“ Below the orchard there was a field where the cows were feeding. One of the cows was named Brindle. She stood with her head over the fence as if she wanted something to eat Betty saw her, and she thought, "Poor old Brindle is tired of grass; she wants me to bring her some of my apples."
So she filled her apron with sweet apples and went up to the fence. Brindle took the apples from her hand and seemed to think they were very good. The fence was low and broken where she was standing, and she pushed against it hard because she was so glad to get the apples. ”

“ But one day Charley's father passed by the field. He was terribly frightened to see his little boy on the bull's back, riding around the lot. He shouted to him, but turned pale when he saw Charley take hold of the horns and let himself down over the bull's head. He expected to see the animal toss the little fellow in the air; but he only rubbed his black nose against Charley and let him run to his papa.
The next day the bull was taken away, for Charley's papa did not want him to have such a dangerous friend.
I do not believe the bull would ever have hurt the kind little boy; do you? ”

“ Then he looked at Charlie. "Do you think you could do it, my son?"
"I, papa! Why, it is higher than my head! How could a little boy like me cut a path through that deep snow?"
"How? Why, by doing it little by little. Suppose you try; and if I find a nice path cleared when I come home to dinner, you shall have the sled you wished for."
So Charlie got his wooden snow-shovel and set to work. He threw up first one shovelful, and then another; but it was slow work.
"I don't think I can do it' mamma," he said. "A shovelful is so little, and there is such a heap of snow to be cleared away!" ”

“ When he tumbled into the wash-bowl Weezy squeezed him out, and dried him over the register. When lie ravelled mamma darned him, and made him as good as new.
O, he nicest kind of a doll! and from his white sewing-silk teeth to his black stocking-yarn toes, Weezy loved every inch of him. Yet she did love to punish him. One morning when she found him in papa's boot she shook him till one of his bead eyes dropped out.
"What for Sambo run away and hide?" cried she. "Now mamma mus' tie Sambo, 'cause Sambo did n't mind." ”

“ So while her grandfather rested and slept under a shady tree, she ran about and played with Martha and Nannie. They danced together in the big barn, and they went into the fields and gathered berries and flowers.
That night Mr. Lane was going to the next town, and he took Tessa and her grandfather along with him in his wagon. Martha and Nannie were very sorry to have them go. They gave Tessa some clothes and a bag of cakes and apples.
It was the happiest day that Tessa had ever spent in her whole life. She wished that she might live always with these new friends. ”

“ My cousin Betty had a shepherd dog whose name was Scott. He was a beauty. He followed Betty in all her walks and rides.
He would chase her about until she ran into the tallest tree in the yard; and there she would stay until Scott went home.
One day Scott was out in the street having a frolic with two other dogs. He was run over by a wagon, and one of his legs was broken. Betty and her brother and Bridget all cried when he went limping into the house.
Bridget hid her face in her apron and said, "Sure, the poor beast will be a cripple for life." ”

“ He looked as if he were hunting for something. "What are you looking for, with your lantern in this bright daylight?" the people asked. "I am looking for an honest man," growled Diogenes.
At this time there lived a great warrior and emperor who had made himself more famous than any one else in the world. Great crowds followed him, and threw up their hats, and cheered. His name was Alexander. Perhaps he was really the greatest man in the world. So he was called Alexander the Great.
One day Alexander marched by where Diogenes sat sunning himself in the sand. ”

“ He drove the cows home every evening. Charley loved the cows that gave him such good milk, and he used to talk to them as he drove them along.
One day Charley thought he would cut across a lot that was fenced in. He had only walked a little way when he saw a big bull trotting towards him. Do you think Charley was frightened? Not a bit. He knew it was of no use to run. As quick as he could, he pulled up a handful of grass and held it out to the bull.
The bull was feeling very ugly, for the men who put him in the field had beaten him, and choked him with the rope around his neck. ”

