hrough the cottage crept about
To find the wool and pass it out;
With some to turn, and some to pull,
And some to shout, "The spindle's full!"
The wheel gave out a droning song,--
The work in hand was pushed along.

[Illustration]

Their mode of action and their skill
With wonder might a spinster fill;
For out across the yard entire
They spun the yarn like endless wire,--
Beyond the well with steady haul,
Across the patch of beans and all,
Until the walls, or ditches wide,
A greater stretch of wool denied.

The widow's yarn was quickly wound
In tidy balls, quite large and round.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

And ere the night began to fade,
The borrowed wheel at home was laid;
And none the worse for rack or wear,
Except a blemish here and there,
A spindle bent, a broken band,--
'T was ready for the owner's hand.

[Illustration]

THE BROWNIES' VOYAGE.

[Illustration]

ONE night, a restless Brownie band
Resolved to leave their native strand,
And visit islands fair and green,
That in the distance might be seen.

In answer to a summons wide,
The Brownies came from every side--
A novel spectacle they made,
All mustered in the forest shade.
With working implements they came,
Of every fashion, use, and name.

Said one, "How many times have we
Surveyed those islands in the sea,
And longed for means to thither sail
And ramble over hill and vale!

[Illustration]

That pleasure rare we may command,
Without the aid of human hand.
And ere the faintest streak of gray
Has advertised the coming day,
A sturdy craft, both tough and tall,
With masts and halyards, shrouds and all,
With sails to spread, and helm to guide,
Completed from the ways shall glide.
So exercise your mystic power
And make the most of every hour!"

With axes, hammers, saws, and rules,
Dividers, squares, and boring tools,
The active Brownies scattered 'round,
And every one his labor found.
Some fell to chopping down the trees,