Alas, alas for Hamelin!

The Mayor sent East, West, North, and South,
To offer the Piper, by word of mouth
Wherever it was men's lot to find him
Silver and gold to his heart's content,
If he'd only return the way he went,
And bring the children all behind him.
But when they saw 't was a lost endeavor,
And Piper and dancers were gone forever,
They made a decree that lawyers never
Should think their records dated duly,
If, after the day of the month and year,
These words did not as well appear:
"And so long after happened here,
On the twenty-second of July,
Thirteen hundred and seventy-six."
And the better in memory to fix
The place of the children's last retreat,
They called it the Pied Piper's Street,
Where any one playing on pipe or tabor,
Was sure for the future to lose his labor.
And opposite the place of the cavern
They wrote the story on a column,
And on the church window painted
The same, to make the world acquainted
How their children were stolen away;
And there it stands to this very day.

And whether they pipe us free from rats or from mice, If we've promised them aught, let us keep our prorise.

LARIBOO AND THE TIGER

A Story of the African Desert

LYDIA MARIA CHILD

Lariboo lived in Africa, in the country of the Tibbus, which lies east of the great desert of the Sahara. A large part of that country is a plain of sand; but there are little green spots, called oases, and in one of these Lariboo and her husband lived.

The Tibbus are a good-natured, merry race, extravagantly fond of singing and dancing; though it is singular that they should be so merry and thoughtless as they are, for they are constantly exposed to danger. West of their country lives a fierce and terrible tribe, called Tuareks. These Tuareks are a wandering race of robbers. They hate the Tibbus; and once or twice a year they come down among them, to kill or carry into slavery every one they meet. The Tibbus are very much afraid of them. When they hear them coming they run and hide themselves among steep rocks, from the summits of which they hurl stones and spears at their enemies.

One day, when Lariboo was out in the fields picking berries, she heard the frightful cry, "The Tuareks are coming! The Tuareks are coming!" She ran as fast as she could to hide among the rocks; but the Tuareks caught her, and carried her off to sell her for a slave. Many others were killed or taken prisoners. In the hurry and confusion of the fight, Lariboo could not get sight of her husband; and she did not know whether he was dead or alive.

The poor woman sobbed as if her heart would break; but

the savage invaders, instead of pitying her, drove the prisoners along before the camels, and if they did not go as fast as they were ordered, whipped them cruelly. Day after day they continued their wearisome journey without any hope of escape from these cruel conquerors.

But one evening, just at sunset, the Tuareks were terrified by the sight of several prodigious pillars of sand moving across the desert, sometimes with majestic slowness, and sometimes with incredible swiftness. These pillars are whirled up and kept in motion by the wind. They are sometimes so very high that their tops are lost in the clouds. Sometimes they break suddenly in the middle and fall; at other times they seem to melt away and disperse in the distance like vapor. They are very terrible, when they come stalking, like great shadowy giants, across the silent desert.

The Tuareks watched these columns with great anxiety, as they came rapidly toward them. There was no use in attempting to escape. An Arabian horse, at his swiftest speed, would not have kept ahead of them. The wretched Tibbu prisoners looked on the approaching destruction without any additional feelings of despair. They were weary of life, and they thought it would be better to be buried in the sand than sold for slaves.

The magnificent columns came sweeping on; they approached nearer and nearer; and at last rushed upon the travelers, burying dozens in their rapid flight. Lariboo was among the number overwhelmed; but it chanced that the sand rested lightly on her face, so that she had the power of breathing. The force of the blow stunned her and rendered her insensible. The Tuareks, thinking her dead, left her where she fell. How long she remained stupefied, she did not

know. When she recovered consciousness, the painful glare of the midday sun had given place to the mild beauty of evening, and the breeze swept along with refreshing coolness. All was still so intensely still! Not a bird, not an insect disturbed the deep repose. Lariboo was alone in that vast silent wilderness.

With considerable exertion, she released herself from the sand, under which she was buried. Her first sensation was joy that she had escaped the power of the Tuareks; but the next moment she was filled with fear. She remembered that she was without food, and many days' journey from any human habitation. Then came the thought of lions and tigers, and hyenas, more dreadful than all. She strained her eyes, gazing into the far distance in every direction to see if danger was approaching. But nothing was in motion. The earth below was as still as the heavens above. Far as the eye could reach, stretched an endless level of sand, without bush or tree.

The sun was setting, and with it departed the last glimmering of hope from the heart of poor Lariboo. Utterly discouraged, and too weak from hunger and thirst to drag herself along, she laid herself down on the sand to die.

She had not remained there many minutes, when a dark speck in the air hovered before her languid eyes. As it came nearer she saw it was a gold-shafted cuckoo. The sight of this bird at once renewed her courage. She knew that an oasis must be near; for birds never live in the desert where there are no trees, berries, or insects.

This idea, by reviving her mind, imparted temporary strength to the perishing body. She rose and pursued her journey to the westward, from which quarter the bird had first come in sight. She was not mistaken in her hopes. A

little verdant spot soon appeared amid the waste, like a green island in the ocean. Here the almost famished traveler quenched her thirst at a little rill, and feasted upon delicious berries.

Having taken food, and rested herself a few minutes on the grass, Lariboo began to look around to see what she could discover in her lonely resting place. A group of trees attracted her attention, and thither she retraced her steps. The cool shade was extremely refreshing; and after the silence of the desert, it was a real delight to watch the bright birds fluttering about, to hear the monkeys chattering, and see them throwing down nuts and boughs from the trees.

A short distance away, the wanderer discovered a cave, or grotto, formed by overarching rocks. Being worn with fatigue, she entered it, stretched herself on the cool earth, and sank into a profound slumber.

It was past midnight when she waked and great fear came upon her when she heard the powerful breathing of some animal near her. Was it a lion, a panther, a hyena, or the fierce orang-outang? In vain she tried to conjecture from the sound of its breathing; for the grotto was so dark that she could distinguish nothing.

Lariboo was of course thoroughly wakened for the rest of the night. The slightest noise made her hair rise with terror, and her eyes felt as if they were starting from their sockets. When the light of morning dawned, it revealed a huge panther lying near her. The great creature slept with her head between her paws, as comfortably as an old housedog by the fireside. Lariboo's heart beat as if it were flying from her body. She was afraid to make any effort to escape; for she could not gain the entrance of the grotto without stepping over the body of the savage beast; and should the