Transcriber's Notes

 1. Typographical errors and hyphenation inconsistencies were silently
    corrected.

 2. Table of Contents and the List of Illustrations have been added
    by the transcriber.

 3. Some illustrations appearing before chapter heading in the
    original, are placed next to the relevant chapter heading.

 4. The text version is coded for italics and other mark-ups i.e.,
    (a) Italics are indicated thus _italic_;
    (b) Smallcaps thus +CAPS+; and
    (c) Images are indicated as [Illustration: (with narration...)]

                   *       *       *       *       *


                        [Illustration: NURSERY.]




                            IN THE NURSERY

                          HAPPY HOURS FOR THE
                             LIT-TLE ONES

                     [Illustration: LIT-TLE ONES.]

                             _ILLUSTRATED_

                                BOSTON
                      LOTHROP PUBLISHING COMPANY




                          +COPYRIGHT, 1897,+

                                  BY

                     +LOTHROP PUBLISHING COMPANY.+




                         Table of Contents.


 Chapter                                                           Page


 JACK AND JILL.                                                       5

 THE THREE MOD-EL MICE.                                               6

 THE MICE AND THE EGG.                                                7

 IN THE SWING.                                                        8

 BUT-TER-CUP, THE BOS-SY.                                             9

 MEAS-UR-ING TOM-MY.                                                 10

 THE TWINS.                                                          11

 A BRAVE GIRL.                                                       12

 OUT-LINE PICT-URE TO COL-OR.--SLATE PICT-URE.                       13

 A LIT-TLE MAS-TER.                                                  14

 TAKE ME MAMMA.                                                      15

 A SPRING SHOW-ER.                                                   16

 A FIN-GER SONG.                                                     17

 LIT-TLE GOLD HEAD.                                                  20

 TWO BA-BIES.                                                        22

 A NEW KIND OF PUS-SY-CAT.                                           24

 CIN-DER-EL-LA.                                                      26

 MISS ROSE-BUD                                                       27

 A FISH-ING AD-VEN-TURE.                                             28

 AN OC-TO-BER PIC-NIC.                                               29

 MA-DAME MOB-CAP.                                                    30

 PICT-URES TO COL-OR OR DRAW.                                        31

 WHAT BA-BY LIKED.                                                   32

 A BAD NIGHT.                                                        34

 THE LIT-TLE SWANS' LESSON.                                          35

 A SOLDIER.                                                          36

 TALK TO ME, TOO, MAMMA.                                             37

 PRIDE.                                                              38

 WHY TIP-TOE BARKED.                                                 38

 SYBIL'S CARRIAGE.                                                   39


                       List of Illustrations.

                                                                   Page


 [WILL YOU COME?]

 [AT THE SPRING.]                                                     5

 [THEY ATE FROM THE SAME EGG.]                                        6

 [AN EMPTY LARDER AT HOME.]                                           7

 [BEHOLD THE DILEMMA!]

 [NECESSITY BEING, AS EVER, THE MOTHER OF INVENTION.]

 [ISN'T THIS FUN?]                                                    8

 [AND ISN'T THIS FUN?]

 ["HERE WE'LL WAIT!"]                                                 9

 [Meas-ur-ing Tom-my.]                                               10

 [The Twins.]                                                        11

 [SEE HOW BRAVE!--WHAT IF SHE BITES!]                                12

 [CHILD-LIFE ON THE FARM.--A NO-VEM-BER RAIN.]                       13

 [Bringing Home The Thanks-giv-ing Dinner.
  SLATE PICT-URE--THE NIGHT BE-FORE THANKS GIV-ING.]

 [FLOSS AND FLUFF.]                                                  14

 ["Take Me, Mamma!"]                                                 15

 [A Spring Show-er.]                                                 16

 [A Fin-ger Song.]                                                   17

 [KATE FEEDS THE FISH-ES.]                                           18

 [A MORN-ING RIDE.]                                                  19

 [CHOOSE THE ONE THAT YOU LOVE BEST.
  SLATE PICT-URE FOR BA-BY TO DRAW.]

 ["PUT OUT."]                                                        20

 [GLAD TO MEET.]

