royal chamber and then sent for the court barber. After making him swear to keep the secret, Midas showed his asses' ears, and told the barber to make him a wig to hide the ugly things.

In a short time, the wig was on the king's head, and he sent away the barber with the threat that he would kill him if he told any one the secret. The barber, full of fear, hastened from the palace. But his secret worried him until he could neither eat nor sleep for thinking of it; and yet he dared not tell it to any one.

At last he could stand it no longer. One midnight, when every one was fast asleep, he took a spade, and walked to an open meadow which was far away from any dwelling place. In the center of it he dug a deep hole, and then, putting his mouth close to the ground, he whispered:

"King Midas wears great asses' ears."

The barber felt very much better after this, and, filling up the hole, went home with a lighter heart.

Time passed, and over the hole which the barber had dug there grew a thicket of hollow reeds; and when the wind played through them they gave forth these strange words:

"King Midas wears great asses' ears."

Soon all the king's subjects came to hear of this secret that the reeds whispered, and then they knew how Apollo had punished their king for his stupid

judgment. But Midas could not have blamed the barber, even if he had known about his midnight errand; for in truth the poor fellow had never breathed the secret to a single person.

-GRACE KUPFER.

god: a being who has greater power than any person; thus, the god of the woods ruled over the woods and all the creatures that lived in them. -nymphs (nimfs): beautiful creatures who looked like women but were not human. They lived in the mountains, forests, meadows, and waters. -satyrs (sā tērs): creatures of the woods, part man and part goat.

THE MOON

The moon has a face like the clock in the hall;
She shines on thieves on the garden wall,
On streets and fields and harbour quays,
And birdies asleep in the forks of the trees.

The squalling cat and the squeaking mouse,
The howling dog by the door of the house,
The bat that lies in bed at noon,

All love to be out by the light of the moon.

But all of the things that belong to the day
Cuddle to sleep to be out of her way;
And flowers and children close their eyes
Till in the morning the sun shall rise.

-ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON.

quays (kes): docks where boats are loaded and unloaded.

DAVID AND GOLIATH

Saul, King of Israel, was at war with the Philistines and was encamped with his army opposite the Philistine army. Each army rested on the side of a mountain with a valley between them. While they waited and watched each other, a champion stepped out of the ranks of the Philistines to challenge some man of Israel to single combat.

This champion was a giant and his name was Goliath. His sword was so large that no ordinary man could carry it in one hand. He wore armor of heavy brass and the staff of his spear was like a great beam. Before him walked a man carrying a great shield.

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Why have you come out to set your army in battle array?" he shouted. "Choose a man from your ranks to fight with me. If he is able to kill me, then will we be your servants; but if I kill him, then shall you be our servants and serve us. I defy the army of Israel this day. Give me a man that we may fight together."

When the men of Israel heard this challenge they were very much afraid, for there was no man among all their company who could match Goliath for size and strength.

Now it happened that among the soldiers of Saul

were the three eldest sons of Jesse who lived in Bethlehem. Jesse also had a younger son named David, a strong, fine looking lad who tended the flocks on the plains of Bethlehem. David was a sweet singer and a skillful player upon the harp. His eye was steady, his muscles firm and his arm sure in throwing at a mark.

One day, while watching the flocks, there came a messenger from his father, Jesse, calling him home.

When David reached home, his father said to him: “I am anxious about my sons in the army of King Saul. Carry this parched corn and these fresh loaves of bread to them, and inquire how they are. Carry, also, these ten cheeses as a gift from me to their captain."

David rose up early in the morning, left the sheep with a keeper, took the parched corn, the fresh bread and the cheeses, and went to the army of King Saul. He found his brothers and their captain and delivered the presents and the messages from his father.

As he talked with them, the giant Goliath came up again to challenge the army of Israel, and David heard him.

66 What shall be done to the man that killeth Goliath and taketh away the reproach from Israel?” asked David.

Eliab, his eldest brother, heard this question, and was angry.

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Why did you come here," asked Eliab, " and with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride and the badness of thy heart. Thou art come down to see the battle."

"What have I done now?" asked David. "Is there not a reason for my coming?" Then David asked again what would be done for the man who could slay the giant.

A messenger who heard the question ran to King Saul to tell him of David, and Saul sent for David to come to him.

"Let no man be afraid because of Goliath," said David. "I, thy servant, will go and fight with him."

"Thou art not able to fight with this giant," said King Saul. "Thou art only a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth."

"I kept my father's sheep," said David. "When there came a lion and a bear and took a lamb out of the flock, I killed both the lion and the bear, and saved the lamb. This giant shall be as one of them. The Lord that saved me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will save me from the hand of Goliath."

"If you will go," said the King, "you must take my sword and my armor." But when David tried on the armor, he said, "I cannot go with these things, for I am not sure of their strength."

He took his sling in his hand, chose five smooth