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Early one morning the man at the mast-head gave notice that three bears were making their way very fast over the frozen ocean, and directing their course towards the ship. They had, doubtless, been invited by the scent of some blubber which, having been set on fire, was burning on the ice at the time of their approach.

They proved to be a she bear and her two cubs, but the cubs were nearly as large as the dam. They ran eagerly to the fire, and drew out from the flames part of the flesh of the sea-horse that remained unconsumed, and ate it greedily. The crew of the ship threw great lumps they had still left on the ice, which the old bear fetched away singly, laying each piece before the cubs as she brought it, and, dividing it, gave each a share, reserving only a small portion for herself. As she was fetching away the last piece, the crew levelled their muskets at the cubs, and shot them both dead; at the same time wounding the dam in her retreat, but not mortally. Though she could but just crawl to the place where they lay, she carried the lump of flesh she had fetched away, as she had done the others, tore it to pieces, and laid it down before them.

When she saw they refused to eat, she laid her paws first on one and then on the other, and tried to raise them up, making at the same time the most pitiable moans. Finding she could not stir them sho went off, and, when she had got to some distance, looked back and moaned; and that not availing to

entice them, she returned, and smelling round them, began to lick their wounds. She went off a second time as before, and having crawled a few paces, looked again behind her, and for some time stood moaning. But still, her cubs not rising to follow, she returned to them anew, and with signs of fondness went round pawing them successively. Finding at last that they were motionless and cold, she raised her head and growled furiously. A volley of musket balls was now discharged-she fell between her cubs, and died licking their wounds.

HOME AND CLASS WORK.

Learn the spellings and meanings at the top of the page; and write sentences containing these words.

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Through his locks his fingers stray
For the irksome task to-day

Vexes his o'erwearied brain.
Now he glances at the clock,
But the lagging moments mock
His impatient glances vain.

III.

"Tis the depth of sunny June;
But no whispered leafy tune

Soothes the master's soul to-day

Wearily his head reclineth
On his fingers, for he pineth
For the hamlet far away;

IV.

For the limpid pool and river,
Where the memory for ever

Loves to stray in summer time
For the murmur of the ocean
Stirring up the deep emotion

Of his boyhood's early prime;

V.

For the cottage on the strand
Peopled once with a loud band

Of mirth-making choristers;
O his worn-out spirit pineth

For the porch where jasmine twineth,
And the south wind softly stirs.

VI.

See, his weary head now droops!
See, the noisy urchin-troops

Point at him with laughter high !
They, forsooth, feel no fatigue
From the oft-renewed intrigue
How to baffle his keen eye.

VII.

Snatch a moment from the present
Weary one, for O 'tis pleasant

Dreaming thus of days gone by!

Open Slumber's golden gate,

Enter in and consecrate

Heart and soul to dancing joy.

VIII.

O that land of dreams and rest
For the heart and brain oppressed
By the world's renewed demands !
Soothing weary ones that mope,
Pining "prisoners of Hope;"
Strengthening the feeble hands!

IX.

Thou, refreshed, wilt wake again,
With new vigour in the brain;

Braced and girded for the strife:

With fresh elasticity

Of the heart and hand and eye,

To renew thy useful life!-H. MAJOR.

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"It blows fresh," cried Griffith, who was the first to speak in that moment of doubt; "but it is no more than a cap-full of wind after all. Give us elbow room and the right canvas, Mr. Pilot, and I'll handle the ship like a gentleman's yacht in this breeze."

"Will she stay, think ye, under this sail?" said the low voice of the stranger.

"She will do all that man in reason can ask of wood and iron," returned the lieutenant; "but the ocean don't float the vessel that will tack under double-reefed topsails alone against a heavy sea. Help her with the courses, pilot, and you'll see her come round like a dancing master."

"Let us feel the strength of the gale first," returned Mr. Gray.

The land could be faintly discerned, rising like a heavy bank of black fog above the margin of the waters, and was only distinguishable from the heavens by its deeper gloom and obscurity. For several

minutes the stillness of death pervaded the crowded decks. It was evident to every one that their ship was dashing at a prodigious rate through the waves; and, as she was approaching, with such velocity, the quarter of the bay where the shoals and dangers were known to be situated, nothing but the habits of the most exact discipline could suppress the uneasiness of the officers and men within their own bosoms.

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