Shining Hours

COME AND PLAY!

Play-ful kit-tens! see them spring-ing Light-ly up my fa-vor-ite tree; Now they spy the ham-mock swing-ing— In they scram-ble-one, two, three.

For a while they sit de-mure-ly, In a dain-ty fluffy row, Then they gaze a-bout—why sure-ly, There stands pa-tient Spot be-low.

“Come!” I fan-cy they are say-ing; “See, it is not far to climb: ’Mid the branch-es i-dly sway-ing, We are hav-ing such a time!

“You shall have a wel-come hear-ty Here with-in the leaf-y shade. What! you will not join our par-ty? Sil-ly pup, you are a-fraid!”

But a meek re-proach is ly-ing In those eyes so brown and large; One can al-most hear him cry-ing, “I have mas-ter’s stick in charge!”

Pret-ty, mirth-ful, sau-cy crea-tures— Let them play their mer-ry part! How can their light kit-ten-na-tures Un-der-stand his faith-ful heart?

That night Edith insisted on taking the old idol to bed with her as of old. Aunt Bell over-heard her talking to it.

“I love you bushels. You are the beautifulest dolly in all the world. And I don’t care if you haven’t dot two arms, and fine clothes, and a parasol. You’ve dot me, and I’ve dot you, and we’ll just do on loving each other. Dat new dolly can sit in the parlor, but you’se my every day chum.”

Edith showed the new dolly to all her friends, but wouldn’t play with it for many days. Like a genuine little woman, she wanted to be loyal to her first love.

IN THE MEADOW.

Little girlie in the meadow, Do you love to pick the flowers? Do you love to sing and chatter, Through the bright and sunny hours?

Pretty maiden in the meadow, Do you love to dream and sigh? Do you love to build bright castles In the air, yet know not why?

Kind old doggie in the meadow, Do you love to laze and think? Do you love to catch the snappers, While at them you wink and blink?

Little girlie, pretty maiden, Kind old doggie—three good friends— Love the sunshine, dreams, and flowers, All joy that summer days attends.

A PUZZLED CAT.

Teheran, the Persian cat, was dozing on a rug in the hall. Suddenly her hair stood on end, and her tail grew large. What-ever was that thing coming down-stairs? She had opened her eyes just in time to see at the head of the long flight of stairs some strange animal, with great eyes and long sharp teeth. To her horror, it slid quickly down stairs, directly toward her.

It did not take her long to run from the mat and dodge the fierce-looking animal. She turned to look, and there lay the four footed beast, just where she had lain. What could he be, and what was he doing in that house? There he lay quietly. Could he be asleep? Pussy-like, she crawled toward him, ready to spring if he stirred. She walked round him with her back up. No, he wasn’t asleep. His eyes were wide open. Was he lying in wait, ready to spring at her?

Round and round him she walked. Not an ear did he raise, not a whisker did he twitch, not an eyelid did he wink. What a curious fellow!

Had he died of heart disease coming down-stairs so fast? Her eyes opened wider. She pricked up her ears to listen. Not a breath could she hear. Poor fellow, he must be dead.

She grew bolder. She played with his paws, and she pulled his tail. She brushed by his side. How queer! No fat, no bones! She put one paw on his back, two paws, three paws, all four paws. How flat! no heart, no stomach, no insides at all. She sat down on him to think. What was he?

Many a day she thought about him; many a time she played with him; many an hour she watched him. But a puzzled cat she always remained.

ON THE BEACH.

This little girl has come with her mamma from the noisy city, Paris. She has a shrimping net in her hand, and thinks she can catch shrimps.

The fish-wife is surprised to see a little girl in such fine clothes on the beach. The little girl is curious about the fish-wife. Do you wish to know what they are talking about? Listen!

“Êtes vous de Paris?”

“Oui.”

“Combien y a-t-il de temps que vous êtes ici?”

“Il n’y a que trois jours.”

Do you understand? You do if you are studying French. They both talk French although they are dressed so differently. The little girl is very much interested in the funny dress of the fish-wife. The fish-wife is very much pleased with the pretty dress of the little girl. She says under her breath “Qu’elle est jolie!”

They look each other over from top to toe, and talk awhile. Then the fish-wife goes back to her work. The little girl pokes the shrimping-net into the water and tries to catch the shrimps.

DOROTHY’S CALL.

Dorothy was wandering about the house, wondering what to do. She strayed into Grandma’s room. On the bureau lay Grandmas’s cap. Dorothy tried it on, and thought she looked very like Grandma. There lay a pair of spectacles. She tried those on too.

Suddenly a scheme came into her wise little head. She went to Grandmas’s closet, found one of her dress skirts, and put on that. Grandma was a short woman, and Dorothy was a pretty big girl for her age, still the skirt was a trifle long in front. Grandma didn’t wear short sleeves and high-necked aprons. Grandma’s black shawl was just the thing to cover them up, Dorothy thought, as she fastened it with Grandma’s big pin.

She walked quietly into the hall. Quietly, because she wasn’t sure that Grandma would be pleased. She couldn’t see through the spectacles. She clung to the bannisters, or down the whole flight of stairs she would have gone at one step. Shoving the glasses to the end of her nose, she went on her way. Around the corner lived a poor old lady that Grandma sometimes called on. Dorothy walked to her door and knocked. The old lady came to the door.

“Good morning, Mrs. Johns!” said Dorothy.

“Good morning,” answered Mrs. Johns, looking at her caller curiously. “Come in, wont you, and sit down? I don’t just recall you, though you do seem familiar.”

“My name is Swinton,” said Dorothy. (So it was and so was her Grandmother's).

“Oh, how do you do, Mrs. Swinton? You must excuse me for not knowing you. I’m getting hard o’hearing, and my eyes aren’t as good as they were once. And how are you?”

“I have a little rheumatiz, and sometimes a ‘stick’ in my back,” answered Dorothy.