a depth of no less than two hundred
and one feet, and at one time remained down forty-two minutes--supposed
to be the greatest diving feat ever achieved.

JOE.

BY MRS. MARGARET E. SANGSTER.

Bright brown eyes and tangled hair,
Rosy cheek beneath the tan,
Fearless head on shoulders square--
That is Joe, the little man,
Helping mother all he can.

Father is away at sea
(Oh, the vessel tarries long!):
Lonely would the cottage be,
Many a weary day go wrong,
But for Joe, with shout and song.

Rough the weather, fierce the gales,
Wild the nights upon the shore:
Oft the dear wife's courage fails,
When she hears the breakers roar,
Lest her sailor come no more.

Joe, with lion heart and leal,
Tells her it is safe outside;
That the deep sea does not feel
All the troubles of the tide;
That the good ship safe will ride.

Mother heeds her comforter:
He is only eight years old,
But his earnest words to her
Are as rubies set in gold--
Precious with a worth untold.

MR. THOMPSON AND THE BUMBLE-BEE.

BY ALLAN FORMAN.

"Buzz, buzz-z, buzz-z-z," scolded old Mr. Bumble-Bee, flying around Mr.
Thompson's head. Mr. Thompson didn't understand him, however, and only
brushed at him impatiently, and said, "Get out!" in a tone anything but
sociable; but the old bee kept flying around just the same, and
complained in his drowsy voice: "Buzz, buzz-z, buzz-z-z. I wish you
would go away. I want to get into my house, and I don't want you to see
me. My family are in there, and we are making bread to-day, and unless I
get home with the flour, my wife will scold awfully. Buzz, buzz-z,
buzz-z-z."

But in the mean time Mr. Thompson had fallen asleep, and the old bee sat
down on the fence rail and watched him. "Hum, hum, hum," he murmured. "I
guess that he has gone to sleep. I don't see what men want to stay awake
for, anyway; they are not half so much trouble when they are asleep. And
only listen how nicely he can buzz through his nose!--he really seems to
be quite like a sensible bee."

Now Mr. Thompson says he did not go to sleep at all; he says that he
only closed his eyes, and in a few minutes he could understand every
word that the old bee said.

"He's a pleasant-looking man," buzzed the bee. "I wonder if he likes
honey?"

Mr. Thompson answered through his nose that he was very fond of it.

"Sensible, too," said the bee, who