They've forgotten to leave him the rope," answered Tom, still scarcely able to speak.

His mother at once hurried to the spot. When she reached it, a crowd had collected round the foot of the chimney, and stood there quite helpless, gazing up with faces full of horror.

"He says he'll throw himself down!" exclaimed the crowd, as Mrs. Howard came up. "He is going to throw himself down!"

"Thee mustn't do that, lad!" cried his wife, with a clear, hopeful voice. "Wait a bit. Take off thy stocking, lad, and unravel it, and let down the thread with a bit of mortar. Dost hear me, Jem ?"

The man made a sign of assent, and taking off his worsted stocking, began to unravel it, row after row. The people stood round wondering what Tom's mother could be thinking of, and why she had sent Tom off in such haste for the carpenter's ball of twine.

The little thread came waving down the tall chimney, blown hither and thither by the wind; but at last it reached the outstretched hands that were waiting for it. Tom held the ball of string, while his mother tied one end of it to the worsted thread.

Now pull it up slowly!" cried she, and she gradually unwound the string as the worsted drew it gently up. It stopped: the string had reached

her husband.

Now, hold the string fast, and pull it up!” cried she; and the string grew heavy and hard to pull; for Tom and his mother had fastened the thick rope to it. They watched it gradually and slowly uncoiling from the ground as the string was drawn higher. There was but one coil left. It had reached the top. The rope was up; the iron to which it should be fastened was there all right. But would her husband be able to make use of them? She did not know, and afraid to look up, hid her face in her hands.

There was a great shout.

'He's safe, mother! he's safe!" cried little Tom.

"Thou'st saved me, Mary!" said her husband. "But what ails thee? Thou seem'st more sorry than glad about it."

But Mary could not speak, and, if the strong arm of her husband had not held her up, she would have fallen to the ground; the sudden joy, after such great fear, had overcome her.

“Tom,” said his father, “let thy mother lean on thy shoulder, and we will take her home."

And in their happy home they did not forget to give thanks to God for all His goodness; and their happy life together felt dearer for the danger it had been in.

QUESTIONS:-1. What is a scaffolding? 2. How does the last man get down after finishing a high chimney? 3. What had been forgotten in this case? 4. Tell how James Howard got down.

car-ti-lag'-i-nous, formed of flex'-i-ble, easily bent.

THE camel is called by the natives of Arabia "the

living ship of the desert." All its habits and in

stincts are adapted to its singular condition and the region which it inhabits. It has great endurance of hunger, thirst, and fatigue; and can perform a journey of several days without requiring drink. Its feet are large and spreading, and covered at the lower part with a rough flexible skin, well adapted to a dry, gravelly soil, but not to wet or muddy ground. It dislikes a loose, sandy soil, but delights in a hard, arid plain; and it can ascend steep and rugged paths with the same facility and secureness of footing as a mule. From the spongy nature of its foot, its tread is almost noiseless.

The eye of the camel is large, dark, soft, and prominent; and being well guarded by an overhanging brow, it retains its peculiar brilliancy under the fiercest glare of the sun and the sand. Its nostrils are in the form of slits, which it can open or close at will; and thus, by breathing gently and gradually, it has the power of excluding the choking winds and sand of the desert. The great length of its neck enables it, without stopping, to nip the thorny shrubs which it may fall in with in the desert; and the cartilaginous formation of its mouth enables it to feed on them without difficulty, in spite of their sharp and prickly spines.

The camel does not attain its full growth till the age of twelve years, though it is fit for use at a much earlier period. It will live till it is forty

years old; but loses much of its activity by the time it is thirty, and then it is no longer capable of enduring great fatigue.

The flesh of the young camel is tender, and in taste similar to veal; and the milk of the female is copious and nourishing. Diluted in water, it is the common drink of the Arabs. One of the most remarkable features of the camel is its hump. When the animal is in good health, the hump is round and fleshy; but it is observed to diminish during long abstinence, and to increase again when it gets abundance of food. The Arab never sets out on a long journey without examining the hump of his camel. If it be large, he is well assured of the animal's power to endure fatigue and hunger; but, if it be small, he knows that it will soon give way under its load, and become unfit for further exertion.

The camel is employed for carrying burdens. Its load varies very considerably. A large camel, when supplied with abundance of food, is capable of carrying a thousand pounds, and even twelve hundredweight; but the usual burden in a caravan journey is from two hundred and fifty to five hundred pounds. The camel voluntarily kneels when about to be loaded-a position which its great height renders necessary.

The usual pace of the camel, when the Arab mounts it for a desert journey, is a quick, hard trot of from six to eight miles an-hour. It will

* K