcomed him home again,
But oh! what a day

When the little boy ran away!

SPRINGTIME IN THE COUNTRY1

Spring always seems to begin on the morning that Jem comes rushing into my room with a sprig of cherry blossoms in his hand. You see, the cherry tree grows just outside of Jem's window, and he watches it very carefully. And then as soon as the blossoms are out he picks a branch and flies round the house, showing it to everybody.

We begin to keep a little notebook and write down in it the cherry blossom day and all the other days of the really important things. There is the day the apple buds begin to burst, and there is the day when we first see the yellow butterflies flitting along near the ground. And then comes the day when we pick the first violets and find the first bird's nest. All of these important days we write in our notebook. 1 By Arthur Ransome.

Jem and Jetty come to my door soon after breakfast. They knock very quietly. I pretend not to hear them. They knock again; still I do not answer. Then they thunder on the door. Do you know how to thunder on a door? You do it by doubling up your fists and hitting hard on the door with both hands. You can make a great noise in that way.

And then suddenly I jump up and roar out, "Who's there?" - as if I were a terrible giant. Jem and Jetty come tumbling in and stand in front of me, and bow and say, "Oh! Mr. Giant, we want you to come out for a walk."

And then away we go through the garden into the fields. Our three pairs of eyes are wide open so as not to miss anything.

First we watch the lark rise up into the sky. He is a little speckled brown bird. Jem says he ought not to be so proud just because he has a fine voice, for there are prettier birds than he. If you watch the way he swings into the air with little leaps of flying, higher, and higher, and higher, you cannot help thinking that perhaps he is indeed a little too vain.

He likes to climb higher up in the air than all the other birds. But he takes good care that you shall not forget him even if he is out of sight. He sings