them to come betimes to-morrow morning and help

us to reap."

This the Young Ones, in a great fright, reported also to their mother.

"Do not be frightened, children," said she; "kindred and relations are not always very forward in helping one another; but keep your ears open, and let me know what you hear to-morrow."

Get a couple of

The owner came the next day, and, finding his relations as backward as his neighbors, said to his son, "Now, George, listen to me. good scythes ready against to-morrow morning, for it seems we must reap the wheat ourselves."

The Young Ones told this to their mother.

"Then, my dears," said she, "it is indeed time. for us to go, for when a man undertakes to do his business himself, it is not so likely that he will be disappointed."

She at once removed her Young Ones, and the wheat was reaped the next day by the old man and his son.

He who would have things well done must do
them himself.

THE GOAT AND THE BOY.

A Boy, whose business it was to look after some Goats, gathered them together as night began to

fall, to lead them home.

One of the number

refused to obey his call, and stood on a ledge of a rock, nibbling the herbage that grew there. The Boy lost all patience, and taking up a stone, threw it at the Goat with all his might. The stone struck one of the horns of the Goat, and broke it off at the middle. The Boy, terrified at what he had done and fearing his master's anger, threw himself upon his knees before the Goat, and begged her to say nothing to the master about the mishap, as it was far from his intention to aim the stone so well.

"Tush!" replied the Goat.

"Let my tongue be ever so silent, my horn is sure to tell the tale."

Do not attempt to hide what cannot be hid

MERCURY AND THE WOODMEN.

A Man, felling a tree on the bank of a river, by chance let his axe slip from his hand. It dropped into the water, and sank to the bottom. In great distress at the loss of his tool, he sat down on the bank and grieved bitterly, when Mercury appeared, and asked him what was the matter. Having heard the Man's story, he dived to the bottom of the

river, and bringing up a golden axe, offered it to him.

"That is not mine," said the Woodman, and he refused to take it.

Mercury dived a second time, and brought up a silver one.

"That is not mine either," said the Man.

Mercury dived a third time, and brought up the axe that the Man had lost, and this one he took with great joy and thankfulness.

"Thou hast been so truthful," said Mercury, pleased with his honesty, "that I shall give thee not only thine own axe but also those of gold and silver."

The Woodman told this adventure to his mates, and one of them at once set off for the river, and let his axe fall in on purpose. He then began to lament his loss with a loud voice. Mercury appeared, as before, and demanded the cause of his grief. After hearing the Man's account, he dived and brought up a golden axe, and asked him if that were his.

"Yes! yes!" said the covetous fellow, and greedily attempted to snatch it.

"Dost thou think to deceive one who sees thy heart?" said Mercury sternly, and he not only declined to give the golden axe to him, but refused to let him have his own again.

Dishonesty overreaches itself.

THE LION AND THE FROG.

The Lion hearing an odd kind of a hollow voice, and seeing nobody, started up. He listened again; the voice continued, and he shook with

At last seeing a Frog crawl out of the lake, and finding that the noise proceeded from that little creature, he crushed it to pieces with his feet. Braggarts come to ill ends.

THE SHEPHERD BOY AND THE WOLF.

1

A Mischievous Lad, who was set to mind some Sheep, used, in jest, to cry "The Wolf! the Wolf!" When the people came running to the spot, he would laugh at them for their pains.

One day the Wolf came in reality, and the Boy this time called "The Wolf! the Wolf!" in earnest; but the men, having been so often deceived, disregarded his cries, and the Sheep were left at the mercy of the Wolf.

A liar cannot be believed even when he speaks the truth.

THE SERPENT AND THE MAN.

The Child of a Villager, while at play in a field at the back of his Father's house, by chance

trod upon a Snake, which turned round and bit him. The Child died of the bite, and the Father, pursuing the Snake, aimed a blow at him, and cut off a piece of his tail. The Snake gained his hole, and the next day the Man came and laid at the mouth of the hole some honey, meal, and salt, and made offers of peace, thinking to entice the Snake forth and kill him.

"It won't do," hissed out the Snake.

"As long as I miss my tail, and you your Child, there can be no good-will between us."

A false truce is worse than battle.

THE CITY MOUSE AND THE COUNTRY MOUSE.

A Country Mouse, a plain, sensible sort of fellow, was once visited by a former friend of his, who lived in a neighboring city. The Country Mouse put before his friend some fine peas and wheat-stalks, and called upon him to eat heartily of the good cheer. The City Mouse nibbled a little here and there in a dainty manner, wondering at the pleasure his host took in such coarse and ordinary fare.

Finally the City Mouse said to his host, in their after-dinner chat, "Really, my good friend, I am surprised that you can keep in such spirits in this