t; but all he can
do, poor swaddled child, is to open his mouth, and cry.

This custom of binding the baby up so straight and tight is a very old
one. The Bible tells us, you know, that the mother of Jesus "wrapped him
in swaddling-clothes, and laid him in a manger." So the people of Syria
keep on using swaddling-clothes, thinking, that, if they do not, the
baby will grow crooked.

[Illustration]

They are used in Russia also, and in other countries of northern Europe.
Poor babies! We pity them.

EM. JUNIUS.

POLLIWOGS.

THE cat-tails all along the brook
Are growing tall and green;
And in the meadow-pool, once more,
The polliwogs are seen;
Among the duck-weed, in and out,
As quick as thought they dart about;
Their constant hurry, to and fro,
It tires me to see:
I wish they knew it did no good
To so uneasy be!
I mean to ask them if they will
Be, just for one half-minute, still!
"Be patient, little polliwogs,
And by and by you'll turn to frogs."

But what's the use to counsel them?
My words are thrown away;
And not a second in one place
A polliwog will stay.
They still keep darting all about
The floating duck-weed, in and out.
Well, if they will so restless be,
I will not let it trouble me,
But leave these little polliwogs
To wriggle till they turn to frogs!

MARIAN DOUGLAS.

[Illustration]

[Illustration: DRAWING-LESSON BY HARRISON WEIR.

VOL. XXI.--NO. 5.]

FANNY AND LOUISE.

FANNY was a little pony, and Louise was a little girl. Fanny had a long
black mane and tail, and Louise had long brown curls. Louise wore a
gypsy-hat with blue ribbons, and Fanny wore a saddle and bridle with
blue girths and reins.

Louise was a gentle little girl, and Fanny was a very headstrong pony;
consequently Fanny had it all her own way. When she was trotting along
the road, with Louise on her back, if she chanced to spy a nice prickly
thistle away up on a bank, up she would scramble, as fast as she could
go, the sand and gravel rolling down under her hoofs; and, no matter how
hard Louise pulled on the reins, there she would stay until she had