h. He will jump on papa's whiskers, and pull mamma's
hair-pins out of her hair, steal her needle, and do many other
mischievous things. He has chosen one of the gas-globes for a
nesting-place, and carries bits of cloth, strings, or any such
thing that he can find, and puts them there. He tries to sing, and
has learned several of the canary's notes. We catch him sometimes,
and put him under a hat, to tease him. He then gets angry, pecks
the hat, and scolds at the top of his voice. We have a rabbit and a
guinea-pig, too; but if they come into the room where Bob is, he
will fly at them and peck them till they run out. Every one who
sees him thinks he is a wonderful bird, and we should feel very
sorry if anything should happen to him.--Yours truly,

ELLA AND EDWIN H.

* * * * *

DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I have a little sister named Pet, because we
love her so. A few days ago our papa had a narrow escape from being
burned, and Pet asked me if I thanked God for taking care of him. I
said, "Yes." "And did God say, 'You're welcome'?" asked Pet.

Now, don't you think that was a funny idea?--Your affectionate
reader,

R.L.P.

* * * * *

GULLIVER'S TRAVELS AND THE MOONS OF MARS.--A correspondent writes that
in Gulliver's "Voyage to Laputa," an imaginary flying island, Dean
Swift, the author, describes some over-wise philosophers, and, among
other things, says:

"They have likewise discovered two lesser stars, or satellites,
which revolve about Mars; whereof the innermost is distant from the
center of the primary planet exactly three of his diameters, and
the outer-most, five; the former revolves in the space of ten
hours, and the latter in twenty-one and a half; so that the squares
of their periodical times are very nearly in proportion with the
cubes of their distance from the center of Mars."

Now, these two satellites were not discovered really until August 16th,
1877, but Dean Swift's book appeared it 1726, more than one hundred and
fifty years before! But, although the Dean's guesswork is not exactly
correct, he comes very near the truth when he states the time taken by
each moon in going around the primary. This you will see by comparing
his words with the following letter, which we have received from
Professor Asaph Hall, the actual discoverer of t