WORD LESSON :ad-van'-tage cer'-tain-ly a-maz'-ing feath'-ers ost'-rich (ost-ridge) con-fine'-ment im-i-ta'-ting pur-sued' ap-pa'-rent de-pos'-it-ed mu-se'-um scat'-ter-ed LESSON III. The Four Musicians. A Fable. ape, a kind of monkey. con'-cert, a musical treat. hor'-rid, dreadful. play on. op'-pos-ite, face to face. pro-duce', give forth. in'-stru-ment, something to re-fer'-red, gave over, appealed. shift'-ing, changing place. THE ape, the ass, the goat, and the bear agreed to have a concert, and each of them having got a fine instrument, went out into the meadow, and sitting down under a lime tree, began to strike the strings. Instead of fine music, nothing was heard but the most horrid noises. "Stop! stop!" cried the ape, we are not properly seated. We must sit opposite to each other." So, shifting their seats, they began again, but the noise was as shocking as before. Wait a moment," said the ass, "I have found out what is wrong. We ought all to sit in a row." 66 Placing themselves now in a line, for a third time did they try to produce fine music, but with as little success as before. A nightingale, sweetest of singers, hearing the noise, came with all haste to know the cause of it. The players referred their case to her. "Alas!" said she, "it is not your position that is wrong; you are sitting quite well, and you have fine instruments, but you cannot play. It is you yourselves that are wrong.” QUESTIONS:-1. How many players were in this band? 2. Name them. 3. What did they propose to have? 4. What is a concert? 5. Name all the musical instruments you have seen. 6. What kind of instruments had these players got? 7. Name some stringed instruments-some wind ones. 8. Where were they going to hold their concert? 9. What are such concerts called? 10. How did they succeed? 11. Who called out for them to stop? 12. What did he say was wrong? 13. What was to be done then? 14. Were they any better by the shift? 15. Would you suppose they would be better? 16. Why not? 17. Who was the next to speak? 18. What said he? 19. Was his plan any better than the last? 20. Who came and told them where the fault lay? lie? 22. Might we learn a lesson from this story? 21. Where did it 23. What is it? night'-in-gale The Child at its Mother's Grave. for-sa'-ken, left. heav'-en-ly land, kingdom of heaven. glad'-ly, with great joy. | stor'-my, tempest-tossed. IN that little room of thine, Sweet sleep has come to thee. I would so gladly be with thee, And be thy child again; 'Tis cold and stormy here with me, "Tis warm, and oh so still with thee! Ah! let me, let me in! Thou took'st me gladly once with thee, Oh! see thou hast forsaken me. Take me this time again with thee Into the heavenly land. QUESTIONS:-1. What is this poem about? 2. What does the child mean by "that little room of thine"? 3. Give the correct meaning of "sweet sleep" here. 4. What is the only wish of the child, now that mother is dead? 5. What reason is given for the wish? 6. Try to find out the exact meaning of cold and stormy," and also of " warm" and "still" as they are here used? 7. What line in the poem shows that the child knew where its mother was? anx'-ious-ly,withgreat concern quick'-sands, moving sand. A NOBLE ship was nearing home after a long voyage. On her clean, white deck stood many a rough weather-beaten sailor, looking anxiously at the white cliffs of his native land, and a smile of joy passed over his sun-burnt face at the pleasing thought, "We shall be at anchor to-morrow!" And there were old men who had not seen their childhood's home for long, long years, and the tears stood in their eyes as they looked at the distant shores, and said, "We shall land to-morrow!" And there, too, was a mother lifting up her little one to look at the far-off land, and whispering, "We shall be at home to-morrow!" But their to-morrow never came. That evening the gentle breeze became a furious storm; the rippling waves became foaming, angry billows; the sails were split into ribbons; the rudder was broken, and the vessel got quite beyond the control of the sailors. She soon drifted upon the terrible quick-sands, became a wreck, and all on board perished. And are there not many little boys and girls, men and women, among us expecting a to-morrow that may never come? Do not all of us lay plans for the future, forgetting that at any moment our frail bark may be destroyed, and the dark waters of death may close over us for ever? We should remember that to-morrow does not belong to us. For, if we are so foolish as to put off till tomorrow the good we should do to-day, we shall certainly find that we have been running into a debt which it will be impossible for us ever to pay. QUESTIONS :--1. What is this lesson about? 2. Was the ship homeward or outward bound? 3. Tell the appearance of her deck? 4. What was the thought passing through the minds of crew and passengers? 5. How did they feel? 6. What about their to-morrow? 7. What happened? 8. Tell in the words of the book the change which took place? 9. Describe it in your own words? 10. What was the fate of the ship and all on board? 11. How may we be said to be like the people in that vessel? sun'-burnt to-mor'-row voy'-age weath'-er-beat-en rough (uff) anx'-ious-ly ex-pect'-ing quick'-sands whis'-per-ing The Evening Hour. The bee hath ceased its humming, The butterfly now closeth The pretty flow'rs are lying For all their fragrant blossoms |