And he did it; yes, he did it! The clock`struck nine. No Bob. A quarter past. No Bob. He was full eighteen minutes and a half behind his time. Scrooge sat with his door wide open, that he might see him come into the tank.

His hat was off before he opened the door; his comforter, too. He was on his stool in a jiffy; driving away with his pen, as if he were trying to overtake nine o'clock.

"Hallo!" growled Scrooge, in his accustomed voice as near as he could feign it. "What do you mean by coming here at this time of day?"

"I am very sorry, sir," said Bob. "I am behind my time."

"You are?" repeated Scrooge. "Yes. I think you are. Step this way, sir, if you please."

"It's only once a year, sir," pleaded Bob, appearing from the tank. "It shall not be repeated. I was making rather merry yesterday, sir."

"Now, I'll tell you what, my friend," said Scrooge; "I am not going to stand this sort of thing any longer. And therefore," he continued, leaping from his stool, and giving Bob such a dig in the waistcoat that he staggered back into the tank again, "and therefore, I am about to raise your salary!"

Bob trembled, and got a little nearer to the ruler. He had a momentary idea of knocking Scrooge down with it, holding him, and calling to the people in the court for help and a strait-jacket.

"A merry Christmas, Bob!" said Scrooge, with an

earnestness that could not be mistaken, as he clapped him on the back. "A merrier Christmas, Bob, my good fellow, than I have given you for many a year! I'll raise your salary, and endeavor to assist your struggling family, and we will discuss your affairs this very afternoon, over a Christmas bowl of smoking bishop, Bob! Make up the fires, and buy another coal scuttle before you dot another i, Bob Cratchit!"

Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all, and infinitely more; and to Tiny Tim, who did NOT die, he was a second father. He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old City knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough in the good old world. Some people laughed to see the alteration in him, but he let them laugh, and little heeded them; for he was wise enough to know that nothing ever happened on this globe, for good, at which some people did not have their fill of laughter in the outset; and knowing that such as these would be blind anyway, he thought it quite as well that they should wrinkle up their eyes in grins, as have the malady in less attractive forms. His own heart laughed, and that was quite enough for him.

It was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God Bless Us, Every One! -CHARLES DICKENS. Adapted.

Wherefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature : the old things are passed away; behold, they are become

new.

II Corinthians v. 17.

1. How did Scrooge feel when he awakened ?

2. What was his first kind act?

3. What did he do after this?

4. Where did he go in the afternoon?

5. What did he do for Bob the next morning?
6. What had changed Scrooge so much?
7. What did Tiny Tim say?

THE STORY OF THE SPIES

No two boys have eyes just alike. It is not only that some are big and some are small, nor that some are black and some blue and some brown. The great thing is that they do not see things in just the same way. Some men, who want to run engines on the railroad, may not take up that work because they cannot tell red lights from blue lights. A good many people have to wear glasses of all sorts in order to see things as they are. When people are sick, they think they see very queer things sometimes. Two girls

may live in the same house and have the same food and the same games. But if one is cross, she sees all these, and is sullen and unhappy; while the other,

who sees the same things, has a good time herself, and makes other people have a good time, too.

When the children of Israel crossed the Red Sea and came out of Egypt, they dwelt for a time near Mount Sinai. It was a good place to be while God was getting them ready for the great task that was before them. They needed to forget that they had been beaten as slaves in the brick kilns and to stand up without fear like free men. God wanted them to learn more about Him and to know His laws and to obey them. They had to know each other better, too, and train up an army. For while God had promised them a good land, He had told them that they must fight for it and win it. They must be worthy to have it and strong enough to hold it; else there was no use in giving it to them. For they would either look upon it as of little value, like a rich child who has never worked for and earned one of his many toys, or they would not use it aright, or some enemy would come and take it from them.

So they marched on, thinking of that promised land by day and dreaming of it by night. All around them now were rocks and wastes of sand, with very little water or grass and almost no trees. But in the promised land there were to be springs and brooks, hills and valleys, fig trees and olive trees as well as these lonely palms; and the fields should bring forth wheat and barley and corn, and there should be grapevines and herds of cows and flocks of sheep and flowers about which the honeybees buzzed all day.

At last, after they had marched for a long time, God told Moses to choose twelve men, one prince from each tribe, and send them on before the people to spy out the land, and see how good it was, and bring back word about the people who dwelt in it. So Moses chose twelve of the best and bravest men, and said to them: "Go up, now, and see the land toward which we are marching. Find out whether it is rich or poor, and whether there is plenty of water and wood there. Find out about the people, too; and tell us whether they are weak or strong, few or many, and whether they dwell in tents or in forts. And be of good courage, and bring us back some of the fruits, that we may see for ourselves!"

So the twelve men marched away and went through the new land, as Moses had commanded them. To their joy they found it just the kind of country they had longed for. There were brooks and fertile fields, grass and trees, cattle and bees, and vines whose grapes. grew so large that one valley was called "the valley of a cluster.” The only trouble was that the people were very tall and very strong; and when some of the spies saw them, they began to be afraid. They looked out upon the land and the people and said: "It is a good land. We wish we might have it. But we can't take it. Those men are giants. They will surely beat us." But two of the spies, Caleb and Joshua, looked out upon the same land and people and said: "It is a good land, and we mean to have it. God is