carried every squash--and many of them
were large--out there, and fed them to the pigs.

The mischief done, who could scold those two bright, hard-working little
men? I think their papa had to console himself with thinking if only
they would work as well at something useful when they were grown up, he
could forgive their rather wasteful business when they were little.

C. D. B.

CHARLIE'S COMPOSITION.

CHARLIE was ten years old, and his teacher thought he should begin to
write compositions. So she gave him a list of words, and told him to
write a letter or story, and put them all in.

The words were these: Begun, Write, Boy, Hook, Two, Black, Said, Basket,
Knife, Chair, Eyes, Ground.

Charlie went home; and, before he went out to play in the afternoon, his
mother said, "You had better work a while on your composition."

"Oh, I never can do it!" he said. "Mother, you try too, and see if you
can write one." So she took his list and wrote this true story,--

"A little _boy_ with roguish _black eyes_ was
sitting on the floor, playing with some spools
that he had taken from his mother's work-_basket_,
which she had left in a _chair_. All at once he
saw a cow coming up the yard. He dropped every
thing, and ran to drive her out. She threw up her
head, and looked so fierce, that he was afraid she
would _hook_ him, and back he ran to the house.

"Then he spied a fruit-_knife_ on the _ground_,
where he had left it when he was eating an apple
in the morning. He picked it up, and carried it to
his mother, who had just _begun_ to _write_, and
she _said_, that, if he would keep still about
_two_ minutes, she would attend to him."

"There," said mamma, "I have put in all the words: now you try,
Charlie."

Charlie then wrote:--

"I saw _two hooks_ and _eyes_ just as I had begun
to _write_. Johnny brought mother's _knife_, which
he found lying on the _ground_. He joggled
mother's _chair_, and she _said_, 'There's a
_black_ mark on my paper, and oh, dear! the _boy_
has tipped over my _basket_.' That's all."

His mother read what Charlie had written, and said, "Pretty good for the
first time;" and off he went to play.