“ All day long they play with their kitten in all sorts of ways.
Sometimes Will has her for a circus cat; then kitty must jump over a stick, chase a toy mouse, and show off all her tricks. Next, Ellie will take her turn, and rig kitty out in her doll's clothes, and put her to sleep in the doll's bed.
Before poor kit has had her nap out, likely as not Baby will seize her to have a ride in his cart.
Then away she goes, down the walk, bump, bump! Baby's cart has no springs, you must know.
The folks in the house say, "O, that poor kitten! What a life it does lead!" ”

“ Old Kate and Charley were harnessed, and they were as frisky as young lambs. They seemed to know it was Thanksgiving, and were as happy as the children. We were all wrapped up in thick, warm clothes, and packed in the sleigh. Large as it was, we filled it quite full.
We all went to church first. Do you know what Thanksgiving means? The good people who first came to make their homes in New England set apart a day and called it by this name. ”

“ BRINDLE AND THE PIGEONS. Brindle is the cow. Tom, the milk-boy, milks her twice every day. He feeds her well both night and morning. I really think Brindle loves him: she seems to do so, any how. One day I saw her put out her great red tongue and lick Tommy on the shoulder and face.
But I must tell you about the pigeons. Tom one day put four pairs in the loft. That was a long while ago. We now have over one hundred. Almost any morning, while Tom is milking, you may see dozens of them on Brindle's back in the barn. At first she used to switch them off with her tail ”

“ When it burst open, ever so many tiny baby spiders tumbled out, like birds from a nest, and ran along with her. Perhaps you did n't know that the spider can spin and sew, too? She spins her web, and she sews leaves together for her summer house."
"What a queer thing a spider is," said Carrie, beginning to forget her dislike. ”

“ She thought it would be a fine place to build a home in. So she and her mate brought fine twigs and straw and leaves in their bills. They placed them in the shoe in pretty nest-shape, and lined their new house with soft hair and wool.
Beth and her papa were out searching for wood-flowers one day. The shadow of the shoe fell on the moss beneath the little maple.
Looking up, Beth saw the nest. Her papa bent the maple down, and Beth looked in. She saw five cunning little blue eggs lying cosily against the gray lining.
Beth is a tiny girl, just past being rocked to sleep in mamma's lap. ”

“ KITTY'S FRIEND TOAD. A great fat toad and Prim, my white kitten, are very good friends. He stays in the barn shed, where her milk-saucer is kept.
When the cows are milked, Prim always expects her saucer will be filled. If Fred forgets to give her any, she cries, "Mee-ow!" Then he remembers and gives her some milk.
Kit's friend, the toad, gets into her saucer and sits, and she doesn't mind it at all. She laps what milk she wants, and leaves the rest for him. ”

“ People do not go to church so much as they did, but it is still the home festival. We went to church; and after that we all had a long sleigh-ride to Grandpa's. Uncle George and Aunt Lucy were there, and cousins were almost as plenty as the snowflakes the day before.
We played "blind-man's buff" before dinner. We laughed and screamed, and rolled and tumbled on the floor. Grandpa and Grandma sat laughing at us, as happy as we were. ”

“ As soon as they were settled in their new home they began to go to school. The road that led to the school went by Farmer Grün's orchard. The trees in the orchard were full of apples. Karl and Christina would look at them when they were going past, and they longed to have some of them to eat.
"You must never go into the orchard," their mother said; "but if any of the apples should fall into the road, it would not be wrong for you to pick them up."
There was one tree that stood nearer the roadside wall than the others did, and it had bright red pippins on it. ”

“ THE DOG THAT RAN UP A TREE. Spot is a great, good-natured, black-and-white dog, as full of fun as his skin can hold. If there is anything he loves to do, it is to chase a cat, just to see her run. He has not the least wish to hurt her.
One day as he was following his master's team he went by a house where a white cat lay on the porch. ”

“ There was no nest to be seen. Tommie and his mamma thought the poor little sweeps must have been frightened by the storm.
Tommie wondered what he could do with them. They could not go up the chimney, and the old birds would never come down. If he put them in the yard the cat would catch them.
Then Tommie told his mamma that he could carry them to the observatory on the house-top, and got his papa to put them in the chimney. He got a little basket, caught the poor little birds, and put them in it. His mamma tied a handkerchief over the top of the basket to keep the birds in. ”

