talks to itself on the tops of the hills."

3. "You friendly Earth! how far do you go
With the wheat fields that nod, and the rivers that flow;
With cities and gardens, and cliffs and isles,
And people upon you for thousands of miles?"

4. "Ah, you are so great, and I am so small,
I tremble to think of you, World, at all:
And yet, when I said my prayers, to-day,
A whisper inside me seemed to say,
You are more than the Earth, though you are such a dot:
You can love and think, and the Earth can not!'"

XXXVII. SUSIE'S COMPOSITION. (104)

1. Susie Smith came home from school one day, and had no sooner entered
the sitting room than she burst into tears. "What is the matter, my dear
child?" said her mother, drawing her daughter to her side and smiling.

2. "O mother, matter enough," sobbed Susie. "All our class must bring in
compositions to-morrow morning, and I never, never can write one. We must
write twelve lines at least, and I have written only a few words after
trying nearly all the afternoon. See what work I have made of it!"

3. Mrs. Smith took the rumpled, tear-stained paper which Susie held in her
hand, and glanced at what she had written. In a careful hand she had tried
to write upon three themes: "Time," "Temperance," and "Industry."

4. "Time is short. We should all improve our time." "Temperance is a very
useful thing." "We should all be industrious if we wish to do anything in
the world." These sentences were all she had written.

5. "Now," said Susie, "I can't think of another word to say upon any of
these subjects, and I know I shall have to go to school without a
composition, for I won't be so mean as to copy one from a book, or to ask
you or papa to write one for me."

6. "That is right, my dear," said her mother. "You will be far happier
with a poor composition, if it is all your own, than with a fine one
written by somebody else. But cheer up. You have not begun right--you have
been trying to write upon subjects that you know nothing about. Run into
the garden and play. I will call you in half an hour."

7. "But my composition," began Susie. "Don't think about your composition
while you are gone," said Mrs. Smith, "but have as pleasant a time as you
can."

8. It seemed but a few minutes to Susie before she heard her mother's
voice calling her. She went into the house at once--her hands full of
sweet flowers, and her cheeks rosy with exercise.

9. "Now, Susie,"