E BEACH.

[Illustration: T]HERE are few of the little readers of "The Nursery" who
could not tell of pleasant days spent among green fields and woods, or
on the seashore. But in almost every large city, there are many children
who have never been out of sight of brick walls.

Their homes are in close rooms in narrow streets, and there they live
from one year's end to the other. In winter they are often pinched with
cold. In summer they suffer even more from the heat. You may see them at
windows and doors, or on hot sidewalks, trying to get a breath of fresh
air. It is not pure air, but the best they can get.

What I am going to tell you is about two of those poor children. One is
a little girl, nine years old, whom we will call Jane. The other, who is
only eight years old, is her brother George.

Both children go to a Sunday school, and have for their teacher a kind
lady, who takes great interest in them. One warm summer day, to their
great delight, this lady, whom we will name Miss White, called for them
to go with her on a trip to the seashore.

Dressed in the best clothes they could muster, they were soon on board
the steamboat. Here every thing was new to them. As the boat steamed
down the harbor, it would have been joy to anybody only to watch the
happy expression on their faces.

By and by the boat neared the land; and there the children saw a
wonderful sight. What do you suppose it was? It was a cow quietly
feeding on the shore. They had never seen a cow before.

Then Jane got sight of an apple-tree, and George spied a man raking
hay. Here was another new sensation. While they were feasting their eyes
on green fields, and inhaling the sweet country air, the boat stopped at
the wharf.

A few steps brought them to the beach; and there, stretched before them,
was the great wide ocean, with the surf rolling in, and a cool
sea-breeze blowing. Then their joy knew no bounds. Miss White did not
try to restrain them; for she meant to give them at least one day of
perfect freedom.

So they roamed at will. How they dug wells in the sand, how they flung
stones into the water, how they picked up shells and sea-weed, how they
scrambled over the rocks, it would take too much space to tell.

When they were well tired out, and began to be hungry, Miss White opened
a luncheon-box in a shady place among the rocks, and gave them such a
dinner as they had never had before. Then their bliss was complete.

The day passed