such a Fifth of November as that, nor such a bonfire as Harry Archer's.

[Write from dictation]

The expectant boys burst forth into ejaculations of joy and sympathy alternately-all but one, whose bad conscience made him sneak out of the school-room as fast as he could.

THE KITTEN AND FALLING LEAVES.

See the kitten on the wall,

Sporting with the leaves that fall,

Withered leaves-one-two-and three

From the lofty elder-tree!

Through the calm and frosty air
Of this morning bright and fair,
Eddying round and round they sink
Softly, slowly one might think
From the motions that are made,
Every little leaf conveyed
Sylph or fairy hither tending,
To this lower world descending,
Each invisible and mute,
In his wavering parachute.
But the kitten, now she starts,
Crouches, stretches, paws, and darts!
First at one, and then its fellow,
Just as light and just as yellow;
There are many now-now one-
Now they stop and there are none :
What intenseness of desire
In her upward eye of fire!
With a tiger-leap half-way

Now she meets the coming prey,

Lets it go as fast, and then

Has it in her power again :

Now she works with three or four,
Like an Indian conjuror;

Quick as he in feats of art,

Far beyond in joy of heart.

Were her antics played in the eye
Of a thousand standers-by,

Clapping hands with shouts and stare,
What would little Tabby care
For the plaudits of the crowd?
Over happy to be proud,
Over wealthy in the treasure
Of her own exceeding pleasure!

THE WILD SWANS.

[Spell and write]

easily, perceive, festivities, livelihood, peculiar, monotonous, magnificent, recognise, affliction, brilliant, sorrowfully, expiration, countenance, delicious, sufficient, accomplish, disappear, anxiety, probability, executioner, exhausted, procession.

Far away hence, in the land whither the swans fly when it is cold winter with us, there once lived a king who had eleven sons, and one daughter named Elisa. The eleven brothers were princes, and used to go to school with a star on their breast, and a sword at their side. They wrote on gold slates with diamond pencils, and learned by heart as easily as they could read; one could immediately perceive they were princes. Their sister Elisa sat on a little glass stool, and had a book

full of prints, that had cost nearly half the kingdom to purchase.

Oh, these children were happy indeed-but, unfortunately, their happiness was not to last.

Their father, who was the king of the land, married a wicked queen, who was not well disposed towards the poor children. This they perceived from the very first day. There were festivities in the palace, and the children were playing at receiving visitors; but instead of their obtaining, as usual, all the cakes and roast apples that were to be had, she merely gave them some sand in a tea-cup, and told them they could make-believe with that.

In the following week, she sent their little sister Elisa to a peasant's cottage in the country; and before long, she spoke so ill of the poor princes to the king, that he no longer troubled himself about them.

6

'Fly out into the world, and pick up your own livelihood,' said the wicked queen. Fly in the shape of largebirds without a voice.' But she could not make things as bad as she wished, for they were turned into eleven beautiful wild swans; and away they flew out of the palace windows, uttering a peculiar cry as they swept over the park to the forest beyond.

It was still early as they passed by the peasant's cottage, where Elisa lay asleep. They hovered over the roof, and extended their long necks, and flapped their wings, but nobody heard or saw them; so they were obliged to go on. And they rose up to the clouds, and flew out into the wide world, until they reached a large gloomy forest that shelved down to the sea-shore.

Poor little Elisa was standing in a room in the cottage, playing with a green leaf, for she had no other toy. And

she pierced a hole through the leaf, and looked up at the sun, when she fancied she saw her brothers' clear eyes; and every time the warm sunbeams fell on her cheeks, she used to think of their kisses.

One day was just as monotonous as another. If the wind rustled through the large hedge of rose-bushes, he would whisper to the roses: 'Who can be more beautiful than you?' But the roses would shake their heads, and answer: Elisa.' And if the old woman sat before the door, on a Sunday, reading her psalm-book, the wind would turn over the leaves, and can be more pious than thou?' would answer: 'Elisa.' And psalm-book spoke the pure truth.

say to the book: 'Who And then the psalm-book both the roses and the

When she was fifteen, she was to return home. But when the queen saw how beautiful she was, her heart was filled with hatred and spite. She would willingly have turned her into a wild swan, like her brothers, but she dared not do it just yet, because the king wished to see his daughter.

The wicked queen then rubbed the princess with walnut-juice till she was quite brown, and besmeared her face with rancid ointment, and tangled her magnificent hair, till it was impossible to recognise the beautiful Elisa.

When her father saw her he was quite frightened, and declared she was not his daughter. Nobody but the watch-dog and the swallows would recognise her-only they were poor animals, and could not speak a word.

Poor Elisa then cried, and thought of her eleven brothers, who were all away. And she stole out of the palace in great affliction, and walked the whole day long across fields and marshes till she reached the large forest.

She knew not whither she was going, but she felt so sad, and she longed to see her brothers, whom she felt certain had been driven out into the world like herself, and she determined to seek till she found them.

She had been but a short time in the wood when night came on; and having walked a long way, she lay down on the soft moss, said her prayers, and leaned her head against the stump of a tree. It was perfectly quiet all around, the air was mild, and hundreds of glowworms lit up the surrounding grass and moss like green fire; and if she touched a twig ever so lightly, brilliant insects showered down like so many falling-stars.

All night she dreamed of her brothers, and she thought they were playing together as in childhood. The sun was already high in the heavens when she woke. She heard the rippling of water, which proceeded from several large streams that fell into a lake, that had a most beautiful sandy bed. Thick bushes grew round the lake, but the deer had made a large opening at one spot, through which Elisa was enabled to reach the water.

As soon as Elisa saw her own image, she was frightened at finding herself so brown and so ugly. But on wetting her little hand, and rubbing her eyes and forehead, her white skin was soon apparent once more. She then undressed, and got into the water; and a lovelier royal child than herself could not have been met with in the wide world.

When she had dressed herself again, and braided her long hair, she went to the running stream, and drank out of the hollow of her hand, and then she wandered deeper into the forest, without knowing what she meant to do. She thought of her brothers, and trusted that God would not abandon her. God has bidden the wild apples grow