 [Two Ba-Bies.]                                                      21

 [UN-DER THE EAVES.]                                                 22

 [The ba-by in the house and the ba-by in the barn.]                 23

 [PRET-TY, PRET-TY KIT-TY!]                                          24

 [NAUGH-TY, NAUGH-TY KIT-TY!]

 [+THE BLACK SWAN.+]                                                 25

 [Miss Rose-Bud.]                                                    27

 [TED-DY'S LUCK.]                                                    28

 [An October Pic-nic]                                                29

 [JOHN-NY'S LIT-TLE SIS-TER.]                                        31

 [NEL-LY AND BA-BY-BOY JOE.]                                         32

 [A DARLING LIT-TLE SIS-TER.]                                        33

 [Ba-by Rat sat up in bed.]                                          34

 [GOOD TIMES.]                                                       35

 [A GAME OF NINEPINS.]

 [A REGIMENT OF ROBBY'S SOLDIERS.]                                   36

 [ROBBY THINKS HE LOOKS LIKE THIS.]

 [ROBBY AT NIGHT.]

 ["Talk to me, too, Mamma."]                                         37

 [THE PROUD LIT-TLE DOLL.]                                           38

 [AN INVITATION TO TAKE A WALK.]

 [SYBIL GOES OUT TO MAKE CALLS.]                                     39

 [THREE MARINERS.]                                           Back cover




                            JACK AND JILL.

                   [Illustration: WILL YOU COME?]
                   [Illustration: AT THE SPRING.]


  "Oh, lit-tle lass Jill, oh, lit-tle lass Jill,
    Will you come, will you come with me?
  I've a new tin pail, and the wa-ter in the well
    Is the cool-est that can be."


  "Oh, bold boy Jack, you bold boy Jack,
    You are tell-ing what is not true,
  For sweet as any-thing is the wa-ter in the spring,
    And I'd ra-ther go there, thank you!"


  So off whis-tled Jack with his new tin pail,
    To the cool well on the hill,
  And--cun-ning lit-tle thing--to the sweet-wa-ter spring,
    With her cup in hand, went Jill.




                        THE THREE MOD-EL MICE.

              [Illustration: THEY ATE FROM THE SAME EGG.]


Once on a time--the story-book time when an-i-mals wore clothes and
could talk--there were three mod-el mice. Their names were Gray
Cloak, Fine Ear and Sat-in Slip-per. Sat-in Slip-per had a spoon of
her own, Fine Ear had a knife, and Gray Cloak owned a fork.

One day they thought they would club the knife and the fork and the
spoon to-geth-er, and keep house. As they were mod-el mice, they
eas-i-ly a-greed where to live. They chose Farm-er Jones' cel-lar,
be-cause there were bar-rels of ap-ples, bas-kets of eggs, and
shelves loaded with good-ies, and an egg, or an ap-ple, or a stray
cake would not be missed.

"I lived once," said Gray Cloak, "in the cel-lar of a wom-an who
bought by the doz-en or the dime's worth, and she missed the least
lit-tle thing at once, so that fi-nal-ly I left in dis-gust."

Such good times as those three mice had! The cel-lar had a
smooth, wa-ter-limed floor, a beau-ti-ful place to play mar-bles,
blind-man's-buff and Kit-ty-kit-ty-cor-ner. They always ate from the
same egg, and as Farm-er Jones kept his cats at the barn, there was
noth-ing to spoil their comfort for many years.




                         THE MICE AND THE EGG.

                [Illustration: AN EMPTY LARDER AT HOME.]
                  [Illustration: BEHOLD THE DILEMMA!]
   [Illustration: NECESSITY BEING, AS EVER, THE MOTHER OF INVENTION.]




                             IN THE SWING.

                    [Illustration: ISN'T THIS FUN?]
                  [Illustration: AND ISN'T THIS FUN?]


  Bet-ter than al-most any-thing
  Do the chil-dren love an out-door swing;
  With their soft lit-tle hands they hold and cling
    Like birds just out of a nest.

  Try it which-ev-er way they please,
  'Tis good as a green bough in a breeze;
  They kneel in it with their chub-by knees,
    To see if they like that best.

  O-ver and o-ver they do it all,
  Sit in it, stand in it, laugh and call;
  And then if by an-y chance they fall--
    Why, then you know the rest.




