You are

do not work at all." James stood watching him, as the shavings rolled from under his swiftly-moving plane. "I declare," said he, "I never saw such a fellow as you are. always making something. For my part, I like to make money, and I like to play."

"So do I,” replied John; "but this is play. I like to make things."

In a few days, James was summoned to see the dog churn, by treading continually on a board, which was so hung that the dog's weight moved the handle of the churn. The boys laughed and hurrahed; but heavy old Towser was far enough from being merry. He looked extremely solemn and dignified, stepping, stepping all the time without getting an inch ahead. "I know what I would do," said James. "I would take Towser to the Museum in the city, and charge people sixpence for seeing him churn." "Towser does not like the city," replied John; "other dogs fight with him. Besides, I should get very tired, standing about and doing nothing. I should want to be making something."

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"You would be making money," answered James. tell you that is not making any thing," replied his comrade. "I want to make a pail tree for mother, and a wagon for Ann Eames. Her baby brother is very heavy, and her arms get tired lugging him about." "What is a pail tree?" inquired James. "I mean a post, with branches like a tree, for mother to hang her milk pails on," answered the young mechanic. James went off whistling, but presently turned back and called out, "I say, John, don't you mean to make a spinning wheel for the cat, next?"

Ann Eames and Susan Brown, two schoolmates of the boys, took great pleasure in coming to see Towser churn, in the shade of a fine old elm tree. They often brought a piece of meat for him, knowing that his young master always rewarded him with a good meal when he had finished his task. But though Towser was fed bountifully for his trouble, and though he had by his new acquirements become a dog of distinction

in the neighborhood, he evidently did not like the labor at all. As soon as the churn was brought out under the elm, his ears drooped, and he sneaked along, looking out sidewise from the corners of his eyes, as if he were contemplating some means of escape.

One day, when the butter did not come as soon as usual, he set up a most piteous howl, and continued howling all the time, till they untied the string and released him. The next time the cream was brought up from the cellar, Towser was stretched out by the door, and the kitten was rolling over among his feet, now and then giving him a cuff on the ear, or a pat on the nose, which was her mode of saying, "Here I am, Towser!" He bore all her antics with drowsy good nature; but the moment he saw the churn uncovered, he sprang on his paws with such haste, that he upset poor puss; and off he went, with long steps, over ditch and wall, into the woods, and was seen no more that day.

The family usually churned on Wednesday; and the next time the day came round, John's father tied the dog to the elm tree very early in the morning. He howled all the time he was churning, and seemed to be very much out of humor during the rest of the day. The next week he skulked off into the woods on Tuesday evening, and did not make his appearance again till the following night. For three weeks he regularly disappeared every Tuesday evening. It was evident that the wise old dog knew they churned on Wednesday.

Mr. Carpenter proposed to tie him as early as Tuesday noon; but John said, "I had rather you would not, if you please, father. The more I think of it, the more it seems to me that it would be right to do the churning myself. It must make poor Towser very unhappy, or else he would not run away as he does. I think myself it must be tedious work for a poor beast to keep walking, walking, and never getting an inch ahead. Then you know he never tastes the good sweet butter he makes. I do not mind it that my arms are sometimes tired when I churn, for I have the satisfaction of knowing that

I am making butter, and helping my mother. But poor Towser gets tired without any satisfaction at all, for he does not know what he does it all for."

"That is a good, considerate boy," said his mother. She placed her hand upon his head, and smiled upon him, as she added, “Always be kind and thoughtful about the animals, my son. Never strike them, and always remember that they need their little enjoyments, and cannot speak for themselves." The good father, too, placed a friendly hand on his shoulder, and told him that he agreed with him perfectly. After that, the dog's unwillingness to be a machine was respected by the whole family; but it was several weeks before he ventured to stay at home on Wednesday.

The first time he did so, he sneaked round John, and looked up timidly in his face, as if he was thinking to himself, "I am afraid you think I am an ungrateful dog, and that it is mean of me not to be willing to help you." One day, when James found his comrade churning, he inquired where was the dog; and John repeated his reasons for being unwilling to keep the poor beast at a task he so much disliked. "You are a queer fellow," replied James, bursting into a laugh. "How hard you worked to make that churn-trotter, and now you throw it aside, because the dog does not fancy it." I had the pleasure of contriving it, and making it," answered his friend; "and that was worth a good deal."

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His mother, who was washing her milk pails near by, added, "And you learned a lesson in curing selfishness; for you liked better to do the churning yourself than to make the poor dog unhappy. If Towser could reason about it as well as you can, I dare say he would wish to save you work, and would come and offer to do it." "I am not so sure about that, mother," replied John. "People talk about working like a dog, but none of the dogs of my acquaintance seem to have the least taste for working." "I said he would be willing to work to help a friend, if he could reason about it,” rejoined she; "for Towser is certainly very affectionate, and loves you very much."

THE elephant, which is the largest and most powerful of all quadrupeds, is a native both of Asia and Africa, but is most numerous in the former, where they are seen in large herds, consisting of many hundreds. Specimens have been found upwards of twelve feet high, and weighing five tons. The animal seems clumsy and awkward; but this is fully made up by the flexibility of his trunk. His legs are massive columns, of three or four feet in circumference, and five or six feet high. His feet are rounded at the bottom, divided into five toes covered with skin, so as not to be visible, and terminated in a nail, or hoof, of horny substance.

Compared with the bulk of his body, the head seems small. His neck is short and strong; and his ears are large and pendulous, or hanging down. The eye is small, but brilliant, and his sense of hearing is very acute. His skin is thick, of a dusky black color, with a few hairs scattered over it.

The most remarkable organ in the elephant is the trunk, which, next to the human hand, is the most curious mechanical instrument in the whole animal kingdom. It is of a tapering form, and composed of several thousand minute muscles, which cross and interlace each other, so as to give it the power of stretching and contracting, of turning itself in every direction, and of feeling and grasping with a delicacy and strength altogether astonishing. At the end are two holes, which answer the purpose of nostrils. By these it can draw in water and eject it again; and the way it drinks is, to fill the trunk with water and discharge the contents into its mouth.

The extremity of the trunk on the upper side is formed into a sort of rounded lip, something like the finger of a hand, while the under side has a fleshy point resembling a thumb; and so useful are these parts of the trunk that the animal constantly uses them as a hand. By it he is enabled to pick up a pin from the floor, to draw the cork of a bottle, and per

form many other similar feats. The trunk is also an instrument of tremendous strength; with it he can root up a tree, or strike a man dead with a single blow.

Next to its trunk, the most remarkable parts of the elephant are its tusks. The longest of them are from five to seven feet in length. They are much larger in the male than in the female.

The

tusks are made of a substance called ivory, which is neither horn nor bone, but in some degree resembles both. It is a valuable article of commerce, and many useful and ornamental things are made of it.

The elephant subsists entirely upon vegetable food, feeding upon grass, roots, and the branches of trees. Like most vegetable feeders, they are gregarious; that is, fond of living and moving together in herds. They delight to bathe in running streams. In India they often invade cultivated fields in search of food, eating vast quantities of green sugar canes, rice, banana, and other crops, and trampling down with their feet more than they consume. The people try to drive them away by loud cries, and by waving torches.

Here is a description in poetry of the habits of the elephant, which is true as well as beautiful:

"Trampling his path through wood, and brake,

From his size and strength, the elephant defies the attacks of all other animals. The fierce tiger is received upon his tusks, tossed into the air, and trampled under foot when he

*Pellucid, clear.