BODY.

Little Home-body is mother's wee pet,
Fairest and sweetest of housekeepers yet;
Up when the roses in golden light peep,
Helping her mother to sew and to sweep.
Tidy and prim in her apron and gown,
Brightest of eyes, of the bonniest brown;
Tiniest fingers, and needle so fleet,
Pattern of womanhood, down at my feet!

Little Home-body is grave and demure,
Weeps when you speak of the wretched and poor,
Though she can laugh in the merriest way
While you are telling a tale that is gay.
Lily that blooms in some lone, leafy nook;
Sly little hide-away, moss-sided brook;
Fairies are fine, where the silver dews fall;
Home fairies--these are the best of them all!

GEORGE COOPER.

[Illustration: NEDDY AND HIS LAMB.]

NEDDY'S HALF HOLIDAY.

"We've had a good time, Tony, old fellow, haven't we?" said Neddy
Harris, who was beginning to feel tired with his half day's ramble in
the fields. As he said this he sat down on some boards in the barn.

Tony replied to his young master by rubbing his nose against his face,
and by a soft "baa," which was as near as he could come to saying, "A
first-rate time, Master Neddy."

"A grand good time," added the boy, putting his arms around the lamb's
neck and laying his face on its soft wool.

"And now," he continued, "as father says we should always do, I'll
just go back and think over what I've done this holiday afternoon; and
if I forgot myself in anything and went wrong, it will be best for me
to know it, so that I can do better next time.

"I'm sorry about that poor squirrel," said Neddy; "he never did me any
harm. What a beautiful little creature he was, with his bright black
eyes and shiny skin!"

And the boy's face grew sad, as well it might, for he had pelted this
squirrel with stones from tree to tree, and at last knocked him to the
ground.

"But it was so cruel in me! Now, if I live a hundred years, I'll never
harm another squirrel. God made these frisky little fellows, and
they've just as much right to live as I have."

Neddy felt better about the squirrel after this good resolution, which
he meant to keep.

"That was curious about the spider," he went on, trying to push all
thoughts of the dead squirrel from his mind. Let me tell you about
this spider. In the corner of a fence Neddy saw a large circular
spider's web, shaped like a funnel, down in the centre of