THE BROOK IN THE HOLLOW.
The brook in the hollow

Hath waked from its sleep,

And under the rushes doth c-r-e-e-p and c-r-e-e-p;

Then, over the pebbles
So smooth and brown,

Goes merrily dancing, dancing down.

Now, shouting with laughter,
It leaps o'er the rock,

Awaking the echoes its mirth to mock;
While over the borders,

So rugged and steep,

The dainty anemones p-e-e-p and

p-e-e-p.

Then, out of the shadow

And into the sun,

All bubbling with pleasure, the glad waves run Now, broader and deeper,

It moves with ease,

And murmurs of p-e-a-c-e to the scented breeze.

The sweet birds drink

Of its waters bright;

The little s-t-a-r-s sleep on its breast at night. Now, quiet, as grieving

The hills to forsake,

It glides under lily-pads into the lake.

Commit this poem to memory.

Rats are very clever animals; but they are so mischievous, that we always want to kill them as soon as possible, and seldom care to hear about the cunning things they do.

They are great eaters. The trouble they take to get something to eat is remarkable. They gnaw through wood, and dig through the ground, to get at food which has been put away. They have been known to roll jars off the shelves so as to break them, in order to get at the jelly or jam inside. It is said they will even carry eggs up a flight of stairs without breaking the shells.

Young rats are very kind to the old ones. When they go from a place because they can not find food enough, they do not leave the old and helpless ones behind, but aid them to travel away with the rest.

An officer of a ship on watch, one bright moonlight night, saw three rats coming slowly up one

of the large ropes which are used to haul goods into the vessel.

Their slow walk-so different from their usual scamper-made him watch them very closely, and soon he discovered the reason of their going so slowly. The tail of the first rat was in the mouth of the second, and the tail of the second was in the mouth of the third, and the three were carefully coming up together. The middle rat was blind, and the others were helping him on board.

Rats are great travelers. They go around the world in ships. If they find out that a ship leaks, they will leave it as soon as they can. Sailors will never go to sea in a ship that the rats have left; they believe it will be sure to sink.

Dr. Franklin once had a tame rat for a pet. It was very fond of its master, and very friendly with his dog. The two would play together in the garden; they would drink milk side by side from a saucer, and share, like brothers, any good things which their master gave them to eat.

The rat's name was Scugg. The dog's name was Flora. When a stranger came to the house, Scugg would hide behind Flora, and Flora would bark loudly in defense of her friend. It was

curious to see Scugg sleeping before the fire, between Flora's

paws.

There are many kinds of rats, but the most common are the black and Norway rats. The Norway rat is the largest and fiercest of all rats, and, whenever it can, will kill and eat the black rat. So, when the Norway rats enter a house, the black rats leave it at once.

Though rats are great thieves, and very trou blesome, they do a great deal of good. They eat scraps of waste food of all kinds, and other things which, being left to decay, would make the air unhealthy.

that

Write a short story of your own, telling something you know, or have read, about a rat, or rats.

WHAT THE WINDS BRING.

"Which is the wind that brings the cold?"
"The North-wind, Freddy-and all the snow;

And the sheep will scamper into the fold
When the North begins to blow."