ye,'
and never thought of my little friend till Freddy, my small nephew, said
to me one evening at dusk,--

'Aunt Jo, tell me a story.'

So I began to tell him about Buzz, and all of a sudden I cried out,--

'Mercy on me! I'm afraid he'll die of cold while I'm gone.'

It troubled me a good deal, and I wanted to know how the poor little
fellow was so much that I would have gone to see if I had not been so
far away. But it would be rather silly to hurry away twenty miles to
look after one fly: so I finished my visit, and then went back to my
room, hoping to find Buzz alive and well in spite of the cold.

Alas, no! my little friend was gone. There he lay on his back on the
mantel-piece, his legs meekly folded, and his wings stiff and still. He
had evidently gone to the warm place, and been surprised when the heat
died out and left him to freeze. My poor little Buzz had sung his last
song, danced his last dance, and gone where the good flies go. I was
very sorry and buried him among the ivy roots, where the moss lay green
above him, the sun shone warmly on him, and the bitter cold could never
come. I miss him very much; when I sit writing, I miss his cheerful
voice and busy wings; at meals there is no tiny little body to drink up
spilt drops and eat the crumbs: in the evenings, when I sit alone, I
want him more than ever, and every day, as I water my plants, I say,
softly,--

'Grow green, ivy, lie lightly, moss, shine warmly, sun, and make his
last bed pleasant to my little friend.'

_THE CHILDREN'S JOKE._

'"You can't do this" and "you mustn't do that," from morning to night.
Try it yourself and see how you'd like it,' muttered Harry, as he flung
down his hat in sulky obedience to his father's command to give up a
swim in the river and keep himself cool with a book that warm summer
evening.

'Of course I should like to mind my parents. Good children always do,'
began Mr. Fairbairn, entirely forgetting the pranks of his boyhood, as
people are apt to.

'Glad I didn't know you then. Must have been a regular prig,' growled
Harry under his breath.

'Silence, sir! go to your room, and don't let me see you till tea-time.
You must be taught respect as well as obedience,' and Mr. Fairbairn gave
the table a rap that caused his son to retire precipitately.

On the stairs he met his sister Kitty looking as cross as himself.

'What's the matter with you?' he asked, pausing a minute, for misery
loves company.