same."

The pussy-cats heard this,
And they began to hiss,
And stretch their claws,
And raise their paws;
"Me-ow," they said, "me-ow, me-o
You'll burn to death, if you do so".

But Harriet would not take advice,
She lit a match, it was so nice!
It crackled so, it burn'd so clear,--
Exactly like the picture here.
She jump'd for joy and ran about,
And was too pleas'd to put it out.

The pussy-cats saw this,
And said, "Oh, naughty, naughty Miss!"
And stretch'd their claws,
And rais'd their paws;
"'Tis very, very wrong, you know,
Me-ow, Me-o, Me-ow, Me-o,
You will be burnt, if you do so".

[Illustration]

And see! Oh! what a dreadful thing!
The fire has caught her apron-string;
Her apron burns, her arms, her hair;
She burns all over, every where.

Then how the pussy-cats did mew,
What else, poor pussies, could they do?
They scream'd for help, 'twas all in vain!
So then, they said,--"we'll scream again;
Make haste, make haste, me-ow, me-o
She'll burn to death,--we told her so".

So she was burnt, with all her clothes,
And arms, and hands, and eyes and nose;
Till she had nothing more to lose
Except her little scarlet shoes;
And nothing else but these was found
Among her ashes on the ground.

And when the good cats sat beside
The smoking ashes, how they cried!
"Me-ow, me-oo, me-ow, me-oo
What will Mamma and Nursy do?"
Their tears ran down their cheeks so fast,
They made a little pond at last.

4. THE STORY OF THE INKY BOYS.

[Illustration]

As he had often done before,
The woolly-headed black-a-moor
One nice fine summer's day went out
To see the shops and walk about;
And as he found it hot, poor fellow,
He took with him his green umbrella.
Then Edward, little noisy wag,
Ran out and laugh'd, and wav'd his flag;
And William came in jacket trim,
And brought his wooden hoop with him;
And Arthur, too, snatch'd up his toys
And join'd the other naughty boys;
So, one and all set up a roar
And laugh'd and hooted more and more,
And kept on singing,--only think!--
"Oh! Blacky, you're as black as ink."

[Illustration]

Now tall Agrippa lived close by,--
So tall, he almost touch'd the sky;
He had a mighty inkstand too,
In which a great goose-feather grew;
He call'd out in an angry tone,
"Boys, leave the black-a-moor alone!
For if he tries with all his might,