The first (-sixth) 'Standard' reader

Still on-pit-pat-the goblin went,
As it had done before:

Her strength and resolution spent,
She fainted at the door.

Out came her husband, much surprised;
Out came her daughter dear;
Good-natured souls! all unadvised
Of what they had to fear.

The candle's gleam pierced through the night,
Some short space o'er the green
And there the little trotting sprite
Distinctly might be seen.

An ass's foal had lost its dam
Within the spacious park;
And, simple as a playful lamb,
Had followed in the dark.

No goblin he; no imp of sin;
No crimes had ever known ;—
They took the shaggy stranger in
And reared him as their own.

His little hoofs would rattle round
Upon the cottage floor;
The matron learned to love the sound
That frightened her before.

A favorite the ghost became

And 'twas his fate to thrive ;

And long he lived, and spread his fame,
And kept the joke alive;

For many a laugh went through the vale,
And some conviction too-

Each thought some other goblin tale

Perhaps was just as true.-Bloomfield.

Devious, out of the common way or track.
Beguile, amuse, satisfy.

PSALM XXIII.

The Lord my pasture shall prepare,
And feed me with a shepherd's care;
His presence shall my wants supply,
And guard me with a watchful eye:
My noon-day walks he shall attend,
And all my midnight hours defend.

When in the sultry glade I faint,
Or on the thirsty mountain pant,
To fertile vales and dewy meads,
My weary, wandering steps He leads;
Where peaceful rivers, soft and slow,
Amid the verdant landscapes flow.
Though in the paths of death I tread,
With gloomy horrors overspread,
My steadfast heart shall fear no ill,
For thou, O God, art with me still;
Thy friendly staff shall be my aid,
And guide me through the dreadful shade.

Though in a bare and rugged way,
Through devious, lonely wilds I stray,
Thy bounty shall my wants beguile;
The barren wilderness shall smile,
With sudden greens and herbage crown'd,
And streams shall murmur all around.

Addison.