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 -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, Play the game of being young -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. |