A

The autumn sun looks kindly down,

But the frost is on the lea,

And sprinkles the horn

Of the owl at morn

As she hies to the old oak tree.

Not a leaf is stirred,

Not a sound is heard

But the thump of the thresher's flail,
The low wind's sigh,

Or the distant cry

Of the hound on the fox's trail.

The forester he has whistling plunged
With his axe in the deep wood's gloom
That shrouds the hill

Where few and chill

The sunbeams struggling come :
His brawny arm he has bared, and laid
His axe at the root of the tree,

The grey old oak,

And, with lusty stroke,

He wields it merrily

With lusty stroke,

And the old grey oak
Through the folds of his gorgeous vest
You may see him shake,

And the night-owl break

From her perch in his leafy crest.

She will come but to find him gone from where

He stood at the break of day;

Like a cloud that peals as it melts to air
He has passed, with a crash, away.

Though the Spring in the bloom and the frost in gold

No more his limbs attire,

On the stormy wave

He shall float, and brave

The blast and the battle-fire !

Shall spread his white wings to the wind,

And thunder on the deep,

As he thundered, when
His bough was green,

On the high and stormy steep.

GEORGE HILL.

ar-ray', at-tire, dress out.
for-est-er, woodman.
brawn-y (bron-i), muscular,
having good brawn or mus-
cle, especially in the arm.
highly-coloured,

gòr-ge-ous,
showy.
peer (noun), equal, one of the
same rank.

peer (verb), to look narrowly.

lea, land in grass.

lee, shelter, the sheltered side of anything.

hie (hí), hasten, go in haste. high (hi), tall, lofty.

peal, to sound loud, ring.
peel, skin, rind; to strip off skin
or rind.

ONE day a Cat met a Fox in the wood. "Ah," she thought, "he is clever and sensible, and talked of in the world a great deal; I will speak to him." So she said, quite in a friendly manner, "Good morning, dear Mr. Fox; how are you? and how do affairs go with you in these expensive times?"

The Fox, full of pride, looked at the Cat from head to foot, and knew hardly what to say to her for a long time. At last he said, "Oh, you poor little whisker-cleaner, you grey old tabby, you hungry mouse-hunter, what are

you thinking about to come to me, and to stand there. and ask me how I am going on? What have you learnt, and how many tricks do you know?"

"I know only one trick," answered the Cat, meekly. "And pray what is that?" he asked.

'Well," she said, "if the hounds are behind me, I can spring up into a tree and save myself."

"Is that all?" cried the Fox; "why, I am master of a hundred tricks, and have over and above all a sackful of cunning; but I pity you, puss; so come with me, and I will teach you how to baffle both men and hounds."

At this moment a hunter, with four hounds, was seen approaching. The Cat sprang nimbly up a tree, and seated herself on the highest branch, where, by the spreading foliage, she was quite concealed.

"Turn out the sack, Mr. Fox! turn out the sack!" cried the Cat; but the hounds had already seized him and held him fast.

'Ah, Mr. Fox,” cried the Cat, "your hundred tricks are not of much use to you; now if you had only known one like mine, you would not have so quickly lost your life."

A LAUGHING SONG.

WHEN the green woods laugh with the voice of joy,
And the dimpling stream runs laughing by ;
When the air does laugh with our merry wit,
And the green hill laughs with the noise of it;

When the meadows laugh with lively green,
And the grasshopper laughs in the merry scene:
When Mary, and Susan, and Emily,

With their sweet round mouths sing, "Ha, ha, he!"

When the painted birds laugh in the shade,
Where our table with cherries and nuts is spread :
Come live, and be merry, and join with me
To sing the sweet chorus of "Ha, ha, he!”

chó-rus, the part of the song repeated at the end of every verse.