f golden
butter were floating on the milk.

"Hurrah!" cried little Ben. "Hurrah!" cried Cousin Pen and Brother
Fred, and they hurried into the kitchen to watch Mother as she
gathered the butter, and worked it, and salted it, and patted it into
a very fine roll. When she had done that she printed a star on top of
the roll, and the butter was ready to take to Grandmother.

"You must make Grandmother guess what it is," said Mother as she put
the butter into a nice little basket and covered it with a white
napkin.

"All right," said the children; so when they got to Grandmother's
house they called, "Grandmother, Grandmother, guess what we have
brought you for a birthday present."

"It is yellow as gold," said Brother Fred.

"It's sweet as clover," said Cousin Pen.

"We churned it ourselves," said little Ben; and Grandmother guessed
what it was with her very first guess.

"It is just what I wanted," she said, and she kissed them every one.
She had been thinking about them, too, all the long day, and she had
baked a beautiful cake for their tea.

Mother and Father came to tea, and all together they had the best
birthday party they had ever known.

The children thought the birthday cake was the nicest that they had
ever tasted, but Grandmother said she thought nothing could be nicer
than her birthday butter.

THE BIRTHDAY OF THE INFANTA

It was the birthday of the Infanta. She was just twelve years old, and
the sun shone brightly in the garden of the palace.

On ordinary days, she was only allowed to play with children of her
own rank, but on this, her birthday, the King had given orders that
she was to invite any one whom she liked to amuse her. So she had many
children with whom to play, but she was the most beautiful of them
all. Her robe was of gray satin, embroidered with silver and studded
with pearls. Two tiny slippers with big pink rosettes peeped out
beneath her dress as she walked. Pink and pearl was her great gauze
fan, and in her hair, which, like an aureole of gold, stood out
stiffly around her pale little face, she had a beautiful white rose.

The Infanta watched her companions play hide and seek round the stone
vases and the old moss-grown statues of the garden. Then a procession
of noble boys came out to meet her and led her solemnly to a little
gilt and ivory chair that was placed on a raised dais above an arena.
The children grouped themselves all round, laughing and whispering,
for