re-joiced in the out-ing that mon-ey brought to them through the
Fresh Air So-ci-ety.

EGGS IN THE HAY MOW.

"Run out to the barn, An-nie and see if you can find some eggs. I mean
to make cake this morn-ing and I shall want four or five," said Mrs.
Brown to her lit-tle daugh-ter, An-nie, who had been help-ing her
moth-er in the kit-chen work.

Hunt-ing for hen's eggs was great fun for the chil-dren at Brown Farm.
Some-times two of them would go out to-geth-er, and each would try to
get more eggs than the oth-er, and be the first to reach the kit-chen
with a cap or hat full.

[Illustration]

An-nie placed a short light lad-der a-gainst a high beam in the barn,
climbed up and just as she reached the top, her bright eyes peep-ing in
through the hay piled up on the barn-loft floor, she saw a nice hol-low
place, some-thing like a small cave, where one wise bid-dy had scratched
out a co-sy nest for her-self, and laid some five large eggs. The hen
had gone out for a walk or for a lunch-eon, so An-nie took four of the
eggs, put them in-to the crown of her hat, and hast-ened back to give
them to her moth-er.

"May I not beat them up for you, with the whirl-i-gig beat-er, moth-er,
it is so much fun?"

"Yes, you may, An-nie, and it will be quite a help to me."

So on through the morn-ing the lit-tle girl found man-y a use-ful and
plea-sant thing to do. When the work was all done and an out-ing had
been planned for the af-ter-noon, Mrs. Brown said to An-nie, "This
lit-tle verse comes to my mind. I think one of my old-er chil-dren once
learned it at school. It is,

"Work while you work,
Play while you play,
That is the way
To be hap-py and gay.
All that you do
Do with all your might;
Things done by halves
Are nev-er done right."

[Illustration]

THE LOST SKATES.

[Illustration]

"Oh, I'll go and see if the ice is firm," said Robin to
his friend Marjie, one winter's morning.

He went off carrying his skates, and when he reached the ice he laid
them on the bank, and then thought he would have a slide.

Marjie, who had followed Robin to the pond, caught up the skates and
went behind a tree and put them on, and was soon skating across the
pond. After a while she went to Robin, who was standing by the bank,
looking full of dismay.

"Why, Marjie!" he cried, "I never saw you come! I've lost my skates! I
left them on the bank and they are gone!"

[Illustration]

"Some wicked per