glad indeed to receive the gem, but he threw it away more hastily than any of the others. Then I saw that the sad-faced angel talked with the young man, and showed him the long string of gems which he had gathered from the waters, and the youth's face, too, grew sad for a moment, and as he received another pearl, he held it more carefully, and even attempted to engrave something upon it, for I saw that these gems were already prepared to receive the letters which the young man was expected to mark upon them. Then I rejoiced to think that these beautiful gems were no longer to be thrown carelessly away; but, alas! the youth tried for a moment, then cast the pearl overboard with an impatient-" "Tis useless, I can't trouble myself so."

Now the boat had floated very near me, so I called to the youth, and asked him whither he was floating, and why he threw away so carelessly such beautiful gems.

"Why, you see, I know I shall have plenty more of them; as long as I float on this river I can have them, and I throw them away because I can only keep one at a time, and there is nothing different in them. I can make them different by engraving certain words upon them; indeed, I am told, that is what they are given to me for, but it's too much trouble; and if I begin now, I shall have to write a great many before I get through, I'm afraid."

"But, when will you get through ?" said I.

Oh, I don't know exactly," replied the youth;

"that depends upon the length of this river, and the swiftness of the current; it may be a great while, and it may not."

"And where do you go then?" was my question.

The young man shuddered. "There is a dreary, boundless ocean then," he answered, "but I don't want to think of that."

"But,” I persisted, "why does the pale figure by your side keep gathering up those stones, and placing them on the string?"

"That is to see how many I have written on. They tell me that when I get to the mouth of this river, I may reach a beautiful country, and live there; but it all depends on what I write on those stones, so there isn't much prospect of my getting there ;" and he laughed—a hollow, affected laugh.

Why don't you write on them," asked I, "since you gain so much by it?"

"Oh, 'tis too much trouble. Here it goes "—and with these words he tossed over the pearl he had been holding while talking to me, and raised up his hand for another.

I looked wonderingly after him, as he floated on out of my sight. Then I thought, "I will ascend this high hill, and watch that little boat;" so I climbed the hill, and behold, from the top, I could see the whole course of the river, and far on I saw the little boat. The waters here were no longer calm, there were rapids and rocks to avoid, and the young man no longer looked carelessly, but anxious

ly watched, peering forward into the darkness, to see what was coming. It needed much care to keep his boat afloat, and sometimes I fancied it was lost, and then I would see it rise on the waves, and struggle on again. Still I could see that his hand. was raised for the pearls, and I fancied that he held them longer, and looked at them more earnestly than he did before. So he went forward—wrathful waves around-and the deep surging of the unknown sea distinctly heard, as he came nearer and nearer to it. A startling scream, and the boat gave a sudden plunge, and when I looked, there dimly, in the lowering darkness of the great ocean, I saw the poor man's figure, struggling with the waves. His boat was a wreck. There was one flash of light, and by it methought I saw two angel figures weeping bitterly, flying upward, bearing with them the string of pearls.

Α'

TRUTH.

LWAYS speak the truth. Nothing will so exalt

the individual as virtue, and virtue cannot be perfected without an understanding regard to truth. The person whose word is not sacred to himself, and sure to others, lives in a very degraded sphere of life. The trustworthy dog stands more than on a level with him in the sphere of being, and is deserving of more honor. But the individual of truthful lips, lives in an exalted sphere of life, having the confidence of all around him.

THE NAUTILUS.

THE Nautilus floats on the azure deep,

She opens her sail, when the wild winds sleep,
When the sun shines bright, and dolphins play

Then moves she along like a lady gay,

For a lady is she

Of the deep deep sea,

And nought is so pretty or half so free
As the ocean's fair gem of purity.

In the pride of her beauty she moves along,
And welcomed she is by the mariner's song,
For when on the ocean they see the sail
They cheerfully sing and wish her well;
For a lady is she

Of the deep deep sea,

And nought is so pretty or half so free
As the ocean's fair gem of purity.

When hollow winds whistle and billows roar,
She takes in her sail, and you see her no more,
Yet when the waves sleep and tempest is gone
Yet lady-like still she moveth along ;

For a lady is she

Of the deep deep sea,

And nought is so pretty or half so free
As the ocean's fair gem of purity.

Like the Nautilus-may each of us sail,

May our vessel of life be free from a gale,

When the tempests of life, and its billows are gone

May we float like the Nautilus merrily on ;

For a lady is she

Of the deep deep sea,

And nought is so pretty or half so free

As the ocean's fair gem of purity.

FRED

RED DANFORTH had always had a pleasant home, a kind father, an affectionate mother, and a darling sister, named Helen, who was only two years his senior, and as fond of sport and play as his little heart could wish. Fred and his pretty sister loved each other dearly-they rarely quar