Various

“ Apples and oranges on one tree!"
"That sounds very strange," quoth little Willee.
"No flowers bloom there, snowy white,
Yet with these fruits—a curious sight—
Are oft seen flowers both red and white!
Should you climb to the top without a fall,
Your head might bump against the wall,
But not against the sky, you see,
For indoors-stands the Christmas-tree!"
"You tell very big stories," quoth little Willee.
"No birdie there doth build its nest,
No king-bird, blue-bird, robin redbreast,
Yet eggs thereon are often seen. ”

“ As he darts from out the underbrush and scampers up the tree,
We will gather buds and locust-blossoms, leaves and honeysuckle,
To wreathe around our foreheads, riding into Used-to-be;
For here's the very rim of it that we go swinging over—
Don't you hear the fairy bugles, and the tinkle of the bells?
And see the baby bumble-bees that tumble in the clover,
And dangle from the tilted pinks and tipsy pimpernels? ”

“ No blue so sweet as that baby's eyes,
No gold so bright as his head!"
THE LAND OF USED-TO-BE. By James Whitcomb Riley. AND where's the Land of Used-to-be, does little baby wonder?
Oh, we will clap a magic saddle over papa's knee,
And ride away around the world, and in and out and under,
The whole of all the golden sunny summer-time, and see!
Leisurely and lazy-like we'll jostle on our journey,
And let the pony bathe his hooves and cool them in the dew,
As he sidles down the shady way, and lags along the ferny
And the green grassy edges of the lane we travel through. ”

“ Bear books, and jumping-jacks, and mittens,
And little cotton-flannel kittens;
And over the whole of this Christmas-tree
Candles are burning right merrily!
What think you of this? my sweet Willie-wee?"
"I think you are fooling!" said little Willee.
Next morning young Willie, with serious air,
Put earth in a flower-pot, and buried up there
A seed of an apple with very great care.
"Pray, what are you doing, you rogue Willie-wee?"
"I am planting a seed for a Chrissermas tree!
Is not that good to do?" asked little Willee. ”

“ Like a real live dolly, and all for their own!
Two happier children could nowhere be found,
No, not if you travelled the whole world around.
They had drawn her this morning where daisies
grew—
White daisies, all shining and dripping with dew;
Long wreaths of the daisies, and chains, they had
made;
In the baby's lap these wreaths they had laid,
The children were drawing, with caution and care,
Their sweet baby-sister, to give her the air,
In a dainty straw wagon with wheels of bright red,
And a top of white muslin which shaded her head. ”

“ Why, mamma, the snow-flakes have turned to birds
WAITING A WINTER'S TALE. By Mrs. Sallie M. B. Piatt. SOME sweet things go just to make room for
others:
The blue field-blossom hurries from the dew,
(My little maiden, hush your noisy brothers!)
And see, the wild-rose reddens where it grew!
The green leaf fades that you may see the yellow;
We have the honey when we miss the bee;
Who wants the apples, scarlet-stained and mellow,
Must give the buds upon his orchard-tree ”

“ Just then, of a sudden, a lark flew by
And sang at the top of his voice in the sky;
"Ho! ho! Mr. Lark," shouted Jane,"come down here!
We're not cruel children. You may come without fear.
We've something to show you. In all your life
maybe
You'll never see anything sweet as our baby!" ”

“ If you will drive round it instead of right thro' it!"
He put up his head with a stupefied stare,
And says he, "I declare!
No, I wasn't aware!
And I'm going at such a deuce of a rate—
I'd stop if I could, but I fear it's too late!
Bless my stars! here I am!" He had just time
to stoop,
When through it, head-foremost, he went at a
swoop,
As a circus rider dives through a hoop! ”

“ Floated by like a red balloon,
Hung and glittered awhile, until
It went to the people behind the Hill.
The earth spins round, the mountain is still
Men and women they come and they go,
Children play in the valley below. ”

