w staying,
Where the cowslip bends,
With the buttercups delaying
As with early friends,
Did the little maiden stay.
Sorrowful the tale for us;
We, too, loiter 'mid life's flowers,
A little while so glorious,
So soon lost in darker hours,
All love lingering on their way,
Like Red Riding-Hood, the darling,
The flower of fairy lore.

LAETITIA ELIZABETH LANDON.

[Illustration: {Maggie runs to rescue the child from the bull}]

HOW MAGGIE PAID THE RENT.

Presence of mind is one of the rarest, as it is one of the most
enviable of endowments. It is the power of instantaneously forming a
judgment, and acting upon it, and includes not only moral courage, but
self-possession. No matter how brave a man may be in the face of
expected peril,--if he lacks presence of mind, he is helpless in a
sudden emergency. But, as this quality is an ingredient of the highest
courage, the bravest men invariably possess it. The presence of mind
of one man has often saved thousands of lives in sudden peril, on sea
or land. This is naturally enough regarded as a distinctively
masculine virtue; but it is one that both sexes may profitably
cultivate, as is shown by the following story. Girls as well as boys
should be taught self-reliance--to depend on themselves, to think
quickly and act promptly. Perhaps no emergency will arise in their
lives in which the importance of such mental training shall be
illustrated; but it is well to be prepared "for any fate," and the
discipline which produces this virtue gives strength and symmetry to
the whole intellectual organism.

* * * * *

"Is supper nearly ready, Maggie? It is time for Jack to return from
his work."

The speaker was an elderly woman in a widow's garb, and the person she
addressed was her granddaughter, a pleasant-looking girl, who might
perhaps have been fourteen years of age.

"Yes, grandmother, it is just ready, such as it is," replied Maggie;
"but I could wish poor Jack had a better meal after his hard work
than what we are able to give him."

"Ay, ay, child, I wish it as much as you can; but what is to be done?
Wishing will never make us rich folk, and we may be thankful if worse
troubles than a poor supper do not come upon us soon."

So spoke the grandmother, and taking the spectacles from her nose, she
wiped their dim glasses with her apron.

"Why, grandmot