"It is not the wind, I hear,” whispered the terrified girl, in a still lower voice, looking round on every side with intense anxiety, till her eyes appeared arrested by some hideous object. She grew pale as the dead- her knees trembled - her lips quivered

-

and having slowly unclosed the hands which she had clasped together, she pointed with one of them to the source of her terrors.

Max followed the direction of her extended finger, and with horror and dismay perceived two fierce eyes gazing at them, between the stems of the Indian corn!—He turned sickening away; and when he looked again, the sound of a low, but menacing growl assisted him to discern that a full-grown bear cub was deliberately advancing towards them.

The boy did not hesitate a moment. "Down, Tauny," said he, "down, flat upon the earth;" and resolutely taking his stand before her prostrate body, he exclaimed in a faint, but distinct voice, "we are lost, sister! God seldom pardons the disobedience of children to such parents as ours. Fare thee well,— sweet sister!-alas! why have we brought this sorrow upon those who love us!"

He strained his eyes, which were brimming with tears, to fix them upon those of his enemy; and he marked the cautious action, and slow approach of

the inexperienced cub, whose first threatenings were now deepened into a tremendous growl, as though he were trying to infuriate himself for the attack. The boy moved not-scarcely breathed;-his innocent heart was absorbed in prayer-in prayer for pardon and for aid. But, alas! neither his innocence nor his submission might avail to save him. Already the savage beast, bounding over the intervening furrows, had sprung upon his little victim, and inclosed him in a stifling grasp. As suddenly, however, he relaxed his hold;;-a ball had whistled close to the ear of Max! the report of a rifle followed; the cub rolled lifeless on the earth, and Max was already clasped in the arms of his father.

For some succeeding minutes, tears of joy and gratitude rendered both the son and the father utterly speechless; and when they turned to raise the motionless form of little Tauny, they discovered that, overcome by her terrors, she had fainted. When her recollection returned, and she found herself lying on her father's knee, upon the brink of the pool, with her brother safe by her side, she looked towards them for an explanation.

"My children!" said Rantzl, "your wayward disobedience alone betrayed you into your recent peril. I refrained last night, lest I should alarm

you, from acquainting you that a she-bear and her cubs had been seen near the lodge, and the object of the morning's chase was to destroy them. Two had already fallen by our hands, when some blessed instinct suggested to me that the surviving cub would come, before sun-set, to drink at the pool. The Almighty hath been pleased to direct my steps for your preservation; but I have lost all my tender confidence in your truth and affection. What plea have ye to offer in excuse for your disobedience?" The children hung their heads.

"Thy mother, Max, shall shape a mantle of the skin of yonder bear,-and thou shalt wear it, as a memorial of thy misdoings. And now, children, let us homeward, that we may fall on our knees in thankfulness to God, for his gracious protection of the Babes in the Wood.

The above history was related to the writer in Hungary, by the gamekeeper of Count Schöuborn.

TO A DEAR LITTLE BOY.*

After an interval of Absence.

BY ALARIC A. WATTS.

I.

I MISS thee from my side,

With thy merry eyes and blue;
From thy crib at morning-tide,
Oft its curtains peeping through ;-
In the kisses, not a few,

Thou wert wont to give me then;

In thy sleepy, sad adieu,

When 'twas time for bed again!

II.

I miss thee from my side,

When the dinner bustle's o'er;

When the orange I divide,

Or extract the apple's core ;

* Alaric Alfred Watts, aged three years and a half.

What avails my hoarded store

Of barley-sugar, comfits sweet; Thou art by my side no more; Vacant is thy wonted seat!

III.

I miss thee from my side,
With thy query oft repeated;
On thy rocking-horse astride,

Or beneath my table seated :-
Or when tired, and overheated
With a summer-day's delight,
Many a childish aim defeated,
Sleep hath overpowered thee quite!

IV.

I miss thee from my side

When brisk Punch is at the door;

Vainly pummels he his bride,

Judy's wrongs can charm no more!

He may beat her till she's sore,

She may die, and he may flee; Though I loved their squalls of yore, What's the pageant now to me!

M