to his
heels, he promptly fled, got safely away, and was never recaptured.'

[Illustration: "The soldiers forgot the prisoner, and scrambled for the
money."]

[Illustration: "'Fight against my country! Not for the ransom of a
king!'"]

THE ADMIRAL AND THE FISHERMAN.

M. de Tourville, a French Admiral who lived in the beginning of King
William the Third's reign, proposed to make a descent on the English
coast, and, as his intention was to land somewhere in Sussex, he sent
for a fisherman, a native of that county, who had been taken prisoner by
one of his ships, in hopes of obtaining some useful information
concerning the state of the Government. He asked the fisherman to whom
his countrymen were most attached, to King James or to the Prince of
Orange, styled King William.

The poor man, confounded by these questions, made the Admiral this
reply: 'I have never heard of the gentlemen you mention; they may be
very good lords for anything I know; they never did me any harm, and so
God bless them both. As for the Government, how should I know anything
about it, since I can neither read nor write? All I have to do is to
take care of my boat and my nets, and sell my fish.'

'Then, since you are indifferent to both parties,' said the Admiral,
'and are a good mariner, you can have no objection to serve on board my
ship.'

'I fight against my country!' answered the fisherman, with great vigour.
'No, not for the ransom of a king!'

W. Y.

GOOD-NIGHT, GOOD-DAY!

We got up to welcome the swallows
This morning as soon as the sun;
Then over the hills and the hollows
We went for a beautiful run.
The daisies were ready to meet us--
All over the meadows they grew;
But now we must say:
'Good-night, O good-day!
We've been very happy with you.'

We sang with the busy bees humming
O'er blossoms too bright to forget,
And when the soft breezes were coming
We saw the grass bow as they met.
Oh, may all the hearts that have known you
Now beat with a pleasure like ours,
And cheerfully say:
'Good-night, O good-day!
And thank you for sunshine and flowers.'

JOHN LEA.

WHALEBONE.

Many thrilling stories have been written about the dangers of
whale-fishing. The perils and hardships of whaling expeditions are
braved in order that we may be supplied principally with two
things--whale-oil and whalebone