There is a boy

I know a boy

I cannot love him, though

Who robs the little birdie's nests;

Is it? It can't be you!

-

That bad boy can't be you!

A girl there is a girl I know-
And I would love her, too,

But that she is so proud and vain;
Is it? It can't be you!

That surely isn't you!

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XXV.

LITTLE BY LITTLE.

LUELLA CLARK.

WHILE the new years come and the old years go,
How little by little all things grow!

All things grow, and all decay,
Little by little passing away.
Little by little, on fertile plain,
Ripen the harvests of golden grain,
Waving and flashing in the sun,
When the summer at last is done.

Little by little they ripen so,

As the new years come and the old years go.

Low on the ground an acorn lies;

Little by little it mounts to the skies,-
Shadow and shelter for wandering herds,
Home for a hundred singing birds.
Little by little the great rocks grew,

Long, long ago, when the world was new.
Slowly and silently, stately and free,
Cities of coral under the sea

Little by little are builded; while so

The new years come and the old years go.

Little by little all tasks are done,

So are the crowns of the faithful won,

So is heaven in our hearts begun.

With work and with weeping, with laughter and play,

Little by little the longest day

And the longest life are passing away

Passing without return; while so

The new years come and the old years go.

XXVI.

THE DREAM PEDDLER.

LUCY M. BLINN.

Up the street of Slumbertown

Comes the crier with his bell,

Calling softly up and down,
"Dreams to sell!

Dreams to sell!

THE DREAM PEDDLER.

Will the children come and buy?
Such a world of them have I!

"Here are dreams of merry spring,
Fashioned where the blossoms wake;
Where the fields and meadows ring
With the songs the breezes make;
Dreams! Dreams! Come and buy!
Who has merrier dreams than I?

"Here are dreams for summer sleep, -
Fancies light as thistle spray,
Woven where the fairies keep
Carnival and holiday.

Dreams! Dreams! Buy and try!
Who has daintier dreams than I?

"Dreams to sell in Slumbertown!

Sure, you'll buy these glowing dreams; Warp and woof of red and brown,

Chosen from the autumn gleams.

Ah, no peddler far or nigh

Sells such gorgeous dreams as I!

"Here's a dream that Winter brought

From his palaces of snow; Well his frozen fingers wrought

All its wonders long ago,

When the stars shone pure and bright,
On your blessed Christmas night!"

On the streets of Slumbertown

Ever sounds a silver bell,

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As the crier wanders down

With his curious wares to sell,
Crying softly, "Come and buy!
Who has sweeter dreams than I?"

XXVII.

DO ALL THAT YOU CAN.

MRS. M. E. SANGSTER.

"I CANNOT do much," said a little star, "To make this dark world bright; My silvery beams cannot pierce far Into the gloom of night;

Yet I am a part of God's great plan,

And so I will do the best that I can."

"What can be the use," said a fleecy cloud, "Of these few drops that I hold? They will hardly bend the lily proud, If caught in her chalice of gold;

But I, too, am a part of God's great plan, So my treasures I'll give as well as I can."

A child went merrily forth to play,

But a thought, like a silver thread, Kept winding in and out all day

Through the happy, golden head: Mother said, "Darling, do all that you can, For you are a part of God's great plan."

BOYS WANTED.

She knew no more than the twinkling star,
Or the cloud with its rain-cup full,

How, why, or for what all strange things are-
She was only a child at school.

But she thought, "It is a part of God's great plan
That even I should do all that I can."

So she helped another child along

When the road was rough to the feet,
And she sang from her heart a little song
That we all thought wondrous sweet;
And her father, a weary, toil-worn man,
Said, "I, too, will do the best that I can."

Our best! O children, the best of us all
Must hide our faces away,

When the Lord of the vineyard comes to look

At our tasks at the close of day;

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But for strength from above-'tis the Master's plan We'll pray, and then do the best that we can.

XXVIII.

BOYS WANTED.

AUTHOR NOT KNOWN.

Boys of spirit, boys of will,

Boys of muscle, brain, and power,

Fit to cope with anything,

These are wanted every hour.