the rest, and shook their heads when called upon to

join in the games.

"Let us go at once, Harry," said Charles, turning off to the gate. "The longer we stay, the harder it will be; and we promised Willie, you know. Poor Will he is sure to be looking out for us."

They

3. Yes, indeed, Willie was looking out. found him in the garden on a couch, under a large, shady tree. The two boys threw themselves down on the grass by his side, and asked if he was better. "No," answered Willie.

4. "Yet you never look dull and miserable," said Charles. "You always have a pleasant word for us.”

"I ought to have," said Willie, "when you give up your games to come and see me." It was all the thanks he gave his two friends, and it was all they needed. Boys are shy of speaking their feelings, but they understand each other.

5. "When we were reading about the Spartans this morning," said Harry, "I thought of you, Willie. I thought you would have made a firstrate Spartan."

"Did Mr. Belford tell you any good stories about brave people?" asked Willie.

"Yes, capital ones; and a great deal about different kinds of courage-but I remember the stories best."

"Tell me some of them."

6. "Well, there was one-which, I dare say, you know about Napoleon calling a soldier out of the ranks to write a letter for him. He rested the paper on a wall, and, just when he had done, there came a cannon-ball close by and battered down some of the wall, covering them with dust. The soldier merely

shook the dust off his paper, and said, 'That will serve to dry the ink, sire.' The emperor took notice of him after that, and he became a great general before long."

7. "Did he tell you any thing about the charge at Balaklava?" asked Willie.

“Oh, yes,” said Harry, "and he made it as plain as possible. There was a valley, a long valley-let us make it in this flower-bed. Now, look here, Willie: this is the valley, and the Russians have possession of all these hills, and they have cannon on them, and the English army is at this end. Well, they get an order, six hundred of the light cavalry"—

8. "There was some mistake about that order," said Charles.

"Well, mistake or no mistake," said Harry, "they never stopped to ask. The order was to ride up this valley and stop the firing."

"Spike the cannon," said Charles.

9. "So they dashed off at once, straight through the iron hail. The whole six hundred, horses and men—not one coward-cut through a Russian regiment, and as many as were alive cut their way back again. And they did their work: they stopped the cannon; but not one-half of them returned."

10. "Did you hear any more about the Crimea ?" asked Willie.

"Oh, yes, of the other sort of courage-the courage of endurance, the patient suffering in the trenches," said Charles. It was enough to make your heart ache. Was n't it, Harry?”

Harry shook his head. "We won't tell Willie about that, Charles. It is n't good for him."

11. "Yes it is, Harry," said Willie. "It makes me more patient. I lie awake nights and think of things of that sort, and I feel as if these men were brothers. Then I can bear pain better. They suf fered for something to gain some good. I only suffer for myself. There's the difference."

12. "Ah! but Mr. Belford talked about that, too," said Charles. "The most beautiful story he told was about that. Patient suffering when no one is by to praise us-when we can't see the good of it— he said that is the highest courage of all."

“Did he, though?" said Willie, with a bright look in his eyes. "What was the story?"

13. "About a ship, full of troops, sent to India at the time of the Crimean war. The ship sprung a leak, and they worked hard, but could n't save her. There were boats for a very few only; so the captain and officers called up the soldiers and the crew. 'Put the women and children into the boats,' said the captain; and they put them in. Then they formed on the deck, man to man, shoulder to shoulder, calm and quiet as if they were on parade, and down they went, ship and all, into the sea, without a cry."

14. Willie brushed his hand across his eyes, and Harry sprang to his feet, leaped into the air, and shouted "Hurra" half a dozen times before he felt fit to join in the talk again.

At this moment the church clock struck one.

“Come, Harry, we must go," said Charles, rising. 15. The two boys, sorrowful to leave Willie lying there, shook hands with him in silence, went to the gate, then turned back with one accord and shook hands with him again. Willie knew what they

meant as well as if they had spoken volumes; and if a quiet tear stole down his pale cheek when they were gone, his courage waxed stronger as he thought how well they loved him, and how brave they thought him.

EXERCISES IN EMPHASIS.

1. Out burst the happy boys, all talking at once.

2. The longer we stay, the harder it is.

3. That will serve to dry the ink, sire.

4. There was a long valley-let us make it in this flower-bed. 5. Well, mistake or no mistake, they never stopped to ask. 6. We won't tell Willie about that, Charles.

7. They suffered for something-to gain some good. 8. I only suffer for myself. There's the difference.

IV.-MONTEREY.

In September, 1846, the American army, under General Taylor, besieged the strongly fortified city of Monterey, Mexico. After a battle lasting four days, in which each army was decimated, the city was captured.

E were not many-we who stood

WE

Before the iron sleet that day;

Yet many a gallant spirit would
Give half his years, if he but could
Have been with us at Monterey.

2. Now here, now there, the shot it hailed
In deadly drifts of fiery spray;

Yet not a single soldier quailed

When wounded comrades round them wailed

Their dying shouts at Monterey.

3. And on, still on, our columns kept,

Through walls of flame its withering way;

Where fell the dead, the living stept,
Still charging on the guns that swept
The slippery streets of Monterey.

4. The foe himself recoiled aghast

When, striking where he strongest lay,
We swooped his flanking batteries past,
And, braving full their murderous blast,
Stormed home the towers of Monterey.

5. Our banners on those turrets wave,

And there our evening bugles play,
Where orange boughs above their grave,
Keep green the memory of the brave
Who fought and fell at Monterey.

6. We were not many-we who pressed.
Beside the brave who fell that day;
But who of us hath not confessed
He'd rather share their warrior rest
Than not have been at Monterey?

Charles F. Hoffman.

I

V. THE CATTLE TRAIN.

LATELY made a journey, and one of the most bright and pleasant things I saw in the course of it, was a glimpse of two little sisters, who might truly be called Sisters of Charity. One day, as we stopped for about twenty minutes at a station, I amused myself with looking out of the window at a pretty