UNDUTIFUL MICE

UST listen to Ma!" said the mouse to her

JUST

son,

As he frisked about at play;

"Be prudent and half of life's battle is won; You will catch it, if you disobey!"

"The same warning to you!" And she frowned at her daughter.

"Think of something but pleasure and dress! Just 'tend to your duty the way that you ought

to

And your shadow will never grow less!"

And the cat gave a smile, that inscrutable smile Cats have smiled through the centuries past, For he knew mighty well for how long a while Ma's advice would be more than a jest.

For pussies will watch and mice will play
And mas will give splendid advice.
And poets will sing, Ah! many a lay
Of the fate of undutiful mice.

-CARTER H. HARRISON.

TO ANY AMERICAN BABY

LESSED baby in your cot,

BLEKAR

Who may one day or may not

Be in years so far away

President of U. S. A.;

Or, if of the softer sex,

May-Regina 'stead of Rex

With the White House for your tent

Rule as Madam President,

Dream your dreams of glory: still,
Be you Jack or be you Jill,
There's a better game to play
Than the Presidential sway.

Play the game of being young
Other baby folk among,
Just as long as e'er you can,
Little maid or little man.

-JUSTIN HUNTLY MCCARTHY.

IN THE DARK

SOME's still and dark,

OMETIMES I waken in the night, when all is

I hardly dare to breathe, so many frightful things I see,

A ghost, a monstrous shape, an eye that glistens like a spark,

And searches all around the room to get a sight of me.

I call, and Mother comes to turn on the light, and I find

The fiery eye is just the night-lamp, watching while I sleep.

The ghost is but my window-curtain, blowing in the wind;

The fearful shape, my desk, where I my dearest treasures keep.

And Mother says, ""Tis always so. The things we mostly fear

Are kindly, dear, familiar things we fail to see aright;

That when it's darkest I must feel a Friend is

very near,

And every evil thing will fly when Love turns

on the light."

-REV. HENRY EVERTSON COBB.

MAYBE I JUST KINDER DREAMED IT

OWN near the pasture in the big dark wood

Dow

I saw a great bear, an' he growled at me! He growled an' he reared up's high as he could, An' I come away pretty quick-yes, Sirree!— Or maybe I just kinder dreamed it.

Out on the road a knight galloped by

On a coal-black charger with trappings of red! His shield flashed bright an' he swung his sword high

Calling me to help kill a fierce dragon dead!Or maybe I just kinder dreamed it!

In a corner of the garden where the moon shines. white

I watched three fairies dancing inside a fairy

ring!

They were bright as fireflies, but vanished out

of sight

When I crept up close to try an' hear 'em sing!Or maybe I just kinder dreamed it!

-HILDEGARDE HAWTHORNE.

WOULD YOU RATHER PICK THE CLOCK TO PIECES OR WORK IN THE

THE

GARDEN?

HE people who have accomplished the most in life are those who have done what they liked best to do. Those who are happy in their work will always succeed better than those who force themselves to do what they do not enjoy. If you like to take the kitchen clock to pieces and try to put it together again, it may be that you ought to study to be an engineer, or at any rate to do something with machinery. If you would rather draw pictures, you may be designed for an artist or an architect. If you love to work in the garden, you may be a florist or a farmer; while, if you like to study the ways of birds, bugs, or animals, you may become a great naturalist or physician. This does not mean that you should never do anything you do not like to do, but that you should have all your work and study bend toward that for which you are best fitted, so that your work in life will amount to something. To be efficient, you must be happy; to be happy, you must do the work which God intended you should do.

-ROGER W. BABSON.