“ We like to run after birds. But we never catch any birds. They fly away when we come near. I wonder how the birds fly. Pomp and I cannot fly.
My master has a cow. Her name is Betty. She is a good cow. She gives nice, white milk. I do not care much for milk. I like a bone better. But old Tab, the cat, likes milk. I like to see Tab drink milk. She laps it up very fast.
I drive Betty to pasture every day. John goes with me to shut the gate. John is the boy who milks the cow. ”

“ By staying out too late at night,
He suffers thus in painful plight.
Learn from this careless kitten's fate
And never tarry out too late.
THE HEN THAT BROODED KITTENS. Come with mamma, Willie, and we will hunt for eggs."
We went out to the barn, Willie knew how to find the clean white eggs. I carried the basket, and the little boy hunted. Up and down the barn he trotted, and tumbled into the sweet-smelling hay. He found eggs by dozens.
"Come, Willie! I think there are no more."
"Yes, there are, mamma, for old Blackie is on her nest." ”

“ Then it was sent away in a nice basket. Three days after, the postman brought Roger a note; it said:—
"Dear Little Boy, I am lame. I can never walk. My mother goes out washing. I am alone all day. I used to cry. I never cry since the rose-bush came. I sit in my chair and watch it. I thank you, and my mother does too. I learned to write before I fell down on the ice. My mother cannot write, but she says she will ask God to bless you. She can work better, for the rose keeps me company. She used to cry too, when I was all alone.
"'The rose will grow forever,' she says. ”

“ Fred thought the creatures in it must be called the "happy family" because the dogs, cats, and monkeys were all the time teasing and plaguing one another. One monkey had a rat in his lap. He tended it as a mother does her baby. The monkey was happy, but Mr. Mason did not think the rat liked it very well.
Fred put one orange into his side pocket He could not wait until he got home to eat the other. As he walked along among the cages he seemed to care more for the fruit than for the animals. He sucked the orange with all his might, till he came to a cage with three monkeys in it. ”

“ Snow did not look like other men. Mamma Snow did not look like your mamma. And their baby was such a funny one!
Where do you think I saw this strange family? It was in our school-yard, last winter. There had been a long snow-storm. Great piles of soft white snow were in the yard. Boys like to play in the snow. They are not afraid of the cold.
Well, my boys made a great snow-man. This they called Mr. Snow. Then they made a lady out of the snow. They called her Mrs. Snow. They said she was Mr. Snow's wife. At last they made a baby out of the snow. The baby stood beside Papa and Mamma Snow. ”

“ He is now nearly sixty years of age. With Fido his dog, and Lucy his granddaughter, he goes from place to place and gets work. Lucy finds it very tiresome to go every day with her grandfather, but Fido is very fond of going.
The old man has not seen the sun, or his own face, or the trees, or anything at all, for more than twenty years. He does not know what Lucy looks like. He only runs his fingers through her golden ringlets and calls her his Sunshine.
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He can make a basket in one morning. ”

“ Miss Smith, who was gathering autumn leaves in the woods, came along while they were talking. "Are you tapping for maple sap?" she asked. "This is the wrong season of the year, John, you know."
John didn't know.
"The spring is the time, when the sap runs up. And when you want to make maple sugar, you must tap a maple-tree. This is a birch! You ought to study about trees, John."
And they went home, sadder and wiser boys.
—MARY N. PRESCOTT.
WEEZY'S SAMBO. Little Weezy Haynes had more dolls than she could take care of, and they were always falling into mischief. ”

“ The poor donkeys didn't get much rest, for the little folks kept them busy all day. Bessie was kind to them, but some of the children were not. Bessie liked a donkey named Kate best of all One day Bessie's father put her in the saddle, and Kate kicked up. When Bessie was lifted off, and the saddle removed, a great bleeding sore was found on the poor donkey's back.
Bessie felt very sorry for poor Kate, and said, "Papa, I don't want to ride to-day, but please do not send Kate back to the stables." ”