Chapter III

Soon a cat came into the room.
“The cat! The cat!” said the city mouse.
Away ran the mice as fast as they could go.
Poor little country mouse!
She said to the city mouse,
“Good-by, my friend, I am going home.
In the country I am not afraid.
You have a beautiful house and good things to eat.
But I like my corn better than your cake.”

THE CITY MOUSE AND THE GARDEN MOUSE.

The city mouse lives in a house;
The garden mouse lives in a bower;
He’s friendly with the frogs and toads,
And sees the pretty plants in flower.
The city mouse eats bread and cheese;
The garden mouse eats what he can;
We will not grudge him seeds and stalks,
Poor little timid, furry man.
CHRISTIANA G. ROSSETTI.

THE MINER.

Here is a miner at work.
He is away down in a deep coal mine.
The sun does not shine in the dark coal mine.
So the miner has a little lamp in his cap.
Now he can see the hard, black coal.
See him lift his pick ax.
Click, click, click-ity click!
Hear the song of the pick ax!
He digs out the coal with his sharp pick.
All day long the busy miner is at work.
At night he comes out of the dark coal mine.
He gets into a strong iron basket.
Then he goes up, up, up, out of the mine.
How happy he must be to see the bright sunshine!

THE ENGINE.

“Puff, puff, puff!” Hear the engine!
It runs through field and wood.
It runs through the country and the city.
“Puff, puff, puff!” See the long train.
The cars are full of coal.
They have come from the coal mine.
Next winter we shall be warm and happy beside the fire.
Then we shall think of the busy miner down in the dark mine.
“Puff, puff, puff!” Hear the engine!

MAKING MAPLE SUGAR.

One warm spring morning
Father said, “Spring is here!
The sap will run to-day.
Come! We will tap the big maple trees.”

“Oh! Oh! What fun!” said John and Mary.
“Here are the pails,” said Father.

“We will carry them down to the maple trees.”
Father made a hole in one of the trees.
He put a spout in the hole.
Then he hung a pail under the spout.
Soon the sap began to run out.
Drop by drop it ran into the pail.
“It looks like water,” said John.
“It tastes like water with a little sugar in it,” said Mary.

II

Father said, “I will tell you the story of the sap.
All winter the maple trees were asleep.
When spring came the warm rain ran down to the roots of the trees.
‘Awake!’ said the rain, ‘It is time to grow.’
The bright sun looked down and said to the trees,
‘Awake! It is time for the sap to run.’
Sap helps the little buds to grow.
In the spring the maple tree has more sap than it needs.
So we make a hole in the tree and the sap runs out.
Maple sugar is made from the sweet sap of the maple tree.”