fetch him up to me here. How nice it would be if I only had a little boy to play with me!" There were some things which his godmother either could not or would not give. The cloak did not move, but hung high in the air. The shepherd-boy took it for a large bird, and, shading his eyes, looked up at it. His dog began to jump upon him, barking with delight. "Down, Snap, down!" the Prince heard him say. "Let's warm ourselves by a race." They started off together, boy and dog, barking and shouting. It was hard to tell which made the most noise or ran the fastest. Prince Dolor watched them for awhile. Then the sweet, pale face grew paler, the lips began to quiver, and the eyes to fill. "How nice it must be to run like that!" he said, softly. Never, no, never in this world would he be able to do the same. Now he understood what his godmother meant when she gave him his traveling-cloak. He knew why he had heard that sigh when he had asked to see "just one little boy." "I think I had rather not look at him again," said the poor little Prince. He drew himself into the center of his cloak, and sat there with his arms wrapped round his feeble, useless legs. He placed himself so that he could see nothing but the sky. He took off his silver ears, as well as his gold spectacles. What was the use of either, when he had no legs with which to walk or run? Suddenly there rose from below a delicious sound. It was the song of a skylark, mounting higher and higher from the ground. At last it came close to Prince Dolor. "Oh, you beautiful, beautiful bird!" cried he. "I should dearly like to take you in. That is, if I could-if I dared." What kind of disposition did the little lame prince show? What is the best way to view misfortune? Do you have eyes that do not see? Or ears that do not hear? ple' türe erea' tûre shĕp' herd (ĕrd) THE LITTLE LAME PRINCE. IV. The little brown creature with its loud, heavenly voice almost made him afraid. But it also made him happy; and he watched and listened till he forgot everything in the world except the little lark. He was wondering if it would soar out of sight, when it closed its wings, as larks do when they mean to drop to the ground. But, instead of dropping to the ground, it dropped right into the little boy's breast. What a delight! To have something that nobody else had-something all his own! But when he got in sight of the tower, a painful thought struck him: "My pretty bird, what am I to do with you? If I shut you up in my room—you, a wild skylark of the air-what will become of you? I am used to this, but you are not. "Suppose my nurse should find you! She can't bear the sound of singing. I remember her once telling me that the nicest thing she ever ate in her life was lark pie!" The little boy shivered all over at the thought. The merry lark broke into the loudest carol, as if he defied anybody to eat him. In another minute Prince Dolor had made up his mind. "No, my bird, nothing so dreadful shall happen to you if I can help it. Fly away, my darling, my beautiful! Good-by, my merry, merry bird." Opening his hands, he let the lark go. Away it flew, far up into the blue sky. Prince Dolor ate his supper and went quietly to bed. Suddenly he heard outside the window a faint little carol. It was faint, but cheerful, even though it was the middle of the night. The dear little lark! it had not flown away, after all. It kept hovering about the tower, in the silence and darkness of the night, outside the window or over the roof. Whenever he listened, he heard it singing still. He went to sleep as happy as a king. -DINAH MULOCK CRAIK. How did the lark show its gratitude? What made the little prince go to sleep happy? Why do you think so? de licious (lish us) eǎr' ol hov' er ing KNEE-DEEP IN JUNE. I. Tell you what I like the best- On the vine-some afternoon Like to jes' git out and rest, And not work at nothin' else. |