istory, which is always interesting, and often very
useful. It is sometimes very convenient to have a daily record of the
year, and the young journalist will often have occasion to refer to his
account of things gone by. Perhaps, some evening, when the family are
sitting and talking together, some one will ask, "What kind of weather
did we have last winter?" or, "When was the picnic you were speaking
of?" and the journal is referred to. But the pleasure of keeping a
journal is itself no small reward. It is pleasant to exercise the
faculty of writing history, and to think that you are taking the first
step toward writing newspapers and books. The writer can practice on
different kinds of style, and can make his journal a record, not only of
events, but of his own progress as a thinker and writer.

SIMPLE SIMON.

[Illustration]

"Simple Simon went a-fishing,
For to catch a whale,
And all the water that he had,
Was in his mother's pail."

PRINCE CUCURBITA.

BY EDITH A. EDWARDS.

[Illustration: PRINCE CUCURBITA ON THE TRELLIS.]

Prince Cucurbita was very unhappy. His smooth, shiny face was all
puckered up into little wrinkles, every now and then a big sob shook his
jolly little person till you really felt like crying yourself at the
sight of him. Here was a prince living in a lovely garden full of birds
and flowers, surrounded by a large family of brothers and sisters, and
always dressed in a pretty green jacket, which could not get soiled or
torn. In spite of all this, he was not happy, for Queen Cucurbita, in
order to keep her children out of harm's way, had hoisted them all up on
a high trellis, and would never let them get down.

You may think the Prince might have been smart enough, or naughty
enough, to have jumped down when his mother's back was turned, but,
alas! how could he? for she held tightly to the tassel of his cap, and
his cap fitted so closely to his head that no effort of his was ever
able to get it off. Across the way lived another big family, the
Filberts. They were just the merriest set that ever was seen, nodding
gayly to Cucu now and then when they could spare the time from their own
fun, and telling stories to each other, which must have been very
amusing; for sometimes they all laughed together till they nearly fell
out of bed, and their mother was obliged to shake them all round. One
day, there was a great commotion among the Filberts. The eldest brother
had