SUMMER SONG OF THE STRAWBERRY GIRL.

The clusters of dark violets,

The wreaths of the wild vine.
My jewels are the primrose pale,
The bindweed, and the rose,
And show me any courtly gem
More beautiful than those.

And then the fruit, the glowing fruit,
How sweet the scent it breathes,
I love to see its crimson cheek,
Rest on the bright green leaves.
Summer's own gift of luxury,
In which the poor may share,
The wild wood fruit my eager eye
Is seeking everywhere.

Oh! summer is a pleasant time,
With all its sounds and sights,
Its dewy mornings, balmy eves,
And tranquil calm delights.
I sigh when first I see the leaves
Fall yellow on the plain,
And all the winter long I sing,
"Sweet summer, come again."

MARY HOWITT.

11

"Painted flowers," so called because they are coloured by the light from the sun.

DICTATION.

NOTE.-In every lesson the pupil must look up the meaning of the dictation words in the dictionary.

Supply the words omitted in-A bird | Should

Bough, bow; through, threw; I, eye; plane, plain; wood, would. learn my lesson. Falls Make a yellow on the The joiner woods. He smooths the with his I can see. like to do so too.

on every
of a tree.
to him. Go
the
up his cap. My

QUESTIONS.

Is summer a warm or cold season? How many seasons are in the year? Should we envy the rich? Should we despise the poor? Does fruit breathe

a scent? When do the leaves fali yellow on the plain? What causes the leaves to become yellow and fall off the trees?

THERE was a little boy whose name was Frank. His father and mother were very kind to him, and he loved them. He liked to do whatever they bade him; and he took care not to do anything they desired him not to do. When his father or mother said to him, "Frank, shut the door," he ran directly and did it. When they said to him, "Frank, do not touch that knife," he took his hands away from the knife, and did not touch it. He was an obedient little boy.

One evening, when his father and mother were drinking tea, he was sitting under the table, pulling first one leg of the table and then another. At last he got hold of one of the legs which moved when he pulled it. As he was drawing this leg of the table towards him, his mother said, "Frank, what are you doing?"

He answered, "Mama, I am playing with the leg of the table." But his mother said, "Let it alone, my dear."

Frank took his hands away from the leg of the table, and coming out from under it, said, "Mama, why did you bid me stop playing with the leg of the table?"

His mother showed him that a leaf of the table

THE OBEDIENT BOY.

13

rested on the leg which he was moving, and that if he had pulled it much farther the leaf would have fallen down, and that he would have brought the cups, saucers, and tea-pot down upon his own head. "O mama," said he, "I did not think that when I was pulling the leg of the table just for fun I might have been hurt and scalded by the fall of the leaf of the table, and the whole of the tea things."

"This is another lesson to you, Frank," said his mother, "not to meddle. with anything in a room, till you get permission; for boys, in meddling things with which they have nothing to do, may do a world of mischief before they are aware. Children are always free to look at every thing around them. Looking can never do any harm. But touching is another matter. Children are badly trained who, on entering a house or garden, take hold of every thing they can reach with their hands."

"World of mischief," a very great deal of harm.

"Badly trained," allowed to do wrong without being reproved or punished.

DICTATION.

Bad, bade; bean, been; one, won; deer, dear; hole, whole.

Supply the words wanting in- have

the prize, my

The

Whatever they

a

him. He was hunter shot a man. I have there. the tea things. There is a growing in my garden. me. He got hold of of the legs.

The
Bore a

of

for

You

QUESTIONS.

What kind of boy was Frank? What should all boys and girls be? Why should boys and girls always do what their parents bid them? Whether are boys and girls who obey their parents, or those who disobey them, |

most liked? What words in the lessons begin with letters which are not sounded? Name some other words which begin with a W or K which is not sounded.

THE ISLAND EMPIRE.

15

"Ocean-nests," islands, in which the people live away from other people, as birds in a nest.

"Freedom's Ark," Freedom's place of safety, as Noah's Ark was a place of safety to him, his family, and the animals saved at the flood.

Where is our home?

QUESTIONS.

Whose wing is | islands? What does the planting of a said to be untamed? Who says no banner on any place signify? foeman shall plant his banner in our

IV. SKIMMED MILK.

Con'-quered, prevailed.

Da'in-ties, niceties in food.

Gen'-er-ous, bountiful, liberal.

Grasped, took hold of.

Mor'-al, good lesson.

Self-ish-ness, evil self-love. Tramp, one who wanders about without a home.

Hast'-ened, went quickly.

MRS. DOGOOD once dreamed that a poor man came to her door and begged a drink of milk. Always ready to do a kindly deed, she hastened to the cellar, but with housewifely thrift was about to skim the milk before taking it to him, when a voice seemed to whisper in her ear. "Give him cream and all." For a moment there was an inward struggle. "Skimmed milk is good enough for a tramp like him," said selfishness; but the good angel conquered, and the great bowl covered with golden cream was carried to the thirsty beggar. If the good woman craved any reward for her generous deed, she had it at once in the poor man's grateful look as his brown hands grasped the tempting bowl; and it was with real regret that she waked to find it only a dream.