Robert of Lincoln's Quaker wife, Pretty and quiet with plain brown wings, Passing at home a patient life, Broods in the grass while her husband sings: "Bob-o'-link, bob-o'-link, Spink, spank, spink; Brood, kind creature; you need not fear Modest and shy as a nun is she, One weak chirp is her only note; Braggart and prince of braggarts is he, Pouring boasts from his little throat: "Bob-o'-link, bob-o'-link, Spink, spank, spink; Never was I afraid of man, Catch me, you cowards, if you can! Six white eggs on a bed of hay, There as the mother sits all day, Robert is singing with all his might: Spink, spank, spink; Nice, good wife that never goes out, Soon as the little ones chip the shell Spink, spank, spink; This new life is likely to be Hard for a gay young fellow like me. Summer wanes; the children are grown; Spink, spank, spink; When you can pipe that merry old strain, Robert of Lincoln, come back again. Chee, chee, chee!" WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT. Lin' coln (Link' un) flecked brăg' gart THE SPARROW AND HIS YOUNG ONES. A sparrow had brought up four little ones in a swallow's nest; just as they were all fledged a dreadful wind knocked in the nest and destroyed it. Fortunately, however, they were all able to fly and take care of themselves, but the old bird was very sad because her children had been driven into the world so young, and before she had warned them of the dangers to which they would be exposed, and had taught them how to escape danger. In the autumn a large number of sparrows met together in a plowed field, and, among others, the old birds met their children, and, full of joy, led them home to the old tree where they had been brought up. "Ah, my dear children," said the mother bird, "you can not think how anxious I have been about you all the summer, for you were carried away by the wind before I could teach you a single lesson. Now listen to my advice and follow the example of your father, for little birds have many great dangers to withstand." Then she asked them how they had fared during the summer, and if they had found plenty of food. "Oh, yes!" said one; "we stayed in a garden and sought for worms and caterpillars till the cherries were ripe." "Ah, my son," said the father bird, "it is not wrong to indulge in good things, but there is great danger, and it requires you to be very careful, especially when people are walking in these gardens. Sometimes you will find a long green twig like a perch placed ready for you, but inside it is hollow, and underneath is a little hole." "Yes, my father, and the little green leaves are stuck all over the hole with bird lime," said the son. "Where have you seen this?" asked the old bird. "In a merchant's garden," replied the young one. "Ah, my child," cried the father, "merchant people are sharp people; if you had been brought up in the world, you would have learned enough of their smooth, deceitful ways; however, you must take care not to want more than is right, and do not be too confiding." Then the old bird questioned another of his children. แ "Where have you been living?" he asked. "At court," was the reply; "sparrows and other simple birds know nothing of the place where there are so much gold, velvet, silk, harness, hawks, and all sorts of good and wonderful things in the stables. There they measure oats and thresh wheat, so that we are always lucky enough to find a few grains of corn for breakfast, and every day, indeed, more than we can eat. Yes, father, and when the stableboys measure out the corn, or make a mash for the horses, we have such a feast!" "Where did you find all this?" asked the old bird. "Oh, in the court of the castle and with the stableboys." "Oh, my son, stableboys are often unkind and wicked, but if you have been to court and associated with great people without even |