lovely and noble ladies, who had gone there because
they had met with misfortunes of one kind or another. These ladies
taught the young girls under their care very gently; still, there were
certain light punishments for those who were careless or idle. I think
one of these was that the offender should stand in a corner for a
certain length of time.

Although most of the girls were of high birth, the little Princess, soon
to be Queen, was of higher rank than any of the others. Her seat was a
little apart from theirs, and by various small tokens of this kind her
position was recognized.

Now one day it happened that Mercedes committed some fault. Perhaps she
was late in rising, or failed in some other way to carry out the convent
rules. The fault was not serious, and the Sisters did not think it
necessary to enforce the punishment; but Mercedes, blushing very much,
went of her own accord to the corner where she knew she ought to stand,
and staid the appointed time. You see she felt that if she was of too
high rank to receive punishment from others, the duty of inflicting it
upon herself was her own. _Noblesse oblige._

Although the illustrations I have given you have all been from royal
families, where, I suppose, the motto originated, I am sure you will be
able to apply it to hundreds of other cases, and will believe that
nobility of character obliges us with still more force to do the best
things always, though we are bound by no outward law.

[Illustration]

THE SUN AT MIDNIGHT.

There are portions of our globe, away toward either pole, where the sun
remains above the horizon for about two months of the year, making one
long day. During this period the pleasant alternations of morning, day,
evening, and night, are unknown in those regions; and there is also a
long season of night, when the sun is not seen at all. This must be
still more unpleasant, because it is winter-time. The pale cold moon
sheds a chilling light at times over the snow and ice, and the aurora
borealis flashes its splendors through the heavens. The cold is so great
that old chroniclers, writing about the arctic regions, pretended that
when the inhabitants tried to speak, their very words froze in coming
out of their mouths, and did not thaw out till spring. It is not safe to
believe all that old chroniclers tell us, and perhaps in this case they
only tried, in an extravagant way, to make their readers understand how
very cold it was in