                       BUT-TER-CUP, THE BOS-SY.

                   [Illustration: "HERE WE'LL WAIT!"]


  The lit-tle new bos-sy is so red,
  Al-most the col-or of a clo-ver-head!
  Lit-tle red But-ter-cup, lit-tle red But-ter-cup--
  This is the path she will come up.
  Here we'll wait at the mead-ow gate
  For half an hour, at an-y rate,
  Till, _kling-i-ty-kling_, the cow-bells ring,
  And we catch a glimpse of the pret-ty thing.
  From the top-most bar, for ev-er so far,
  We see to the green field where they are;
  O, But-ter-cup, But-ter-cup, lit-tle red But-ter-cup!
  This is the path she will come up.




                          MEAS-UR-ING TOM-MY.

                  [Illustration: Meas-ur-ing Tom-my.]


Tom-my goes ev-er-y day to look at a board in the gar-den fence.
There are four lit-tle hacks in that board, one a-bove an-oth-er,
made with a knife. The first hack shows how tall Tom-my was when he
was one year old; the sec-ond how tall when he was two; the third how
tall when he was three; and yes-ter-day Nel-ly made a hack for the
fourth birth-day.




                       [Illustration: The Twins.]




                             A BRAVE GIRL.

                   [Illustration: SEE HOW BRAVE!]
                 [Illustration: WHAT IF SHE BITES!]


  See what a nice brave girl I am,
      To feed my lamb!
  I go right up to her, close as I can,
      And say, "Nan-nan,
  Here is a pinch of salt or two,
  Pret-ty Nan-nan, that I brought to you--"
      Pret-ty Nan-nan!

  Oh, my! how big she is! Only see
      Her look at me!
  What if her teeth were long and white,
      And she should bite?
  She's al-most like the wolf in the wood
  That ate up lit-tle Red Rid-ing Hood--
      Naugh-ty Nan-nan!




             OUT-LINE PICT-URE TO COL-OR.--SLATE PICT-URE.

      [Illustration: CHILD-LIFE ON THE FARM.--A NO-VEM-BER RAIN.]

       [Illustration: Bringing Home The Thanks-giv-ing Dinner.
         SLATE PICT-URE--THE NIGHT BE-FORE THANKS GIV-ING.]




                          A LIT-TLE MAS-TER.

                    [Illustration: FLOSS AND FLUFF.]


Floss and Fluff were the hap-pi-est dogs in the world. Floss knew how
to snap, and Fluff knew how to whine, and if they had been let to
go hun-gry, or cold, or had been scold-ed, they'd have been cross,
naught-y dogs.

But Floss and Fluff had a good mas-ter. He was a lit-tle boy on-ly
six years old, but he was a first-rate mas-ter. His pa-pa said when
he brought Floss and Fluff home:

"Now, Fred-dy, just as long as these lit-tle fel-lows are hap-py,
just so long they are yours!"

Fred-dy knew what that meant. He fed his beau-ti-ful pets at
reg-u-lar hours ev-er-y day, and e-ver-y day he combed and brushed
them, and ev-er-y day he took them out for a frol-ic, and they had
their baths at the right time, and he nev-er held up a bone and did
not give it to them. Be-cause he was so prompt and true and kind,
Fred-dy was hap-py, and so were Fluff and Floss.




                             TAKE ME MAMMA.

                   [Illustration: "TAKE ME, MAMMA!"]




                           A SPRING SHOW-ER.

                   [Illustration: A SPRING SHOW-ER.]


  "My gyp-sy hat
    For my lit-tle head--
  I can't wait a min-ute!"
    Gold Locks said.

  Look out, lit-tle girl,
    Through the win-dow pane;
  You'll have to wait
    Un-til af-ter the rain.

  With a flood like this
    Straight from the sky,
  Not ev-en um-brel-las
    Could keep you dry.

  But there's wa-ter e-nough,
    My lit-tle lass,
  Stream-ing and drip-ping
    Out-side the glass.

  With-out your tears
    To help the wet!
  Have you thought to look
    For a rain-bow yet?

  Ah, see through the clouds
    A glimpse of the sun!
  And hark to the thrush-es--
    The rain is done.




                    [Illustration: A FIN-GER SONG.]