“ Awestruck, the silent children
Hear the great harmony.
We are all but silent children,
Denied and deaf and dumb
Before His unknown science—
Lord, if Thou wilt, we come!
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A DAY IN WINTER. By Mrs. L. C. Whiton. THROUGH the crimson fires of morning
Streaming upward in the East,
Leaps the sun, with sudden dawning,
Like a captive king released;
And December skies reflected
In the azure hue below
Seem like summer recollected
In the dreaming of the snow.—
It is winter, little children, let the summer,
singing, go! ”

“ It is all very well to brag of your baby—
One of these years it will be something, maybe!"
And without even looking at the baby's face,
The cat walked away at a sleepy pace.
"Moo, Moo!" said a cow, coming up. "Moo,
Moo!
Young people, you're making a great to-do
About your baby. And the lark and the cat,
They're nothing but braggers—I wouldn't give
that."
Original Size (And the cow snapped her tail as you'd snap your
thumb)
"For all the babies, and kittens, and birds, that come
In the course of a year! It does make me laugh
To look at them all, by the side of a calf! ”

“ And with a breeze from over seas to kiss us as it passes,
We will romp around forever as the little fairies do;
For all the elves of earth and air are swarming here together—
The prankish Puck, king Oberon, and queen Titania too;
And dear old Mother Goose herself, as sunny as the weather,
Comes dancing down the dewy walks to welcome me and you!
A BABY SHOW. By H. H. A DROLL conversation I once overheard—
Two children, a cat, a cow, and a bird.
The names of the children were Eddie and Jane ”

“ That lark flew right down, like a sociable bird,
As soon as they called him, and perched on a tree,
And winked with his eye at the children and me,
And laughed out, as much as a bird ever can,
As he cried, "Ha! ha! Little woman and man!
"You'll be quite surprised and astonished, maybe,
To hear that I do not think much of your baby.
Why, out in the field here I've got in my nest,
All cuddled up snug 'neath my wife's warm breast,
Four little babies—two sisters, two brothers—
And all with bright eyes, as bright as their moth-
er's ”

“ Joy, joy, and jubilee!
Good-will to men from sea to sea,
This merry Christmas-tide!
Lo! in the homes of every land
The children reign to-day;
They alone,
With our hearts their throne,
And never a sceptre but their own
Small hands to rule and sway!
Peace, peace—the Christ-child's love—
Flies over the world, a white, white dove,
This happy Christmas-tide!
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THE SILENT CHILDREN. By Elizabeth Stuart Phelps. THE light was low in the school-room;
The day before Christmas day
Had ended. It was darkening in the garden
Where the Silent Children play. ”

“ And the cow called her calf, and tossed up her
head
Like a person quite sure of all she has said.
Then Jane looked at Eddy, and Eddy at Jane;
Said Eddy, "How mean! I declare, they're too
vain
"To live—preposterous things! They don't know
What they're talking about! I'd like them to show
a bird, or a kitten, or a learned calf.
That can kiss like our baby, or smile, or laugh!"
"Yes, indeed, so should I!' said Jane in a rage;
"The poor little thing! She's advanced for her age,
For the minister said so the other day—
She's worth a hundred kittens or calves to play. ”

“ If I did so,
How I would grow!"
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SUMMER'S GOING. By Mrs. L. C. Whiton. LEAVES are shrinking on the trees,
Where the nests are hidden;
There's a hush among the bees,
As to roam forbidden ”

“ The forests where never a man is known!
There are wonders and wonders waiting still
For a boy who has never looked over the Hill!
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IN MIDSUMMER. By Mrs. L. C. Whiton. INTO silence of the morning's splendor
There is shaken a golden robin's dream ”

“ In a big balloon, intending from it
To interview our friend, the Comet!
While the wide-awake daily press unfurled
Its rival bulletins: "End of the World!!
Frightful collision! America hit!!!
Full particulars! Canada hurled
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