Part 34 (1/2)

At one ti the old oak's boughs by ain, and the wind played sweetly with their strings

And now the dreah his, even to the very leaves The tree felt in his roots that a war taller and taller; his trunk shot up rew fuller; and still he soared and spread

He felt that his power grew, too, and he longed to advance higher and higher to the warht sun

Already he towered above the clouds, which drifted below hie, now like flocks of large, white swans The stars becaht, each one sparkling like a mild, clear eye

It was a blessed ht of his joy, the oak tree felt a desire and longing that all the other trees, bushes, herbs, and flowers of the wood ladness He could not be fully blessed unless he reat, blessed with hih it had rance of honeysuckle and violets, and fancied he could hear the birds And so it was! for now peeped forth through the clouds the green surown and lifted theh into the air, so themselves loose from their roots tothe birch,fastest of all, shot upward its slender steh the clouds, and the birds sang and sang, and on the grass that fluttered to and fro like a strearasshopper, while cockchafers huladness

”But the little blue flower near the water--I want that, too,” said the oak; ”and the bellflower, and the dear little daisy” ”We are here! we are here!” chanted sweet low voices on all sides

”But the pretty anemones, and the bed of lilies of the valley, and all the flowers that blooo,--would that they were here!” ”We are here! we are here!” was the answer, and it seemed to come from the air above, as if they had fled upward first

”Oh, this is too great happiness!” exclaimed the oak tree; and now he felt that his own roots were loosening themselves from the earth ”This is best of all,” he said ”Now no bounds shall detain lory, and I have all my dear ones with me”

Such was the oak tree's Christhty storm swept the sea and land; the ocean rolled his heavy billows on the shore, the tree cracked, and was rent and torn up by the roots at the veryto the skies

Next day the sea was cale vessel that had weathered the storone--the old oak tree, our beacon! How can its place ever be supplied?”

said the crew This was the tree's funeral eulogium, while the Christmas hymn re-echoed from the wood

HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN (Adapted)

A PRAYER

The day returns and brings us the petty round of irritating concerns and duties Help us to play the hter and kind faces; let cheerfulness abound with industry Give us to go blithely on our business all this day, bring us to our resting beds weary and content and undishonoured; and grant us in the end the gift of sleep

R L STEVENSON

[Illustration: IN THE PASTURE]

THE DEATH OF THE FLOWERS

Thewinds, and naked woods, and rove, the autuust, and to the rabbit's tread

The robin and the wren are flown, and from the shrubs, the jay, And froloo flowers, that lately sprang and stood In brighter light, and softer airs, a beauteous sisterhood?

Alas! they all are in their graves, the gentle race of flowers Are lying in their lowly beds, with the fair and good of ours

The rain is falling where they lie, but the cold Novelooain