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6 (964); THI.F
Our Boys
OLD DAME CRICKET.
, Old Dame Cricket
Down In a thicket.
Brought up her children nine? ..
Queer little chaps,
In glossy black caps
And brown little suits so fine.
"My children," she said,
"The birds are a-bed,
Go and make the dark earth glad.
Chirp while you can!"
And then she beeran?
Till, oh, what a concert they had!
i;_
They hopped with delight,
They chirped all night.
Singing, "Cheer up! cheer up! cheer!"
Their sleep they must take;
The birds are awake,
And they can sing all the rest
?'Longman's Ship Readers
THE MINSTREL'S SONG.
BY MAUD LINDSAY.
Once, long, long ago, there lived in a country
over the sea a king called Rene, who married
a lovely princess, whose name was Imogen.
Imogen came across the seas to the king's
beautiful country, and all his people welcomed
her with great joy because the king
loved her.
"What can I do to please thee to-dayV* the
king asked her every morning; and one day
vug 4uccu auuwcrai LiiHt sue wouici nae to near
all the minstrels in the king's country, for
they were said to be the finest in the world.
As soon as the king heard this, he called his
heralds and sent them everywhere through his
land to sound trumpets and call aloud:
"Hear ye, minstrels! King Rene, our gracious
king, bids ye come to play at his court on
May day, for love of the Queen Imogen."
The minstrels were men who sang beautiful
songs and played on harps; and, long ago,
they went about from place to place, from castle
to castle, from palace to cot, and were always
sure of a welcome whereveT they roamed.
They could sing of the brave deeds that the
knights had done, and of wars and battles,
and could tell of the mighty hunters who hunted
in the great forests, and of fairies and
goblins, better than a story-book; and because
there were no story-books in those days, every
body, from little children to the king, was glad
to see them.
So, when the minstrels heard the king's
message, they made haste to the palace on May
day, and it so happened that some of them met
on the way and decided to travel together.
One of these minstrels was a young man
named Harmonius; and while the others talked
of the songs that they would sing, he gathered
the wild flowers that grew by the roadside.
"I can sing of the drums and battles," said
the oldest minstrel, whose hair was white and
whose step was slow.
"I can sing of ladies and their fair faces,"
said the youngest ministrel; but Harmonius
whispered, "Listen, Listen!"
"Oh, we hear nothing but the wind in the
treetops," said the others. "We have no time
to stop and listen."
Then they hurried on and left Harmonius,
and he stood under the trees and listened, for
he heard something very sweet. At last he
knew that it was the wind singing on its trav
REBBYTERIAH OF THE ft <
and Girls
els through the wide world; telling how it
raced over the blue sea, tossing the waves and
rocking the white ships, and hurried on to the
hills, where the trees made harps of their
branches, and then How it blew down into the
valleys, where all the flowers danced gayly to
the tune. Harmonius could understand every
word:
"Nobody follows me where I go,
Over the mountains or valleys below;
Nobody sees where the wild winds blow,
Only the Father in heaven can know."
That was the chorus of the wind's song.
Harmoniu8 listened until he knew the whole
song from beginning to end, and then he ran
on and soon reached his friends, who were still
talking of the grand sights that they were to
see.
"We shall see the king and speak to him,"
said the oldest minstrel.
"And his golden crown and the queen's
jewels," added the youngest; and Harmonius
had no chance to tell of the wind's song, although
he thought about it time and again.
Now, their path led them through the wood,
and as they talked, Harmonius said, "Hush,
listen!" But the others answered, "Oh, that
is only the sound of the brook trickling over
the stones. Let us make haste to the king's
court."
But Harmonius stayed to hear the song that
the brook was singing, of journeying through
mosses and ferns and shady ways, and of
tumbling over the rocks in shining waterfalls
on its way to the sea.
t < -d: 1: s i iiv .I ....
iH^pnug muu nuouung tnrougn shade and
sun,
On to the beautiful sea I run;
Singing forever, though none be near,
For God in heaven can always hear,"
sang the little brook. Harmonius listened until
he knew every word of the song, and then
hurried on.