                            A FIN-GER SONG.
                  (_To be said on Ba-by's Fin-gers._)


     I.  Shall have an ap-ple;
    II.  Shall have a pear;
   III.  Shall have a lit-tle kid, of which he'll take good care;
    IV.  Shall have some can-dy;
     V.  Shall have a ride;
    VI.  Shall have a lit-tle sword, all buck-led on his side;
   VII.  Shall have a po-ny;
  VIII.  Shall have a sled;
    IX.  Shall have a dream-ing cap, and X. shall go to bed.




               [Illustration: KATE FEEDS THE FISH-ES.]


The birds in the grove know lit-tle farm-house Kate. The fish-es in
the brook know lit-tle farm-house Kate. She is the girl that walks
a-bout with her a-pron full of nice crumbs.

The first morn-ing this win-ter that the brook froze o-ver, Kate went
down to the bank and broke the ice with a stick, and fed the fish-es
with bread crumbs.




                  [Illustration: A MORN-ING RIDE.]

         [Illustration: CHOOSE THE ONE THAT YOU LOVE BEST.--
                 SLATE PICT-URE FOR BA-BY TO DRAW.]




                         LIT-TLE GOLD HEAD.

                     [Illustration: "PUT OUT."]
                    [Illustration: GLAD TO MEET.]


  The lit-tle Gold Head was so "put out,"
  Though none but her-self knew what a-bout,
  That she sat on the door-steps a-while to pout--
      Oh, greed-y lit-tle Gold Head!

  "I had one tart, but I want-ed two,
  So, I'll run a-way--that's what I'll do!"
  And she found White-wool in the mead-ow dew.
      Crop-ping the clo-ver red.

  The two were friends, and glad to meet.
  She cried: "Nan-nan, is the clo-ver sweet?
  And can you have all you want to eat?"
      "Ba-a, ba-a-a!" he said.




                            TWO BA-BIES.

                    [Illustration: TWO BA-BIES.]

                  [Illustration: UN-DER THE EAVES.]

  [Illustration: The ba-by in the house and the ba-by in the barn.]


The ba-by in the house and the ba-by in the barn, are great friends.
The barn ba-by is not per-mit-ted to come in-to the house, but the
house ba-by vis-its the barn ev-er-y day.

The house ba-by is a year old, and the barn ba-by is just a year old
too; but the house ba-by can on-ly take lit-tle trem-bling steps,
holding fast by moth-er's hand, while the barn ba-by, if he can on-ly
get out of doors, throws up his heels and runs a-cross the fields,
and no-bod-y can catch him.

The house ba-by laughs to see him go, and dear-ly likes to pat his red
hair, and feel his two stout lit-tle horns. And I think the barn ba-by
likes to feel the soft hand of his lit-tle friend from the house, for
some-times there is salt, and some-times there is su-gar on the lit-tle
pink palm, and the barn ba-by licks it off with his rough tongue.
Once the barn ba-by tried to say, "Thank you." He tried this way: He
reached his head up and licked the house ba-by's rose-pink cheek. The
house ba-by was scared, and so was the house ba-by's moth-er--and she
ran in-to the house with him just as fast as she could; and then pa-pa
laughed at them both, and the barn ba-by stood and looked o-ver the
fence for half an hour.




                       A NEW KIND OF PUS-SY-CAT.

                [Illustration: PRET-TY, PRET-TY KIT-TY!]
               [Illustration: NAUGH-TY, NAUGH-TY KIT-TY!]


  "Here is a pus-sy-cat,
  A new kind of pus-sy-cat,
  An odd, queer pus-sy-cat,
    Lying on the sand;

  "It does not look like Top-sy,
  It does not look like Tab-by,
  And when I call it Wink-ie
    It does not un-der-stand.

  "Come and see me, kit-ty,
  Pret-ty, pret-ty kit-ty,
  Poor, lit-tle kit-ty,
    I'll stroke you with my hand."

  One lit-tle lov-ing pat
  Gives the ba-by--on-ly that;
  The new kind of pus-sy-cat,
    Lying on the sand.

  That does not look like Top-sy,
  And does not look like Tab-by,
  And when she calls it Wink-ie
    Does not un-der-stand.

