." But
mamma thought it was not very good for his clothes; and, besides, she
wanted him to be clean enough to kiss without being washed every time he
came into the house.

So she said one day to his papa, "James, I think it would be a good idea
to get a load of sand for Jamie to play in. It will at least be cleaner
than that dust-heap."

That very day up came a load of yellow, shining sand. It was heaped into
a shady corner by mamma's bedroom-door, and Jamie and Freddy dived into
it at once.

They made pies; they dug holes, and filled them with water for wells;
they made mountains with caves in their sides, and every thing else they
could think of. When dinner-time came, Jamie had to be coaxed away from
his sand-heap; and mamma said she believed he would sleep in it, if he
were allowed to.

After dinner, as soon as he waked from his nap, he went straight to his
sand again. Freddy was there before him; and soon Minnie Rich, a little
girl eleven years old, came out, and played with them.

She knew how to work sand better than any of them. First she wet it.
Then she made a house with holes in the sides for doors and windows, and
a chip for a chimney. Then she made a smooth lawn in front of the house,
and some hills and valleys in the rear, fenced in a yard, and set out
some flowers.

The boys were delighted; and mamma went to the door more than once to
look at the plantation, as Jamie called it, before it was finished. It
was really quite a pretty thing, and Jamie declared his intention of
keeping it just as it was. But the hot sun dried the sand, so that the
house crumbled away; and the two boys were soon digging and shovelling
in their own way as before.

JAMIE'S MAMMA.

[Illustration]

DICK'S DREAM.

"YES, step right down upon me, and kill me, if you like," said Mrs.
Tarantula to Dick, as they met at the schoolhouse door. "This is a hard
world, Dick Adams, and I am about tired of living in it.

"You don't know what a fine home I once had! It was in that clay mound;
and, when I had dug me a hole fully a foot deep and an inch across, my
jaws and my eight legs were quite tired out. I left some small stones on
the side for stairs: I lined the hole with brown silk next to the dirt,
and with white satin inside, both of which I spun and wove on the spot.

"My nice round lid fitted so snug and even, that I thought no one but
myself ever could find my house.