A KIND HEART HIDES AN UGLY FACE.

"MAMMA," said little Susan to Mrs. Strathern, "do pray send away that nasty creature ;" and, as she spoke, the little Susan kicked out of her way, with as much force as such gentle feet were capable of using, a poor dog that had jumped upon her knee in the useless hope of obtaining a caress.

"My dear child," replied her mother, 'you allow yourself to be too much impressed by the charm of exterior qualities. Beauty alone ought not to please us. Marco is ugly, I must agree with you; but he is a friend to us, and a faithful friend, as you must see, since not even your ill-treatment avails to diminish his affection towards you."

66 But I don't want his affection, mamma. I can't bear his coming near me. Look what a repulsive aspect his ugly skin gives him! Oh, what a horrible beast!"

While Susan was speaking about him in this manner Marco fixed on her his eyes swimming with tears. The little girl had struck him mercilessly; the dog uttered one cry, and his muzzle, that wore an expression of sadness, seemed to say,

"Ah! if you did but know how much I love you-if you understood the full extent of my devotion, you would be a little more sparing of your blows and reproaches, and my tenderness would excuse my ugliness."

In vain did Marco make use of his most eloquent pantomime to touch the

heart of his young mistress; in vain did Mrs. Strathern relate to her daughter story after story of the bravery, affection, and fidelity of dogs, ending with the dog of Montargis, which avenged his master's death by denouncing his murderer, and slaying him in actual combat. Susan still complained unceasingly.

"I wish some one would drive away that ugly Marco," she would still say. "Do you wish me to die of vexation, dear mamma ?" she would add, with childish exaggeration; and then putting her arm round Mrs. Strathern's neck, while she caressed her, "Well now, do

give Marco to some one of the cottagers in the neighbourhood."

Susan was what is called a spoilt child, and her parents carried their weakness so far as to give way to all her wishes. Sometimes Mrs. Strathern, seeing her daughter's defects, would summon up resolution to put an end to these little concessions as far as was in her power but a little "carneying" word, or a kiss from Susan, destroyed all the vows she had made, all the fine plans she had laid for the child's amendment.

Mrs. Strathern, then, yielded on this point, as she had done on others; and

T

poor Marco was sent away from the house he loved, and had sworn faithfully to guard. They gave him to some vagabond boy in the village, and he used the poor dog even worse than little Susan.

But Marco's patience was not of a kind to last for ever; besides, his new master inspired him with an intense aversion; so he came back one day to Mrs. Strathern's, bearing in his mouth, as trophies of the victory he had just gained over his tyrant, the larger portion of his coat tails.

Susan began to cry out anew against him; so Marco was exiled yet once more, going off with his ears down, and bewailing his unrecognized friendship. What added to his distress was his catching sight of a pert young greyhound, with slender body and pink muzzle, which was crunching with its white teeth a lump of sugar given it by Susan, whom Marco also saw lavishing the gentlest caresses and the tenderest words on the useless little beauty.

Poor Marco! If, instead of an ugly black skin, with hair that stuck up in so strange and grotesque a fashion, you had a smooth-shaven white skin like the greyhound; if your graceless muzzle, void of every expression but that of friendship, had been fine and delicate, and showed only disdain of the beauty of which it nevertheless felt a full consciousness, your mistress would have smiled upon you, and her pretty fingers, instead of beating, would have tendered you biscuits and other enjoyments. Alas! Perhaps our poor Marco reflected in this manner; perhaps he thought that solitude only could put an end to his sorrows. This, however, we can affirmthat from this moment he remained in the village, but so secretly that no one knew what had become of him.

One day little Susan escaped from the vigilance of her mother, who was seated at her work in a wood, by the side of which ran a river of tolerable depth. The little heedless girl wished to put in execution a plan she had cherished a long while in her mind. Every day, as she re-entered the house after her walk, when passing along the edge of the

water, her eyes had been fixed with envy on a small boat attached to the river bank. It went up and down, and balanced itself so coquettishly, that our little miss thought how pleasant it would be to go on board the light bark, and give herself up to its agreeable rolling motion. Mrs. Strathern had expressly forbidden her approaching the river bank; but the ardour of her own wish was of more consequence with Susan than the obedience due to her parents.

Mrs. Strathern's attention being turned to her work, Susan, taking advantage of it, ran to the boat, which happened to be at the moment a little way out in the river, and endeavoured to draw it towards her by the chain. She stooped forward-she fell over-she is lost! All of a sudden she felt herself caught by the dress; then she fainted, nor perceived that she was drawn out and laid down, by some one, on the turf that clothed the river bank, Repeated howlings made the wood resound, and Mrs. Strathern, foreseeing some misfortune, flew towards the path where her child had so nearly perished. She re-animated her by her kisses, and carried her to a hut in the vicinity, where the most tender care was lavished on her. On coming to herself Susan wanted to speak, but sobs stopped her voice. At last, taking courage,

"Oh, my mother!" she exclaimed, "I have disobeyed you, and Heaven has punished me for it."