  That's neith-er soft nor fur-ry,
  Nor full of play, nor pur-ry,
  Seiz-es in a hur-ry
    And bites the ba-by's hand.




                            CIN-DER-EL-LA.

                   [Illustration: +THE BLACK SWAN.+]


Not Cin-der-el-la of the glass slip-per--our Cin-der-el-la wore
i-ron shoes. She was an In-dian po-ny, and we all loved her. The
pet chick-en made a roost of her back, and the white cow licked her
glos-sy sides as she would her own calf.

Our four lit-tle out-door boys learned to ride on her gen-tle back,
and some-times they all got on at once--Ba-by Frank close to her neck
in the curve of Willie's arms, who held the bridle; Ed-die next, with
his chub-by hands clutch-ing Willie's sides; and Char-lie last, much
a-fraid of slip-ping off be-hind. They were all so small that their
short legs stood straight out a-cross her broad back. Mam-ma was
nev-er un-ea-sy, for Cin-der-el-la had nev-er been coax-ed out of a
walk since they had had her.

But one day a cow came in sight of this horse-back par-ty, and
Cin-der-el-la pricked up ears, and started off in a gal-lop! Char-lie
slipped off be-hind. Ed-die went o-ver side-wise. Frankie screamed,
but Wil-lie held him close, and kept his seat un-til the cow turned
off in-to a fence-cor-ner, and lay down. Then Cin-der-el-la stopped,
and the boys that fell off came limp-ing up.

They found out that the po-ny had been used on the plains to fol-low
cat-tle. Af-ter this, when these boys want-ed a brisk ride, they tried
to get be-hind a cow.




                           MISS ROSE-BUD.

                   [Illustration: MISS ROSE-BUD.]


  Bring the black horse, bring the red sleigh--
  Miss Rose-bud her-self goes rid-ing to-day!




                        A FISH-ING AD-VEN-TURE.

                     [Illustration: TED-DY'S LUCK.]


  Pa-tient lit-tle fish-er boy, sit-ting by the brook,
  Has a pole, and has a line, and has a pret-ty hook;
  Up come the lit-tle trout, speckl-ed gold and red,
  Catch them-selves on pur-pose, be-cause it is our Ted.

  Glad lit-tle fish-er boy puts them in a pail;
  Ev-er-y lit-tle fin-ny fel-low flound-ers like a whale;
  Home he runs, home he runs, cry-ing out with joy,
  "Mam-ma, see what _I_ have done--your bold fish-er boy!"

  Pail is old and rus-ty--what will Ted-dy do?
  Bot-tom part has fal-len out, fish-es have slipped through!
  Stop a bit--wait a min-ute! some-thing is a-wry!
  Hold it up!--poor lit-tle Ted! will he laugh or cry?




                         AN OC-TO-BER PIC-NIC.

                   [Illustration: An October Pic-nic]


  Out on the sun-ny grass, out on the sun-ny grass,
  Goes for an hour's play the kin-der-gar-ten class.
  The ba-by is so fat and odd, they twine a wreath of gold-en-rod,
  And make be-lieve she's queen--the lit-tle lass.
  And af-ter she is crowned, and af-ter she is crowned,
  They'll fetch their bask-ets full of lunch, and seat them-selves
    a-round;
  The queen will nib-ble bread and cheese, will catch a lit-tle cold,
    will sneeze,
  And throw her crusts and crumbs up-on the ground.
  Oh, nev-er, nev-er mind, oh, nev-er, nev-er mind,
  If at a din-ner on the green some fun-ny things you find--
  All sort of bugs that want the cake; or if a crick-et by mis-take
  Crawls on the sand-wiches, oh, nev-er mind!




                           MA-DAME MOB-CAP.
                         BY MA-RY E. BRAD-LEY.


  This is lit-tle Ro-sa-belle--
    No! I beg her par-don,
  This is Ma-dame Mob-cap,
    Walk-ing in her gar-den.

  What a fine cap it is!
    What a wide bor-der!
  Spec-ta-cles and walk-ing-stick,
    And ev-er-y-thing in or-der.

  Hop, toads, clear the way!
    Bees, hush your hum-ming!
  La-dy-birds and but-ter-flies,
    Grand folks are com-ing!

