iddle of the
road, where he then was, he turned out at one side, and stopped close by
the fence, for me to get off upon that; as much as to say, "A boy that
is not large enough to get upon my back without climbing a fence, is not
large enough to climb from my back to the ground."

EDITH'S PAPA.

[Illustration]

THE WISE HARE AND HER PURSUERS.

A POOR little hare was one day closely pursued by a brace of greyhounds.
They were quite near her, when, seeing a gate, she ran for it. She got
through it easily; but the bars were too close together for the hounds
to get through, so they had to leap over the gate.

As they did so, the hare, seeing that they would be upon her the next
instant, turned around and ran again under the gate where she had just
before passed. The hounds, in their speed, could not turn at once.
Their headway took them on some distance; and then they had to wheel
about, and leap once more over the upper bar of the gate.

[Illustration]

Again the hare doubled, and returned by the way she had come; and thus
she went backward and forward, the dogs following till they were fairly
tired out, while the little hare, watching her chance, happily made her
escape.

Thus you see that wit and self-possession are sometimes more than a
match for superior strength and speed. If the little hare could not run
so fast as the greyhounds, she could outwit them, and they saw no way to
prevent it.

UNCLE CHARLES.

[Illustration]

GENTLE JESSIE AND THE WASP.

THERE is a little girl in our village whom we call "Gentle Jessie;" for
she is so kind and gentle, that even the dumb animals and the insects
seem to find it out, and to trust her.

On a dry pleasant day, last autumn, I saw her seated on the grass. I
went up to tell her not to sit there; for it is not safe to sit on the
ground, even in dry weather.

As I drew near to Jessie from behind, I heard her talking. To whom could
she be talking? There was no one by her side; that is to say, no human
being. But soon I found she was talking to a wasp that was coming as if
to sting her.

"Wasp, wasp, go away, and come again another day," said she. But the
wasp did not heed her. It flew quite near to her face. Instead of
striking at the bold insect, she merely drew back a little out of its
way; for she thought, "Surely the wasp will not harm me, if I do not
harm it."

And she was right. It alighted near her for a moment,