"Will you listen to me, then, for the future, my dear Susan? Will you believe that your mother is your best friend, and that when she refuses you anything it is not a pleasure of which she wishes to deprive you, but a danger she is desirous you should avoid, one of which your young brains could entertain no suspicion ?"

"Oh, my mother-my kind mother!" replied Susan, tenderly embracing Mrs. Strathern, can you doubt me ?" "I believe you, my child; and your sincere tears afford sufficient proof that your words do not come only from your lips, but are dictated by your heart. But look!" added the mother, pointing to

CELESTIAL PHENOMENA OF THE MONTHS.

ΜΑΥ.

"May! majestic child of heaven,
To the earth in glory given;
Verdant hills, days long and clear,
Come when she is hovering near.
Stars, ye cannot journey on
Joyously when she is gone."

DAVYTH AP GWILYM.

(Fourteenth century.)

THE zodiacal light is rarely visible in this country, excepting during the months of April and May, when it may be seen in clear and cloudless evenings soon after sunset, or, at the opposite season, before sunrise. It resembles a cone of light extending from the horizon obliquely upwards, and is conjectured to be a rotating ring of finelydivided or nebulous matter, situated, perhaps, between the orbits of Venus and Mars, but certainly extending beyond that of the earth.

Though faint and dimly defined in the northern regions of the globe, and totally distinct from any atmospheric meteor or aurora borealis, those who have resided in the zone of palms, must ever retain a pleasing remembrance of the mild radiance of this beautiful phenomenon, which rises pyramidically, and illumines a portion of the unvarying length of the tropical nights. Humboldt speaks of it with enthusiasm, as occasionally shining with greater brightness than that of the Milky Way, near the constellation of Sagittarius; and this not only in the dry and highly-rarified atmosphere of the Andes, at elevations of thirteen or fifteen thousand feet, but also in the vast grassy plains of Venezuela, and on the sea-coast, under the ever clear sky of Cumana. The same great traveller speaks of the zodiacal light as a phenomenon of unrivalled beauty, more especially when a small fleecy cloud floats across it, and seems as if detached from the illuminated background. A passage in his journal, during a voyage from Lima to the west coast of Mexico, especially refers to such a beauteous incident, when night after night the zodiacal light appeared with a magnificence he had never before seen; and, judging from the brightness of the stars and nebulæ, it was evident that the transparency of the atmosphere in that part of the Pacific Ocean which lay between 10° and 14° of north latitude, must have been extremely great. Humboldt delighted to observe the glorious aspect of the heavenly luminaries; he mostly

slept on deck, and watched with intense interest those celestial phenomena, which are especially conspicuous in the southern hemisphere. During three whole nights, from the fourteenth to the sixteenth of March, and during a very regular interval of three-quarters of an hour after the sun had set, no trace of the zodiacal light was visible, although the darkness was great; but scarcely had an hour elapsed before it became suddenly apparent, extending in great brightness between Aldebaran and the Pleiades, and on the eighteenth of March attaining an altitude of 39° 5'. Long, narrow clouds, scattered over the lovely azure of the sky, appeared at a small height above the horizon, as if in front of a golden curtain; somewhat higher up were ranged other clouds, varied with changing tints of the greatest beauty, and presenting the appearance of a second sunset. Nor was the phenomenon itself of that mild radiance which seems to possess little reality; its diffused light equalled that of the moon in her first quarter; moreover, a mild reflected glow was visible in the east. Floating over the waters of the Pacific, with measureless depth beneath, and immensity above, it seemed impossible to close the eyes in sleep while the light of which we speak continued to illumine the heavens; it suddenly became visible, but did not long continue; towards ten o'clock it gradually diminished in lustre, and at midnight scarcely a trace remained.

While exploring also the tropical regions of South America, the same enterprising traveller noticed with astonishment variations of intensity in the zodiacal light. Having passed his nights during several months in the open air and under a serene sky, on the banks of great rivers, or in the midst of vast savannahs, he had frequent opportunities of carefully observing it; at one moment shining with a steady light, and then seeming to fade away; again suddenly re-appearing in full brilliancy, with an undulating motion. Madame Marian, who watched this beautiful phenomenon with the deepest interest, mentions having once observed a reddish tinge connected with it. Processes, therefore, were conjectured by Humboldt to be going on in the nebulous ring itself; or else that, although in the lower region of the atmosphere, condensations were taking place at a higher elevation, which modified the transparency of the air, or rather its reflecting power, in some peculiar and unknown manner.

Strange, it seems, that such an attractive spectacle should have failed to excite the