Chapter M: C. W

THE MOUSE-TRAP.

THE cheese smelt tempting in its little house:
"I'll get it, never fear!" cried Master Mouse.

Caught in the trap, with all their might and main,
His parents try to get him out again.

Alas! alas! exertions well applied
Bring but a swift collapse undignified.

A happy thought: "We'll roll the box about,
And thus, perchance, get valiant Brownie out!"

Still happier thought: a wall its aid extends;
And Brownie, thankful for such clever friends,

Darts out in triumph, bearing high the cheese,
Then shares the well-won spoil, and feasts at ease.

ONE CAT AND TWO PIGS.

A POOR little kitty turned out by its mother,
Without any sister, without any brother,
Was very unhappy,
Was very unhappy;
Oh, very unhappy indeed!

She couldn't find any companions to stay with;
She couldn't find any companions to play with;
And so she was lonely,
Oh! ever so lonely;
Oh, yes! she was lonely indeed.

One morning she noticed two little pigs running
Along by the house; they were pretty and cunning,
And it made little kitty
Feel bad--what a pity!--
A very great pity indeed.

She made their acquaintance, and then in clear weather
The three funny playmates would frolic together,
And kitty was happy,
No doubt she was happy;
Oh, yes! very happy indeed.

The piggies would drink up the milk that was given
To kitty, who oft from the basin was driven;
For they were quite greedy,
Yes, rather too greedy;
Oh, yes! very greedy indeed.

And, when they had corn, how the piggies would chew it!
While kitty looked on, wondering how they could do it:
'Twas queer that she couldn't,
Quite strange that she couldn't;
She'd tried--but she couldn't indeed!

At night, when the piggies in slumber were dozing,
Miss Kitty curled up on their backs was reposing,
And all were quite happy,
Remarkably happy;
Oh, yes! very happy indeed.

JOSEPHINE POLLARD.

HARRY AND JOHN.

HARRY waves his flag to stop a train of cars. He has seen a man do it at the railroad station. But the train rushes by, and does not mind him in the least. This makes him look sad.

John stands and looks on. He is dressed in a new sailor-suit. He feels so grand that he does not care whether the train stops or not. There is a very broad grin on his face. We should see it if we could make him turn round and look at us.

J. K. L.

"INCHES."

HIS real name was Miles; but one of his papa's friends said that such a little chap was too small to be called Miles, and it would be better to begin with "Inches" and go up gradually: so we nicknamed him "Inches."

His papa and mamma were Americans; but their little boy was born in Assam, and until he was four years old he had never seen any other country.

Now, you will want to know where Assam is. I will tell you. It is a kingdom in India, lying west of China, and south of the great Himalaya Mountains. Some peaks of these mountains can be seen on a clear day from the house where Inches lived.

One morning early, our little friend woke, and called out in the Assamese language (for he could not speak English), "Tezzan, take me."

Tezzan his "bearer"--so a man-nurse is called in Assam--came quickly, and dressed his little charge. Then, after giving him a slice of dry toast and a nice plantain for his breakfast, he took the little boy by the hand, and started out with him for their regular morning-walk.

They went down along the bank of the Brahmaputra River, and saw many sights that would look very strange to Americans. A little below the house, Inches called on Tezzan to stop, and let him watch some elephants that were swimming across the river. He called the elephant a _hatee_, giving the "a" in the word the same sound we give it when we say father.

All they could see of the elephants was the tops of their heads, and occasionally their trunks when they threw them out of the water for a fresh breath of air. The drivers stood on the necks of the elephants, with only a rope, tied round the great creatures' necks, to hold on by.

By and by they came struggling up the bank, one after another,--eight of them,--and stood panting and dripping to rest a little. Scarcely had they set their feet on dry land when a little ferry-boat came steaming along, and just as she got close to the bank she blew a long, loud whistle.

The elephants were frightened, and ran snorting and trumpeting right up the road where Inches and his bearer were standing. Inches was very much frightened, and ran too. But no harm was done, and after a little while Inches had a good laugh, when he thought how the elephants ran away from the little bustling steamer.

After this was all over and the elephants were slowly jogging along, Inches and his bearer started on again. They met many people; but very few of them were white. There were only fifteen white children to be found for many miles: so they, of course, knew each other well.

Down the road, further on, they came to a sweetmeat-vender's shop. His candies and sweets were put on flat bamboo or cane plates, and all arranged outside the shop itself, on a platform made of bamboo.

Inches wished Tezzan to buy some sweets for him; but they had brought no _pice_, so could not. (Pice are small copper coins used in India, worth about three-fourths of one cent each.)

The little boy was on the point of crying, when he heard his mamma calling; and, sure enough, there she was, and papa, too, waiting for him in the pony-carriage. He ran quickly, and climbed into his mamma's lap, and was soon home again.