then you will be much more useful to me than you are at present; for very often when there is something that you could do, I say, 'No, I will do it myself, for Jane will have so much to say, and will make such a parade about it, that she will cause me more trouble than she will save.' But I wish you to begin now to learn the quiet way of going about everything, and then you will be a very great help to me." Jane had many opportunities throughout the day of practising her new lesson, and she felt amply repaid by her mother's smile, and approving looks, and resolved ever afterwards to try the quiet way in preference to the bustling way. Abbott's Reader. LUCY GRAY. OFT I had heard of Lucy Gray; No mate, no comrade Lucy knew ; You yet may spy the fawn at play, To-night will be a stormy night— And take a lantern, child, to light "That, father, will I gladly do; The minster clock has just struck two, At this the father raised his hook Not blither is the mountain roe: The storm came on before its time; The wretched parents, all that night, At day-break on a hill they stood And thence they saw the bridge of wood They wept, and turning homeward, cried, "In heaven we all shall meet!" When in the snow the mother spied Then downward from the steep hill's edge And then an open field they crossed; They followed from the snowy bank Yet some maintain that to this day That you may see sweet Lucy Gray O'er rough and smooth she trips along, And never looks behind; And sings a solitary song That whistles in the wind. WORDSWORTH. THE SPIDER'S WEB. A YOUNG prince used often to wonder for what purpose God had made flies and spiders, as he could not see, he said, what use they were of to men, and, if he One day, had the power, he would kill them all. after a great battle, this prince was obliged to hide himself from his enemies; and wandering about in a wood, he lay down very tired beneath a tree, and fell asleep. A soldier passing by, who belonged to the enemy, was quietly drawing near with his sword to kill the prince, when suddenly a fly stung his lip, and awoke him. Seeing his danger, he sprang to his feet, and quickly made the soldier run off. That night the prince again hid himself, in a cave in the same wood; and during the night a spider wove her web across the entrance. Two soldiers belonging to the army which had defeated him, and who were looking for the prince, passed the cave in the morning, and the prince heard their conversation. "Look!" cried one of them, "he is surely concealed in this cave." 'No," replied the other, "that is impossible; for if he had gone in there he would have brushed down the spider's web at the entrance." When they had gone away, the prince raised his hands and eyes to heaven, and thanked God for such goodness, in yesterday saving his life by means of a fly, and now again by a spider; and acknowledged that the ways and works of God are perfectly good and wise. THE FOX AND THE CROW. A CROW, who stole a piece of cheese, Where nothing might his bliss destroy; When, lo! a Fox came prowling by, Your form and feathers are so fair, Your shape so graceful, and your voice! The precious cheese dropt from his bill— ALEXANDER SMART. THE POOR MAN AND THE RICH MAN. PART I. IN olden times, when fairies walked the earth in the form of men, it happened that one of them, while he was wandering about very tired, saw night coming upon him before he had found a shelter. But there stood on the road, close by, two houses opposite to |