And when, to guard old Bregenz
By gateway, street and tower,
The warder paces all night long
And calls each passing hour:
"Nine," "ten," "eleven," he cries aloud,
And then (Oh, crown of Fame !),
When midnight pauses in the skies,
He calls the maiden's name!

ADELAIDE ANNE PROCTER

THESE

FROST-WORK

SE winter nights, against my windowpane
Nature with busy pencil draws designs

Of ferns and blossoms and fine spray of pines,
Oak-leaf and acorn and fantastic vines,

Which she will make when summer comes again,-
Quaint arabesques in argent, flat and cold,
Like curious Chinese etchings. By and by,
Walking my leafy garden as of old,
These frosty fantasies shall charm my eye

In azure, damask, emerald and gold.

THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH

ANCIENT GERMANY AND NORTHWESTERN

EUROPE

N the northwestern part of Europe, the country is very wild and rugged. There are lofty mountains crowned with forests of pine and fir, with deep valleys between, and many little lakes and swiftly running streams.

Along the seacoast the scenery is especially grand and beautiful. For many miles, long lines of cliff rise from the water's edge, so high and massive that they seem everlasting, while near the shore lie little wooded islands without number.

But though the angry waves seem to beat on those huge cliffs in vain, nevertheless they have after many centuries worn the rocky shore quite away in many places, so that the water stretches far inland in channels which are called fiords. When fierce storms rage over the ocean, great waves plunge into these channels, and dash themselves in fury against the precipitous walls of rock.

The climate here is cold and rigorous, the summers very short and the winters long and severe, while the whole land is wrapped in ice and snow. In the extreme north, it is night nearly all the time in winter, for the sun just peeps above the horizon a little while at midday, and then sinks out of sight again, leaving the world in darkness.

During the summer, the sun shines nearly all the time. It seems to move from east to west and then from west to

east around the rim of the sky, not even dipping below the horizon at all. This is "The Land of the Midnight Sun" as it is sometimes called, or "The Land of the Long Night.” Farther south, in Norway, in Sweden, in Denmark and in northern Germany, the climate is still very cold, the summers short and the winters long and severe.

In this northern land lived many years ago a bold, handsome, vigorous race of men, rugged and strong like their own mountains. The northern tribes were called Northmen or Norsemen, those farther south Teutons or Germans. These men were the ancestors of all the German and the English speaking peoples, and were of the same stock as the Celtic races also. They were brave, warlike, energetic, proud, often cruel, I am sorry to say, but honest and truthful.

It is difficult to take the mind back to a time when these countries in northern Europe, now so progressive and far advanced in civilization and culture, contained no cities, possessed few industries and no art, when the people knew nothing of books, music or pictures.

They lived in mud huts scattered about in fields or groves where small clearings had been made in the forests. Much of their time they spent in hunting and in fishing, but they herded sheep and cattle, and they tilled the land to some extent, for they had learned to raise wheat, which as you know is the best grain for cold climates.

But at heart they were fighters. War was their chief delight and pastime, and they were often in fierce battles,