as on the evening before, fold its petals together and sleep; it hung sickly and sad towards the ground.

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18. The boys did not come till next morning, and when they saw the bird dead they cried, and shed many tears; and they dug it a neat little grave, which they decked with flowers. They had put the dead bird into a pretty red box, for they were resolved to give it a fine burial. Poor lark! while he lived and sang they forgot him, let him sit in his cage and suffer thirst, and now, when he was dead, they gave him tears and orna

ments.

19. The turf, with the daisy in the middle of it, was thrown out into the dusty road, and nobody thought of the one that had felt most pity for the poor bird, and had been most anxious' to comfort it.

1 SPLENDID. Brilliant, showy. 2 PETAL. A leaf of a flower.

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3 DESPISED. Slighted, held in contempt, scorned.

4 GENTEEL. Elegant, well-bred.

& FRAGRANCE. Sweetness of odor.
6 MUSICIAN. One skilled in music.
7 ASTONISHED. Surprised.
• DELIGHTED. Highly gratified.

Try, try again;

All that other folks can do,

Why, with patience, should not you?

Only keep this rule in view

Try, try again.

1. AWAKE, little girl; 'tis time to arise;

em-plöy❜ment reş-ç-lū'tionş

Come, shake drowsy sleep from your eyes; The lark is loud warbling his notes in the skies, And the sun is far mounted on high.

2. O, come! for the fields with gay flowers o'erflow, And the dew-drops are bright on them still; The lowing' herds' graze in the pastures below, And the sheep bell is heard from the hill.

3. O, come, for the bee has flown out of his bed,
To begin his day's labor anew;

The spider is weaving her delicate3 thread,
Which brilliantly glitters with dew.

4. O, come, for the ant has crept out of her cell,
Her daily employment to seek :

She knows the true value of moments too well
To waste them in indolent sleep.

5. Awake, little sleeper, and do not despise
Of insects instruction" to ask :

From your pillow with good resolutions arise,
And cheerfully go to your task.

1 LOWING. Bellowing, mooing.

2 HERD. Cattle that feed together. DELICATE. Fine, slender, nice.

4 EMPLOYMENT. Business, work.

5 INSTRUCTION. The act of teaching or that which teaches.

[This and the following lesson are taken from Uncle Ben, a Story for Little Folks, by Oliver Optic. Uncle Ben is a retired sailor, living in a village; and he tells this story to two little girls, Flora Lee and Nellie Green.]

1. "WHEN I was a young man, I went on a whaling

voyage. I will tell you how whales are caught.

2. "A whale is the largest sea animal; some are

a good deal longer than my barn there. Ships that go out to catch whales are often three or four years away from home, and go off thousands of miles.

3. "The ship has a great many boats, which are hoisted up at the sides. The men go out in the boats, and when they catch a whale, tow it to the ship.

4. "Almost at the top of the mast, and nearly a hundred feet from the water, there are two sticks, which are called the 'cross-trees.' When the ship reaches any part of the ocean where whales are found, men are sent up to the cross-trees to look out.

5. "When a whale is seen, one of the men calls out, 'There she blows!' This great fish draws water into his mouth, and then blows it up in the air; and this is what they mean by 'blowing.'

6. "When the men on deck hear this cry, they find out where the whale is, and then get out the boats and go after him. They row up to the huge monster' of the deep with very little noise, and then throw one or two harpoons into him.

7. "A harpoon is a kind of iron spear, with a wooden handle, to which a long rope is fastened. When the whale feels the iron, he dives down into the deep, or Sometimes he drags the

swims away as fast as he can. boat after him, at a frightful speed, for many miles; and it often happens that the men in the boat have to cut the line, in order to save their lives.

8. "When the whale is weak from loss of blood, and tired out, the boat again steals upon him, and a long lance is thrust into his body. This kills him, if it is well done.

9. "Very often, when the men attack the whale, he turns upon the boat, and breaks it all to pieces with a

single slap of his tail, or crushes it all to bits in his great mouth. The sailors always have a hard time, and are often killed, in their efforts to conquer the whale.

10. "When they get the whale alongside the ship, they cut out the fat, or blubber,' in long strips, and hoist it on board the vessel. It is then chopped up in small pieces, and tried out in great kettles. The oil is put into barrels, and stowed in the hold.

11. "I have told you how to catch a whale, so that you may understand the story which I am now going to tell you.

12. “I sailed in the ship Jane, for the South Pacific Ocean, long before either one of you was born. We went round Cape Horn, which is a very stormy place, and came near being cast away in a heavy gale.

13. "But when we had got into the Pacific Ocean we had fine weather, and at last reached the 'feeding ground.' Though the whale is a monstrous creature, he feeds upon very small animals called squid.' Of course he must live where he can find his food. 14. "One day I was up on the cross-trees, looking out on the ocean for whales. I had with me a boy of about twelve years of age. He was as pretty a boy as ever I saw. He had fair, brown hair, which curled in ringlets on his cheeks and neck.

15. "We all loved that boy, for he was a brave and noble little fellow. He was gentle and kind to the men, and always obeyed the orders of the officers at once. He was our pet, and we all treated him just like a younger brother.

16. "He could read well, and wrote a handsome hand; and when he first came on board the ship, I