"I hate this warm weather; it's horrid to tan.

It scorches my nose,

And it blisters my toes,

And wherever I go I must carry a fan."

Chirps little Miss Laugh:

66

Why, I couldn't tell half

The fun I am having this bright summer day.
I sing through the hours,

And cull pretty flowers,

And ride like a queen in the sweet-smelling hay."

Did you ever say to yourself, "Oh! I wish that I were rich;" or, "I wish that I lived in a big house, and had all the toys that I could play with "?

Perhaps if you did live in a big house, and did have a great many fine toys, you would wish that you were a poor little boy, who could play in the mud, or wade in the brook. Mice and men and even little children often make very foolish wishes.

There was once a mouse that lived in the country. His home was in a barn, where there was plenty of corn and oats and wheat. There was no cat or dog there, and you know cows and horses never hurt mice.

This mouse had a friend that lived in the city. One fall the country mouse sent the city mouse an invitation to come out to eat Thanksgiving dinner with him. Of course the city mouse came. They had nice, fat kernels of corn and oats and wheat to eat, and there was also a little bacon that had been hung in the barn. The country mouse thought that it was a fine dinner. The city mouse tried to eat it, but he could not help thinking about the nice things that he would have had at home in the city.

After dinner the city mouse said: "Old friend, I must have a plain talk with you. Do you know that you live an ant's life out here in the country? I do not see how you can bear to live this poor life in this old barn. Why not come with me to the city, where you will have all sorts of good things to eat,

and a gay time? You are really wasting your life in this quiet place. Come up to visit me, and I will show you how fine the city is. Come and take Christmas dinner with me, and I will show you a dinner worth eating. Why, we have cheese, and bread, and turkey, and jelly, and pudding, and cake, and candy, and

"I'll come," said the country mouse.

"You must

live well. I think that I should like to live in the city."

· If you lived in the city, you would be as fat as I am in a few weeks," said the city mouse. "Just see how fat I am!"

When Christmas came the country mouse was on hand at the big brick house in the city where his friend lived.

"What a warm house you have!" said the country mouse. "I can hardly breathe in here."

"It is never cold here," said the city mouse. "Mice that live in warm houses never get thin.'

"Where do you keep all those nice things to eat that you told me about?" said the country mouse. "They're in the pantry, but we can't go in there

now.

The cook's in there," answered the city mouse. "The cook? Well, what of her?"

"You won't ask such questions when you have been here a little longer."

"Let us go down cellar," said the country mouse.

Oh, we can't go down there now," said the city "The cat is in the cellar now."

mouse.

"The cat?

What is a cat?"

Ho, ho, ho! Ha, ha, ha! You don't know much, do you?" laughed the city mouse. "Don't know what

a cat is! Why, a cat is an animal that lives for nothing in the world but to catch mice."

66.

O dear! I think that this is a very dangerous place."

"But you just wait until we get some of that turkey dinner," said the city mouse.

They waited until night. The country mouse got very hungry, but the city mouse said it wasn't safe to go out until every one had gone. At last they crept into the dining room. They were both very hungry, and they jumped up on the table. How good everything did look, and what a feast they did have! All at once the dining room door opened. "Mice!" cried a boy. How the mice did run! off the country mouse's tail. thought he would die of fright.

"Here, Gyp. Mice!"

The little dog nearly bit
It scared him so that he

"O dear! I don't see how you can live here," said the country mouse.

"Well, we will now go into the pantry," said the city mouse. "No one will be coming in there to-night."

So they went into the pantry, and they found many nice things to eat there. The country mouse was just beginning to forget his fright, when suddenly something went "snap!" The country mouse jumped nearly out

of his skin.

What in the world was that?" he cried.

Only a trap," said the city mouse. "You must look out for such things. Before you know it you will get caught."

The country mouse sat still. His little heart was beating wildly. But just as soon as he was able to speak he said: "Well! if this is city life, I have seen enough of it. Stay in this fine place if you like, but I shall be only too glad to get back to my quiet home in the old barn, and to my plain corn, oats, and wheat. A grain of corn in safety is better than fine cake in fear."

-AESOP'S FABLES.