For The Children

I once kuew a little boy wlio was cot ai all like the little boys whona you are accustotned to see every day. lie did not have blue eyes and curly brown haif, nov did he wear gray trousers and short jacket3. No; his eyes and hair were jet black, and he was troubled with do other clothing than a loóse, wrapper-hke ment, which he bound about lus waist with a long sash, us'Dg its widesleeves for pockets. Perhap8, trom the description of his dress, jon will think that he looked like a girl; but he wa3 a real boy, and would have feit indignant if you had taken himfor miytliing else In tact, Jiro- for that vvastheyoung gentleman's name - was an inhabitant of that country soniewhere down under our f eet known as Japan, and 1 times called the "Ciiildren's Paradise." I Now, Jiro was very proud of his 1 try.and believed, ia did all his countiyI mei), that the üibabitanta had descetid ed from ihe gois. Allliough he was only e.'ght years old, because his father was 011e oi Lhose terrible fellows called your liead oíf in a minute and think nothing of it), little Jiro was allo ved to carry in his belt a real aword. He va3 not ignorant of its use, either, as ho took lessons in fcncing twice a week. Jiro's eider sister. Misa Koto, was leUT)iug to handle the lance and apear - an acoornplishmentof Japanese ladies of pusitiou.whicli is eonsidered as neccssary as learning to sew, or read, or paint; and Jiro longed for the time to come when Lis own bands would bs strong enough to lift theso beavier weapons. One day, as our little friend was retunnng froin fenciig-acbool, be I thamght tbat, iustead of making his way bomeward through. tbe crowded streets, h9 would take a shorter cut be knew of, across the üelds, where he would be able to ünd soine tall lotusttowers for bis sister's deft flngers to arrange in tho pailor üower-vases. On reachiDg the pond where tbe Iotu3 grew, he found that several children wero already there, sonio busily eDgagftd in collecting the sweet lotusroots for eating, and others, who w ere more fond of play than of work, strutting about, bolding up the great lotusleaves for parasols, or wearing tbem as jaucty sun-hats. Jiro did not care for tbe roots (as bis mother frequently bougbttbem of the vegetable-man.)and is he felt too busy to play, he set rnanfully to work and cut down some of tho mo3t beautiful buds growing high above his head. When he liad cut enough he started for home, sturdily trudging along with his arm3 f uH of the rosy Oowers and their great, wide leaves. He had not gone very far, hoWeVer, beíore one of those long snakes which, in Japan, inhabit trees or low shrubs, lifted up its ugly head vight iu Jiro's path, and made him drop his fragrant bundie and grasp the hilt oi his little sword. ïhe serpent looked very ugly, seeming to say: "Nol no! Master Jiro, you can't pass hero until I have a bite of you! ' andl rather suspect that Jiro'a ürst impulse was to run away. But remembering that lus father was the retainer of a great prince, and that some day he would be a retainer too, Jiro feit braver, and a3 the snake continued to rear itshead right in bis patli, Jiro eut at ifc with hie sharp littlc sword and lopped ita head off ; giving it anolher cut to mate quite su re it was dead, the lad picked up bis llovvers and went on, feeling veiy proud of histriumph. - Si. Nichólas. Swallows and a Clock. There is a story in Ilarper'a Youug People about two awallows that perched one morning on the hands of a gieat church elock, and seeing a hole in its face just large ououghto enter, thought it would be aüue placo for a nest. The swallowf thought it would be delicious to live in the clock. No boys could diflturb theni, and unless some one should invent a new kind of flyiug cat they would never have any unwelcoine and dangerous visitors. So they begau to build. They carried hay and grass and cotton into the clock, and bj night their nest was half ilniabed, They slept in a neigUboring Lree, and in the morning flew back with fresh building materials. Somethi ug very strange had hippened. Thenest that they had partly built luid nearly disaj-peared. They had to begin again. All that day they workcti hard. The next morning they found that the same cruel trick had been played on them. Xhey now became very iudignant, and tluit nigm, mey peiuueu uu wv hands of the clock, bo