DU

URING the American Revolution, a little squad of soldiers were, at one time, trying to raise a log of timber to the top of some military works they were repairing. The timber went up with difficulty, and the voice of the little man in command was often heard shouting out

"Heave away! there she goes! heave ho!" 2. An officer not in military costume was passing, and asked the commander why he did not take hold and render a little aid. The latter,

astonished, turning round, with all the pomp of an emperor, said, "Sir, I am a corporal."

3. "You are, are you?" replied the officer. "I was not aware of that;" and taking off his hat and bowing, the officer said, "I ask your pardon, Mr. Corporal," and then dismounted and lifted till the sweat stood in drops on his forehead.

4. When the work was finished, turning to the commander, he said,

"Mr. Corporal, when you have another such job and have not men enough, send for your Commander-in-chief, and I will come and help you a second time.”

5. The corporal was thunderstruck. It was Washington who thus addressed him.

LXXXII.—THE TWO BUCKETS.

"HOW

well.

OW dismal you look!" said a bucket to his companion as they were going to the

2. "Ah!" replied the other, "I was thinking how useless it is for us to be filled; for let us go away ever so full, we always come back empty." 3. "Dear me! how strange to look at it in that way !" said the other bucket. Now, I enjoy the thought that, however empty we come, we always go away full."

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LXXXIII.-REWARDS OF SONG.

WH

I.

HAT does the brook have for singing
Its silvery tune all day?

The buzz of the water-flies over it,
The hum of the gnats at play;
The dance of the sand at the bottom,
As it trips on its musical way.

II.

What does the wind have for singing,
As it winnows its wings to and fro?
The rustle of leaves on the branches,
The whisper of grass below;
In spring, the fall of the blossoms,
In winter, the whirl of the snow.

III.

What does the bee have for singing,
As over the meadow it flies?
The whirr of the spry little grasshopper,

Whose vaulting is grand-for his size;

The scent of the flowers he pilfers,
The honey he loads on his thighs.

IV.

What does the bird have for singing,

With the shade of the woods on his breast?

The call of his mate in the distance,

The cry of the young in the nest;

And the pleasure his music gives him,

Which to me-were I one-would be best.

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LXXXIV.—THE WORTH OF KNOWLEDGE.

"K

EEP a thing seven years, and you will at last find a use for it," says an old proverb; and this is as true of knowledge as of anything

we possess.

2. There was once an Eastern vizier, or prime minister, who in his youth had amused himself by studying the habits of insects. From studying insects he afterward came to study men, and at length by his wisdom attained the highest rank in the empire under his master the sultan.

3. But because he was good as well as wise, he one day refused to obey a wicked command of the sultan, who, in a rage, ordered that he should be imprisoned for life in the top of a high tower. There the captive was shut up, and no one except his jailer was allowed to see him.

4. He began at once to think of plans of escape, and soon by hard toil he had succeeded in loosening one of the iron bars that formed the grating of his window. By removing this, he found he could make room for his body to pass; but still escape was impossible, for the window was near seventy feet from the ground.

5. One night he heard a sound of weeping under his window, and knew that his wife was kneeling at the foot of the tower, bewailing his unhappy lot and praying for his deliverance.

6. The captive put his head out between the bars and said, in a low voice, "Cease your grief, and go home. Come back to-morrow night, bringing with you a live black beetle, a little rancid butter, a skein of the finest silk, a ball of linen thread, a ball of strong cord and a coil of rope."

7. Relying upon her husband's wisdom, she ran home eagerly and procured all the things he had mentioned. She could hardly have the patience to wait until the following night to carry them to the tower and see what he would then order her to do.

8. The next night he again heard a sound of prayer and lamentation at the foot of the lofty tower wall.

9. "Cease your grief," he said, "and do what I shall tell you. Have you brought the live beetle, the rancid butter, the skein of silk and the thread, the cord and the rope?"

10. "I have brought everything as you commanded me," replied the woman.

11. "Tie one end of the silk thread around the beetle, touch his head with the butter, and place him on the wall with his head turned upward directly toward this window."

12. Now, it is the habit of that species of beetle to move straight in the direction of any strong scent-a fact which the vizier well re