2. When the sun shines bright and warm, you may find him on the hills with his dog Bob, and his master's sheep.

3. Charlie is very fond of his dog and of the sheep he has to watch and care for. Very often, while the sheep are quietly feeding, Charlie and Bob lie down together on the grass, and then Charlie will play a merry tune to his dog.

4. Bob always listens very quietly till the tune is ended; then he barks and wags his tail as though he wished for more music.

5. Dogs often howl and whine at music, and I have been told that they do so because they dislike it; but I think Bob likes to hear Charlie play his merry tunes.

6. I dare say some dogs like music, and some do not. You know there are some boys and girls who like music and singing, but there are others who do not seem to care for either.

7. In winter Charlie's work is not so nice as it is in summer. In winter he is often out in the wind, and the wet, and the cold. But he never seems cross and never complains. He is a very happy boy.

8. One day I was coming home very tired and very weary, for that day something had

much vexed me. I dare say if you had met me you would have said I was very cross, or very tired, or very unhappy.

9. On my way I met my friend Charlie the shepherd boy. His merry bright face and his cheerful 'Good evening, sir!' made me feel much happier than I did before, and helped me to forget my trouble.

10. So I call Charlie my friend, for those are our true friends who help to make us happy.

1. THE Sparrow is the most common bird in England. Go where you will, in town or country, in garden or field, you are sure to see him.

2. With his plain brown coat of feathers, he does not look so handsome a bird as the canary or the robin, who are his cousins.

3. But he is very useful. In the spring and summer you may see him flying after the insects which would injure the trees in our

gardens, or hopping down upon the worms which destroy the roots of the plants.

4.

His song, too, is not so sweet as that of the blackbird or the thrush, being nothing but chirp, chirp, chirp. And yet we like to hear it.

5. In London and many of our large towns, the smoke and noise drive away many of the sweet singing-birds to live in the country.

But the sparrow does not seem to mind noise, or smoke, or dirt in the least.

6. He builds his nest in all sorts of odd places. I have sometimes seen a sparrow's nest in a railway station, where you would

think the noise and whistle of the trains would frighten the young sparrows to death.

7. I think all boys and girls should be kind to the friendly sparrow. And when winter comes, with its piercing winds and hard frosts, and the sparrows can get no insects or worms, we ought to spare a few crumbs for them from our daily meal.

LITTLE THINGS.

I. LITTLE drops of water,
Little grains of sand,
Make the mighty ocean
And the pleasant land.

2. Thus the little minutes,
Humble though they be,
Make the mighty ages
Of eternity.

3. Thus our little errors

Make a mighty sin ;
Drop by drop the evil

Floods the heart within.

4. Little deeds of kindness,
Little words of love,

Make our earth an Eden,

Like the heaven above,

1. ONE evening in early spring, two children were sitting in their nursery. All at once they heard a rustling noise, and a young sparrow fell down the chimney into the fire-place. It then hopped over the fender and hid under the bed.

2. The children tried to tempt it to come out by offering it crumbs, but it would not; so it remained under the bed all night.

3. The next morning, as soon as the children were awake, they heard a violent tapping at the window. They looked, and were surprised to see two sparrows pecking at the window-panes.

4. The maid opened the window and let them in. They were the father and mother of the little sparrow.

5. They hopped in, chirping and calling; and the little one under the bed began to chirp in answer to them. Presently he came out from his hiding-place, and the three sparrows began a lively conversation.