things asleep did seem.
She stept across the threshold;
So lightly had she crept,
The dog upon the mat lay still,
And still the kitty slept.
Patient beside her mother's knee
To try her wondrous spell
Waiting she stood, till all at once,
Waking, mamma cried "Nell!
Where have you been? Why do you gaze
At me with such strange eyes?"
"But can you see me, mother dear?"
Poor Nelly faltering cries.
"See you? Why not, my little girl?
Why should mamma be blind?"
And little Nell unties her shoes,
With fairy fern-seed lined,
And tosses up into the air
A little powdery cloud,
And frowns upon it as it falls,
And murmurs half aloud,
"It wasn't true, a word of it,
About the magic spell!
I never will believe again
What fairy stories tell!"

MACKEREL-FISHING.

BY ROBERT ARNOLD.

When I was a boy, I lived on the rugged coast of New England. The sea
abounded in cod, hake, mackerel, and many other kinds of fish. The
mackerel came in "schools" in late summer, and sometimes were very
plentiful. One day, my uncle James determined to go after some of these
fish, with his son George, and invited me to go with them. We were to
start before day-break the next morning. I went to bed that night with
an impatient heart, and it was a long time before I could go to sleep.
After I did get asleep, I dreamed of the whale that swallowed Jonah, and
all kinds of fishes, big and little. I was awakened by somebody calling,
in a very loud voice, "Robert! Robert!" I jumped out of bed, with my
eyes not more than half opened, and fell over the chair on which I had
put my clothes. This made me open my eyes, and I soon realized that the
voice proceeded from my cousin George, who had come to arouse me for the
fishing-voyage.

I dressed as quickly as possible, and went downstairs. All was quiet in
the house except the old clock ticking in the kitchen. I went
out-of-doors and found the stars still shining. It was half-past three
o'clock in the morning. There was no sign of daylight, and even the
cocks had not begun to crow. In the darkness I espied George, who said,
"Come, it is time to start. Father is waiting for you."

We walked across the fields to my uncle's house. Taking each a basket
and knife, we began our journey, and soon entered the pine-woods. As we
walked along in the darkness, we could scarcely see each other or the
path. The wind was sighing mournfully amo