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“You are wrong about the crumbs," said the Mock Turtle. Crumbs would all wash off in the sea. But they have their tails in their mouths; and the reason is "-here the Mock Turtle yawned and shut his eyes.

"Tell her the reason, and all that," he said to the Gryphon.

"The reason is," said the Gryphon, "that they would go with the lobsters to the dance. So they got thrown out to sea. So they had to fall a long way. So they got their tails fast in their mouths. So they could not get them out again. That's all.”

"Thank you," said Alice, "it is very interesting. I never knew so much about a whiting before."

"I can tell you more than that if you like," said the Gryphon. "Do you know why it is called a

whiting?"

แ

"I never thought about it," said Alice. "Why?" "It does the boots and shoes," the Gryphon replied very solemnly.

Alice was puzzled. "Does the boots and shoes!" she repeated in a wondering tone.

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'Why, what are your shoes done with?" asked the Gryphon. "I mean, what makes them so shiny?" Alice looked down at them, and thought a little before she gave her answer. They are done with blacking, I believe."

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" Boots and shoes under the sea," the Gryphon

went on in a deep voice, “are done with whiting. Now you know."

"And what are they made of?" asked Alice.

"Soles and eels, of course," the Gryphon replied rather impatiently: "any shrimp could have told you that."

"If I'd been the whiting," said Alice, whose thoughts were still running on the song, "I'd have said to the porpoise, 'Keep back, please: we don't want you with us!'"

"They were obliged to have him with them," said the Mock Turtle. "No wise fish would go anywhere without a porpoise."

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Wouldn't it, really?" said Alice in a tone of great

surprise.

"Of course not," said the Mock Turtle. "Why, if a fish came to me, and told me he was going on a journey, I should say, 'With what porpoise?''

"Don't you mean 'purpose'?" said Alice.

“I mean what I say," the Mock Turtle replied in an offended tone.

-LEWIS CARROLL.

quadrille (kwȧ-drĭl'): a dance in which four couples of dancers perform several different kinds of steps called figures.-set to partners: a term used in the dance. It means that the partners walk up to each other and bow.-retire: go back.-porpoise (pōr'-půs): the name of a large fish. —shingle: fine sand such as there is on the sea-shore.—askance (å-skăns'): aside.-shrimp: a kind of shell-fish. It is very small.

A RAT TALE

PART I

Huggy was an old rat when he died, very old indeed. He was born in the middle of a corn rick, and there he might have lived all his little life had not the farmer who owned the rick caused it to be pulled down.

"That was Huggy's first experience of moving, and it was done in such a hurry that he had hardly time to be sorry. It was pitch dark when his mother shook him up roughly and told him to "come along," or he would be killed by the farmer, and poor Huggy, blinking his sleepy eyes, struggled out of his snug little bed into the cold, black night.

Several old rats met him at the entrance of the rick, and sternly bade him stay where he was and make no noise, for the leader was about to speak. Huggy was wide-awake by this time. The rat spirit of adventure was roused within him, and he listened eagerly to the clear voice of the leader.

"Friends, old and young, this is not a time for many words, but I want you all to know the cause of this sudden disturbance. Last night I was running about the farmer's kitchen, when in came the stable-boy tapping at an empty corn sieve which he had in his hand. He said a few words to the

farmer, who rose hastily, and together they left the kitchen.

"I followed at a little distance. They went straight to the stable and talked for some time with their backs to the corn bin. After a while I managed to scramble up and look into it, only to see what I dreaded most. The corn bin was empty! To-morrow they will pull down this rick, thresh the corn, and fill the empty bin. So, my friends, unless we mean to die by dog, stick, or fork, we had better be off as soon as it is daylight."

There was a scraping of feet all round, and a general rush of anxious mothers into the rick to fetch out their young. Huggy was waiting at the entrance and as soon as he caught sight of his mother, he raced off with her to join the crowd at the back of the rick.

The leader arranged them in lines of ten abreast, and after walking up and down to see that all were in their places, he gave a shrill squeak and the column started. They marched steadily for about two milesslowly, of course, because of the young ones.

At length they came to a field where a man with a pair of horses was ploughing. His coat, in which his dinner was wrapped, lay on the wall some little distance from him. Seeing such a number of rats, he left his horses, ran for his life and hid behind a knoll, whence he could view what happened without himself being seen. To his great disgust, he saw the creatures first crowd about his coat, then run over it, and finally

eat out of his pocket the bread and cheese his wife had provided for his dinner!

That was a stroke of luck for the rats. They had not counted on so early a breakfast and it was with light hearts they performed the rest of their journey.

Huggy was very glad when it was over. He had never been so far in his life, he was only three weeks old. Their new home proved to be a cellar, on one side of which were many pipes running straight to the kitchen, and on the other a large window opening to the outside air.

It was early in the afternoon when they arrived, so they had plenty of time to settle down before night. Huggy, having chosen his corner, ran off to look around. First he went to the kitchen, peeped up through a hole in the floor, and, seeing no one about, carefully crept out and sniffed into all the cupboards.

As he was coming out of the last he beheld a sight which made his little heart turn sick. There, in a corner which Huggy had not noticed before, lay a huge dog half asleep! And so great was Huggy's fright that he squeaked, very faintly indeed, yet loud enough to set Master Dog upon his feet.

Next minute they were both tearing across the kitchen. Huggy was a wee bit in front, but so little that he could feel the dog's hot breath behind him. There was the hole, and bump! scrabble! scrabble! Huggy was safe! Safe! yes, but oh, so frightened!