Ella Mason was a little girl six years old, and quite too small to go alone far from home.

Her brother George always took her to school with him; and in winter, when snow was on

the ground, he would put her on his sled and draw her swiftly over the smooth road.

Once, when the weather was very cold, George put her on the sled, and wrapped her up so that she could not move. She looked like a red ball of worsted, George said; for she was so muffled up in a big red shawl that she was quite round, and only her bright eyes peeped out to let you know that a little girl was there.

As the snow was very deep that day, George found the sled quite heavy; so he called one or two of his school-mates to help him. After they had gone a little way they met George's cousin, and he, too, caught hold of the long rope and helped to draw the sled.

Now the sled seemed very light indeed, be

cause there were so many pulling it.

"Come," said Ralph, "let us pretend we are stage-horses, and run from here to school without stopping!"

Off they rushed, four strong boys, shouting and laughing in great glee, and the sled bounded swiftly after them over the bright, white snow.

At first little Ella thought it was great fun to go so swiftly; but she could not use her hands to hold on, and she almost bounced off the sled when it went over the rough places.

At last, when they had gone

about half-way to

school, the boys turned a sharp corner and rushed on, never thinking they had left poor little Ella in a pile of snow by the side of the road.

There she sat, and screamed; but the boys were laughing and shouting so loud that they did not hear her. Then she cried softly, and tried to stand, but she was so bundled up that she could not; so she sat still and cried.

The boys ran on, and did not miss Ella at all until they reached the school-house; then George turned to help her off, and saw only the empty sled.

Oh, how scared those stage-horses were! They took hold of the rope once more, and rushed down the road without saying a word. In about five minutes they came to the turn in the road, and saw poor little Ella sitting in the snow and crying bitterly.

The boys were very sorry they had been so careless. George took her up tenderly in his arms, and wiped away her tears, saying: "Our stage lost its only passenger in the snow; but the horses never meant to leave her there for Jack Frost to catch;" and, placing her again on the sled, the boys carefully drew her to the schoolhouse door.

Copy the following words, divide them into their syllables, and mark their pronunciation with the diacritical marks. Draw a line through all the silent letters. Example: wrapped.

elōse'-ly kitch'-en

search'-ing

gär'-den brought lib'-er-ty

hědge'-hög

in'-seets hun'-gry twi'-light

re-eòv'-er-y

mär'-ket pounced walk'-ing gen'-er-al-ly

TIMOTHY.

Timothy was our pet hedgehog. I bought him in the market one day, brought him home, and put him into the back garden.

There he was at liberty to wander about as much as he pleased; but he could not get out, because the garden was closely walled in. I used to watch him from my window, walking about, in the twilight, among the grass and flowers, searching for worms and insects; and very useful was he to the plants by so doing.

When the dry weather came, food became

Soon he learned to know that when he was hungry there was the supply; and often he would scratch at the glass for his supper, and, after getting it, walk off to the garden to make himself useful.

There are very few people who know the great value of hedgehogs in a garden, or they would be more generally kept. But our Timothy-poor fellow-came to a sad end, in spite of all our

care.