1. ONLY a baby small,

Dropped from the skies;

Only a laughing face,
Two sunny eyes;

2. Only two cherry lips,
One chubby nose;
Only two little hands,
Ten little toes.

3. Only a golden head,
Curly and soft;

Only a tongue that wags
Loudly and oft;

4. Only a little brain,

Empty of thought;

Only a little head

Troubled with naught.

1. I WAS reading, the other day, a very pretty story about an owl and a cat. I said story; but I mean a true story; and the story is about something that did happen, and happen not very long ago. There is many a true story far more beautiful than all the stories about things that ever hap

pened "once upon a time," nobody knows when.

2. Did I say the story was about an owl and a cat? Then I did not say enough; for the story is about an owl, a cat, and the cat's kitten.

3. And that is not enough; for the story is about an owl, a cat, the cat's kitten, and a mouse. For surely, if there is a cat, there must be a mouse; because what is a cat, if it has no mouse to catch? It would be like a monkey without a tail, a frog that could not croak, and a fish that could not swim.

4. But that is not enough; for the story is about an owl, a cat, the cat's kitten, a mouse, mercy, and justice. Now you know very well what an owl, a cat, a kitten, or a mouse is, and I think you know something about mercy; but ah! justice is a hard word. I think, very few boys and girls know what that means; and I am afraid very few grownup men and women know or care much about it.

5. A boy gave a gave a woman a little owl. "This," he said, "is a young horned owl,

and will eat mice and birds." When the boy said horned owl, he did not mean that the bird had horns. Horned owls have a tuft of long feathers growing out of the top of the head above each one of their big, round eyes, and these tufts look like horns.

6. The lady had many pets; so she took the horned owlet to make a pet of it also. She put it among her birds. Of course, as the owl was a bird, that was just the place for it, one would think. But the very sight of the owlet scared the small birds so much that it was at once taken away; not, however, before the big jackdaw and the magsaucy, fearless birds that they are

pie

flew at it to do it harm.

7. Now cats and owls, you know, look much alike, though, to be sure, cats have fur, four legs, and a mouth full of teeth, while owls have feathers, two legs, a pair of wings, a bill, and no teeth. Not only do cats and owls look alike, but they act much alike. Both catch mice and little birds, and

both eat them.

8. The lady thought she would put the

young owl with the cat; so she took him into pussy's closet, where pussy had a very young kitten. The cat did not look at him very sweetly at first; but the dim light and pussy's soft warm coat seemed to please the little owl, and so he soon nestled up to her. Seeing that the owl was friendly, the cat was friendly too.

9. From that time they became fast friends, and many a mouse did pussy bring her little mate, the owl, as well as her own dear kitten. When the owl grew large enough, he used to sit on the side of her basket, and would never settle quietly for the night until the two cats were asleep in their beds.

10. It was beautiful to see how the owlet and the kitten loved each other. They agreed in everything but one, and that was when the kitten would play with a living mouse. This hurt the owlet's feelings, for he would always pounce down and seize the mouse by the back of its neck, and kill it in a moment. But he had a sense of justice in his nature; for, when the mouse was dead, he would drop it down to its true owner, the kitten.