him was hardly fair.

I cannot tell you how long they played,
Of the fun they had, or the noise they made;
For the best of things in this world, I think,
Can ne'er be written with pen and ink.
But Bridget, who went on her daily rounds,
Picking up after the "Hare and Hounds,"
Said she didn't mind hearing their lively capers,
But her back was broke with the scraps o' papers.

Carrie, next day, couldn't raise her head;
Frank and Lulu were sick in bed;
The dog and cat were a used-up pair,
And all of them needed the doctor's care.
The children themselves can hardly fail
To tack a moral upon this trail;
And I guess on rather more level grounds
They'll play their next game of "Hare and Hounds."

[Illustration]

JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT.

So, here's October come again. Another pleasant year gone by, another
lot of sermons done, and nobody the worse! Dear, dear, how time does fly
in cheerful company, to be sure!

Well, my dears, keep a bright lookout for the new volume, and, meantime,
don't open your eyes too wide while I bring to your notice

THE LARGEST MAN.

Albany, N.Y.

DEAR JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT: Perhaps some of your other boys, who, like
myself, wish to grow big and strong, would like to hear about the
largest human being ever known,--Goliath of Gath,--a person almost
large enough to need introduction by installments, but he is so well
known that the ceremony is needless.

As nearly as I can make out, he was between ten and eleven feet
high. When he went to battle he wore a coat-of-mail weighing one
hundred and fifty-six pounds,--as heavy as a good-sized man; and the
rest of his armor amounted to at least one hundred and fifteen
pounds more. The head of his spear weighed eighteen pounds,--as
heavy as six three-pound cans of preserved fruit,--and this he
carried at the end of a long and heavy shaft!

Think what might happen if a man equally big and strong should live
among us now, and insist on taking part in our games and sports? If
he joined a boat-club, a curious six-oared crew could be made up,
with him at one side and five other men opposite. And just imagine
him "booming along" on a velocipede! If he joined the champion Nine,
and hit a ball, where would that ball go to? If he called for a
"shoulder-high" ball, wouldn't the catcher have to climb a
step-ladder to catch behind the giant