enters make
When they sharpen their saws!--Now, for charity's sake,
Give over this squalling,
And catermawalling!"
Cried all ye good people who chanced to be near;
Each thrusting a finger-tip into each ear.

You see ye poor dunce had attempted to shine
In a way that was out of his natural line.

H. Pyle.

[Illustration: THE FORCE OF NEED. This page has the poem on one side,
with the lady gazing up into the tree with the robin, and the lady warm
in a house and robin outside in the snow at the bottom of the page.]

THE FORCE OF NEED

"Hey, Robin! ho, Robin!
Singing on the tree,
I will give you white bread,
If you will come to me."

"Oh! the little breeze is singing
To the nodding dairies white,
And the tender grass is springing,
And the sun is warm and bright;
And my little mate is waiting
In the budding hedge for me;
So, on the whole, I'll not accept
Your kindly courtesy."

"Hey, Robin! ho, Robin!
Now the north winds blow
Wherefore do you come here,
In the ice and snow?"

"The wind is raw, the flowers are dead,
The frost is on the thorn,
So I'll gladly take a crust of bread,
And come where it is warm."

Oh, Children! little Children!
Have _you_ ever chanced to see
One beg for crust that sneered at crumb
In bright prosperity?

HP

[Illustration]

THE BIRD IN THE LINDEN TREE

Once there was a prince, and his name was John. One day his father said
to him, "See, John; I am growing old, and after a while the time will
come when I must go the way of everybody else. Now I would like to see
you married before I leave you."

"Very well," said the Prince, for he always answered the King in seemly
fashion; "and who shall it be?"

"Why not the Princess of the White Mountain?" said the old King.

"Why not, indeed?" said the young Prince, "only she is too short."

"Why not the Princess of the Blue Mountain?" said the old King.

"Why not, indeed?" said the young Prince, "only she is too tall."

"Why not the Princess of the Red Mountain?" said the old King.

"Why not, indeed?" said the young Prince, "only she is too dark."

"Then whom will you have?" said the old King.

"That I do not know," said the young Prince, "only this: that her brow
shall be as white as milk, and her cheeks shall be as red as blood, and
her eyes shall be as blue as the skies, and her hair shall be like spun
gold."

"Then go and find her!" said the old King, in a huf