ie
turned her face to the wall, for a little voice, right in her own heart,
said:--

"Dust under the rug! dust under the rug!"

"There is the little girl," cried the stars, "who keeps home as bright
as star-shine."

"Dust under the rug! dust under the rug!" said the little voice in
Minnie's heart.

"We see her! we see her!" called all the stars joyfully.

"Dust under the rug! dust under the rug!" said the little voice in
Minnie's heart, and she could bear it no longer. So she sprang out of
bed, and, taking her broom in her hand, she swept the dust away; and lo!
under the dust lay twelve shining gold pieces, as round and as bright as
the moon.

"Oh! oh! oh!" cried Minnie, in great surprise; and all the little dwarfs
came running to see what was the matter.

Minnie told them all about it; and when she had ended her story, the
dwarfs gathered lovingly around her and said:--

"_Dear child, the gold is all for you,
For faithful you have proved and true;
But had you left the rug unturned,
A groat was all you would have earned.
Our love goes with the gold we give,
And oh! forget not while you live,
That in the smallest duty done
Lies wealth of joy for every one_."

Minnie thanked the dwarfs for their kindness to her; and early next
morning she hastened home with her golden treasure, which bought many
good things for the dear mother and little sister.

She never saw the dwarfs again; but she never forgot their lesson, to do
her work faithfully; and she always swept under the rug.

_THE STORY OF GRETCHEN_

MOTTO FOR THE MOTHER

_Oh! like a wreath, let Christmas mirth
To-day encircle all the earth,
And bind the nations with the love
That Jesus brought from heaven above_.

It was almost Christmas time when one of the white ships that sail
across the sea brought a little German girl named Gretchen, with her
father and mother, to find a new home in our dear land.

Gretchen knew all about Christmas. She had heard the story of the loving
Christ Child over and over, and in her home in Germany she had kept His
birthday and enjoyed it ever since she could remember.

Every year, a little before Christmas, her shoes had been placed in the
garden for Rupert, who is one of Santa Claus's German helpers, to fill,
and every year she had found a Christmas tree lighted for her on
Christmas Day. She wondered a little, as she came across the ocean, how