THE LITTLE GIRL AND THE RAIN.

Un-der-stand' Cam'-el

Em'-ma
In-vi'-ted Vi'-o-lets

Trav'-el-ler

Foun'-tain
Proph'-et

Pa'-tient Dim'-ples Car-a-van'

Cer'-tain-ly Grat'-i-tude

Ear'-nest-ly

Wan'-dered

En-ter-tain'

Hol'-i-days Re-freshed'

Wil'-der-ness

Af'-ter-noon

Sat'-ur-day Daugh'-ter
Pleas'-ant-ly Des'-erts

"Mother, it rains," said a little girl who was looking out at the window. "I am so sorry not to go and make that visit to Emma, she invited me twice before, but it rained; and now it is raining hard again."

"I hope you will not be unhappy my dear,” said her mother I think I see tears upon your cheeks. I will not say it is a little thing; for the troubles of children seem great to them; but I trust you will be patient, and wait pleasantly for good weather."

"Mother, you have told me that God knows everything, and that He is always good. Then He certainly must know that there is but one Saturday afternoon in the week, and that, that is all the time I have to play with my little friends. He must know that it has rained now these three holidays, when I wished so much to go abroad. And can He not make sunshine whenever He pleases ?"

"We cannot understand all the ways of God, my child; but the Bible tells us He is wise and good. Look out into your little garden, and see how happy the rose buds are to catch the soft rain in their bosoms, and how the violets lift up their sweet faces to meet it, and as the drops fall into the quiet stream how it dimples with gladness and gratitude. The cattle will drink at that stream, and be refreshed. Should it be dried up, they

and

would be troubled, and were the green grass to grow brown and die, they would be troubled still more, some of them might perish for want of food."

Then the good mother told her daughter of the sandy deserts of the East, and of the Camel, which patiently bears thirst for many days; and how the fainting traveller watched for the rain cloud, and blessed God when he found the water; and she showed her pictures of the Camel and of the Caravan, and told her how they were sometimes buried under the sands of the desert. And she told her a story of the mother who wandered in the wilderness with her son, and when the water was spent in the bottle, she laid him under the shades to die, and went and prayed in her anguish to God; then, how an angel pointed her to a fountain of water, and her son lived. She told her another story from the Bible, how there fell no rain in Israel for more than three years, and the grass dried up, and the brooks wasted away, and the cattle died; and how the good prophet prayed earnestly to God, and the skies sent their blessed rain, and the earth gave forth her fruit. Many other things this good mother said to her child, to teach and entertain her. Then they sung together a sweet hymn or two, and the little girl was suprised to find the afternoon so swiftly spent, for the time passed pleasantly.

So she thanked her kind mother for the stories she had told, and the pictures she had shown her. And she smiled and said, "What God pleases is best."

Her mother kissed her, and said " Carry His sweet spirit with you, my daughter, as long as you live, and you will have gathered more wisdom from the storm than from the sunshine."

Mrs. Sigourney.

The winter passed away; all the ice and snow had gone. Little boys could not make any more snowballs, to be sure, but then they could go out of doors a great deal more than they could before; and spring, when it comes, makes every body feel glad. The trees put forth their young leaves, the fresh green of which is so pleasant to look upon. It is the kind, good God who bids everything bud out once more, after the long sleep of winter.

I am now going to tell you a little story about a cherry-tree, and the good it did in the world, and of how much use it was able to be to many of God's

creatures.

This cherry-tree had stood all the winter, bare of leaves, like all the other trees that are not ever-greens, and looking as if it was of no use, and never would be any more. But, at the proper time, spring came again to the world, and God, the great Father, who takes care of everything He has made, knew very well how to make the cherry-tree look pretty again. So He bade the spring provide for the little worms.

Soon the cherry-tree bore leaves-many thousand leaves, green and fresh. Oh, how different it looked after the gentle, warm winds of spring had passed over it. And the little worms seemed to know all about

it, for they woke up, after their long winter sleep, just at the right moment, stretched themselves in their new skins, opened their mouths, and pushed out their little eyes. They lost no time, but set to work gnawing quietly at the leaves with their little teeth. They were very glad too, to taste the nice leaves. It was as though they would be quite satisfied with such food as this without wishing for anything else.

Then came the time for other creatures to be provided for. So God bade spring prepare food for bees. And the cherry-tree bore blossoms-many thousand blossoms, white and lovely. With the warm noonday sun the bees came; they flew round the flowers, and sucked out their sweet juices, and seemed to say to one another, “This is our breakfast; what a costly china service we have! how clean all the little cups are!" and after they tasted the juice, we might fancy they said, "How sweet it is! How cheap sugar must be!"

Spring-time glided gently by, and made way for summer; and summer had its work to do too, for God bade it prepare food for the sparrows. Then the cherrytree bore fruit-many thousand cherries, red and pulpy.

The little sparrows came and set to work to eat their feast, chirping forth their thanks, getting stronger and stronger as they picked the good food. And God sent a cool mountain breeze, and the thin, early rime began to fall. The pretty tints of autumn, red and yellow, appeared on the leaves, and the winds blew them off. What had sprung up from out of the earth fell again into the earth. Then winter came, and God bade it carefully cover up all that was left. Plenty of snow fell, and made a warm thick covering to protect the roots and flowers during the cold weather.

How good God is, to have made the world so

beautiful, and to give us springtime and summer, autumn and winter! Besides, He does not give them to us just once or twice, now and then, but they always come again at the right time, because He has told them they are to do so; He "hath made a decree which shall not pass.' This little story about the cherry-tree shows you what care God takes of little insects and birds, and so we are sure He takes care of children, and of their mothers and fathers.

Down in a meadow full of flowers,
With daisy buds around him spread,
And clover blossoms white and red,
So fragrant after showers.

And as he lay with half shut eye,
Watching the hazy light, came flying

A busy bee with laden thigh,

Across the blossoms growing by

The spot where he was lying.