s own country, and drove
before him the thunder and lightning and rain and the black storm-clouds
and the icy wind.

"Brave little hornet," said the king of the south, "tell me what I can
do for you. You shall have whatever you ask."

Then said the little hornet, "My king, on all the earth no one loves me.
I do not wish to harm people, but they fear my sting, and they will not
let me live beside their homes. Will you make men love me?"

"Little hornet," said the king gently, "you shall no longer be a
stinging insect feared by men. You shall be a bright and happy oriole,
and when men see you, they will say, 'See the beautiful oriole. I shall
be glad if he will build his nest on our trees.'"

So the hornet is now an oriole, a bird that is loved by every one. His
nest looks like that of a hornet because he learned how to build his
home before he became an oriole.

WHY THE PEACOCK'S TAIL HAS A HUNDRED EYES.

Juno, queen of the gods, had the fairest cow that any one ever saw. She
was creamy white, and her eyes were of as soft and bright a blue as
those of any maiden in the world. Juno and the king of the gods often
played tricks on each other, and Juno knew well that the king would try
to get her cow. There was a watchman named Argus, and one would think
that he could see all that was going on in the world, for he had a
hundred eyes, and no one had ever seen them all asleep at once, so Queen
Juno gave to Argus the work of watching the white cow.

The king of the gods knew what she had done, and he laughed to himself
and said, "I will play a trick on Juno, and I will have the white cow."
He sent for Mercury and whispered in his ear, "Mercury, go to the green
field where Argus watches the cream-white cow and get her for me."

Mercury was always happy when he could play a trick on any one, and he
set out gladly for the field where Argus watched the cream-white cow
with every one of his hundred eyes.

Now Mercury could tell merry stories of all that was done in the world.
He could sing, too, and the music of his voice had lulled many a god to
sleep. Argus knew that, but he had been alone a long time, and he
thought, "What harm is there in listening to his merry chatter? I have a
hundred eyes, and even if half of them were asleep, the others could
easily keep watch of one cow." So he gladly hailed Mercury and said, "I
have been alone in this field a long, long time, but you have roamed
about as you would. Will y