Sam
was wrote by de prophet Moses. Moses was mighty fond o' playin' on de
ha'ap all de day long, an' at night when he went to bed he'd hang up de
ha'ap on de limb ob a Peasel tree what grew on de outside o' de window,
an' in de mawnin', when de sun would get up an' shine in his face, he'd
jump out o' bed, an' exclaim, 'Wake, Peasel Tree an' Ha'ap! I myself
will awake airly!'"

SCAPEGOAT

Cousin Willie, aged ten, came for a visit to Johnnie, aged twelve.
Johnnie's mother directed him to take the visitor out to play with his
boy friends in the neighborhood.

"And be sure to have lots of fun," she added.

On the return of the boys, Willie, the guest, appeared somewhat
downcast, but Johnnie was radiant.

"Did you have a good time?" his mother asked.

"Bully!" Johnnie answered.

"And lots of fun?"

"Oh, yes!"

"But Willie doesn't look very happy," Johnnie's mother said doubtfully.

"Well, you see," Johnnie answered, beaming, "the rest of us, we had our
fun with Willie."

SHEEP AND GOATS

The little girl was deeply impressed by the clergyman's sermon as to the
separation of the sheep and the goats. That night after she had gone to
bed, she was heard sobbing, and the mother went to her, to ask what was
the matter.

"It's about the goats!" Jenny confessed at last. "I'm so afraid I am a
goat, and so I'll never go to heaven. Oh, I'm so afraid I'm a goat!"

"My dear," the mother assured her weeping child. "You're a sweet little
lamb. If you were to die to-night, you would go straight to heaven." Her
words were successful in quieting the little girl, and she slept.

But the following night Jenny was found crying again in her bed, and
when her mother appeared she wailed:

"I'm afraid about the goats."

"But mother has told you that you are a little lamb, and that you must
never worry over being a goat."

Jenny, however, was by no means comforted, and continued her sobs.

"Yes, mamma," she declared sadly, "I know that. But I'm afraid--awful
afraid you're a goat!"

SHIFTLESSNESS

The shiftless man, who preferred reading to labor, closed the book on
French history, which he had been perusing with great interest, and
addressed his wife.

"Do you know, Mary," he asked impressively, "what I would have done if I
had been in Napoleon's place?"

"Certainly!" the wife snapped. "You'd have settled right down on a farm
in Corsica, and let it run itself."

SHIPWRECK

The new member of the club listened