When he reached the others, he found them
talking of the king and the queen, so he could
not tell them of the brook. As they talked,
he heard something again that was wonderfully
sweet, and he cried, "Listen, listen!"
"Oh, that is only a bird!" the others replied.
"Let us make baste to the king's court."
But Harmonius would not go, for the bird
sang so joyfully that Harmonius laughed aloud
when he heard the song.
Tt *
" "?n ouigiuK a Buug oi green trees, and in
every tree a nest, and in every nest, eggs. Oh,
the hird was se gay as it sang:
"Merrily listen to me,
Flitting and flying from tree to tree,
Nothing fear I by land or sea,
For God in heaven is watching me."
"Thank yon, little bird," said Harmonius,
"you have taught me a song." And he made
haste to join his comrades for by this time they
were near the palace.
When they had gone in they received a hearty
welcome, and were feasted in the great hall
before they came before the king.
The king and queen sat on their throne torpv
- l_* a* ' ?
gnim*. i ue King tnougni oi tne queen and
the minstrels, bnt the queen thought of her old
home, and of the butterflies she had chased when
she was a little child.
One by one the minstrels played before them.
The oldest minstrel sang of battles and drums,
just as he said he would; and the youngest
) D t B [ August 21, 1912
miuistrel sang of ladies and their fair faces,
which pleased the court ladies very much.
Then came Harmonius. And when he
touched his harp and sang, the song sounded
like the wind blowing, the sea roaring, the
trees creaking; then it grew very soft and
sounded like the trickling brook dripping on
stones and running over little pebbles; and
while the king and queen and all the court listened
in surprise, Harmonius' song grew sweeter,
sweeter, sweeter. It was as if you heard
all the birds of spring. And then the song was
ended.
The queen clapped her hands, and the ladies
waved their handkerchiefs, and the king came
down from his throne to ask Harmonius if he
came from fairyland with such a wonderful
song. But Harmonius answered:
"Three singers sang along our way,
And I learned the song from them to-day."
Now, all he other minstrels looked up in surprise
when Harmonius said this; and the oldest
minstrel said to the king: "Harmonius is
dreaming! We heard no music on our way
to-day."
And the youngest minstrel said: "Harmonius
is surely mad! We met nobody on our
way to-day."
But the queen said: "That is an old, old
song. I heard it when I was a little child; and
T can name the singers three." Can jout?
Christian Standard.
THE STREET OF GROWN-UP
CHILDREN.
ANNIB LOUISE BERRAY.
And there was Herbert and Paul, and Imogene
and Elizabeth, and Mrs. Carter's baby
and the M*urphy twins around the corner."
Esther enumerated them sadly. "And here
there isn't a single solitary child but me on this
whole street. There is just a lady that sits in
a hammock in her hack yard all the while and
a queer old man not so very much bigger than
I am, and that's all the neighbors we have,
'cause the other two houses on the block are
empty. I wish we lived back on Congress
Street," she ended, so forlornly that Mother
put down her work to comfort her.
"You'll have to do the way I did when I was
a little girl and lived on a farm with no playmates,"
laughed-Mother. "I made believe that
mere was a little boy named Jim who lived
in the radish bed. Whenever anything happened
I had to go and tell Jim, and when we
moved away from the farm, when Mother was
ready to step into the carriage, after all the
things had been sent on ahead, they could not
find me. Where do you suppose I was? I was
out by the radish bed saying good-by to Jim!"
Esther laughed a little. "But I'm too big
to play 'make believe,' " she objected, "and,
anyway, we haven't any radish bed."
"Make one, then," suggested her mother.
"I will give you a package of radish seeds and
you run out to the back yard and plant them.
Wouldn't Father be surprised to come home
and find a garden all started?"
Mother looked out of the window a little
later and gave a sigh of relief as she watched
Esther busily stirring up the fresh earth. The
new home was farther out.in the country than
the old one had been, and she had hoped Esther
would be happy in having more room to
play out-of-doors. When she looked out again
after a few more moments, she noticed that Esther
had left her work and had wandered over
into the next yard, where the lady was lying in
the hammock. .
About an' hour later Esther rushed into th#
room where her mother was sewing.