as to be near iu caso any one should try todestroy their nest. In the course of the night tho, hands of the clock turned around and tumbled them off, but in the morning theysaw their nest had only been slightly disturbed. They repaired the damage, ünished their work, and moved in that night. For two days they were very happy, but on the third day a man climbed into tho tower to see why the clock had stopped. He found nearly a peck of straw and grasa and cotton, that had been drawn by the wheels into t inmost recesses of the clock, and had ünally so clcgged the wheels that they could movo no more. Then he found the nest that the swallowa had made, and threw it away, and stopped up the hole iu the clock face. And so it happened that the swallows had to go and bnild a nest under the eaves, after all. A Nautical Parem. íSoinebody'ts ehild being snubbed for askiDg questions, answered back In unconsciows rebuke, "ir' I didn'taskquestioiis, l'cl never know mucb." The boy mentioned below aaked hk questioiis and still did not know inuch that all sailor-boys know. "Mr. Brown"might have saved hiniself by snubbing"Jolmny ;"then again.it would have been more honest to have confessed there wcro things in which he needed to be enligiiteued hiniself: "Father," asked Jolinuy. "what ís a log?" "A log, niy son," replied Brown, stealing a hasty glance at Mrs. B. to see if she was listening for his answer, "a log, my son, is a big piece of wood or timber. Wüy do you ask, Johnny ?" "It tells in this story about heaving the log, and it says the ship vventfourtcen knots au hour. What does it mean by knots, father?" -Knots, Johnny, knots? Why, you have seen a log- almos t ulways covered with knots- haven't you? AVi'll, thafs what it moans- fourteen of thein -the ship got by fourteen of thm in au hour. That's all, Johnny," said Brown, with a sigh of relief that he had got out of it so easily. The Jumtaos, lf ehildren cannot see the elophant, the next best thing is to read about hiui. In fact, talks about the beast are always in order ; the following is ped from an arlicle in the London Field: Thick as ia an elepbant'? skin, no livii:g creature suffers more from flies, mosquitoes, leeches, and othervermin than Le. The pores sie very large, and gadflies, rnosquitoes, etc, worm themselves into the lidlow, and suck to repletiqn. Thus the whole day long they are constantly throwing up dirt, squirting salivia or water, to get rid of these pests, to the great annoyance of their riders. They snore a good deal when asleep, and I have of ten seen them resting their head8 on an outstretched foot when lying down. They are very human-like in many of their ways. They get a piece of wood and use it as a tooth-pick. They scratch theinselves with the tip of their proboscis, and if they cannot reach the place with that they take up a branch and use that. A Good Investment. Several winters ago a woman was i coming out from sorce public building where the heavy doors swungback and inade egress diflicult. A street urchin sprung to the rescue, and, as he held the door, she said, "Thank you" and passed on. "Cracky! dye heai that?' saiu tno boy to a companion standing near. "No; what?" "Wby, that lady in seal-shin said "thank ye' to the likes o'me." Atnused at the couversation whioh she could not help overhearing, the lady turned rcind and said to bim, "It always pays to bc polite, my boy, remember that." Yeai3 passed away, and last December, when doing her Christmas ping, this same woman received an exceptional courtesy from a clerk in Boston, which caused her to remark in a low tone to a friend wbo was with her: "What a comfort to bo civilly treated once in a while - though I don't know as I blame the clerks for being rude during the holiday trade." ïhe young man's quick ears caugbt the words, and he said: "Pardon me, madam, but you gave me iny fust lesson in politeness." She looked at hiui iu amazement wbile he related the forgotten incident, and told her that simple "thank you" awakened bis ürst ambition to be something in the world. He went the next morning and applied for a situation as office boy in thu establishment wheie he waa now au honcrecl r-ml trusted clerk. Only two vvurds, diopped into the treasury of street conversation; but they yielded returns of a certain kind more satisfactory than investments in stocks and bonds.