  Nev-er think she'll look at you,
    Vi-o-lets and dai-sies!
  You're quite too in-sig-nif-i-cant
    For such a la-dy's prais-es.

  She must have a king-cup,
    And a prince's feath-er,
  With a crown-im-pe-ri-al,
    Tied up to-geth-er.

  That will suit your Maj-es-ty,
    Ma-dame Ro-sa-bel-la!
  And here's a gold-en sun-flow-er
    To make you an um-brel-la.

  "Pooh!" says lit-tle Ro-sa-belle,
    Pluck-ing some car-na-tions;
  "You may keep your sun-flow-ers,
    And all their rich re-la-tions.

  "Give me a bunch of vi-o-lets,
    And one of those white ros-es,
  And take your crown-im-pe-ri-al
    To folks that have no nos-es."




                     PICT-URES TO COL-OR OR DRAW.

               [Illustration: JOHN-NY'S LIT-TLE SIS-TER.]


"I'll take care of Sis-sy," said broth-er John-ny.

Ba-by was so sweet and ro-sy! Mam-ma had just dressed her, all white
and fair. John-ny held out his arms for her. Mam-ma kissed both
gold-en heads, and went out to get din-ner.

John-ny was ver-y proud to be trust-ed with his lit-tle sis-ter. He
sat down with her in the great green ea-sy-chair, and put both arms
round her.

"Now Sis-sy shall hear a nice sto-ry," he said, "all a-bout
Christ-mas. Sis-sy shall have beau-ti-ful things Christ-mas--a big
i-vo-ry rat-tle with long red rib-bons, and a pict-ure-book, and a
dol-ly with black hair, and a soft ball all blue and yel-low--and
broth-er will buy them for her all him-self."

Ba-by said, "_Goo-goo_," and smiled a hon-ey-smile.




                           WHAT BA-BY LIKED.

               [Illustration: NEL-LY AND BA-BY-BOY JOE.]


One day, when mamma went to drive and left Ba-by-boy Joe with Nel-ly,
she found out ten things that lit-tle ba-by-boys like.

She found that Ba-by-boy Joe liked to dance at the Ba-by-boy Joe in the
mirror. He liked to hold the paper-weight--a smooth round stone, like
an egg. He liked to hold a soft, fragrant, red rose--Nel-ly gave him
a white one, but he dropped it and held the red one. He liked to be
carried all a-bout the house. He liked to sit up in his crib and pound
a pillow with his lit-tle fists. He liked to hold papas cane. He liked
to put his hand on Pussy and smooth her soft fur. He liked a tiny sip
of wa-ter. He liked a branch of green leaves. And he liked to hear
Nel-ly sing.

All these things Ba-by-boy Joe had and did, in one short hour, while
mamma was a-way.

And when mamma came back he was fast asleep in his lit-tle brass bed,
and Nel-ly had put the house in or-der.

               [Illustration: A DARLING LIT-TLE SIS-TER.]




                             A BAD NIGHT.

                [Illustration: Ba-by Rat sat up in bed.]


Ba-by Rat sat up in bed. She nudged her moth-er. "I smell cheese!"
said she. "Cheese!" cried the moth-er-rat! "that's the worst thing
you could say! Stay here, while I look."

The moth-er-rat went to the door. "Ba-by!" she said. Ba-by came.
"Jump on my back," she said. Then she gave a great jump, and a-way
she went, her child on her back, down-stairs, down and down-stairs,
in-to the cel-lar, and off out-doors.

"The thing I jumped o-ver was a TRAP!" she said to her trem-bling
child.




                      THE LIT-TLE SWANS' LESSON.

                      [Illustration: GOOD TIMES.]


Once there was a fair swan with a coal-black neck. She had three
pret-ty ba-by swans, but they were lazy lit-tle things. They did not
wish to pick their own bugs, nor cut their own grass-salads, nor to
swim. They wished to take their bugs and grass from their moth-er's
bill, and to go up stream and down on her back. It was a pleasure to
their moth-er to feed them and to give them rides. But she knew they
must be taught to seek their own food, and to swim up and down.

When she spoke to them a-bout it, they said, "Next week we will." Next
week one of them did keep her word and swim, and seek her own bugs,
and nip grass for her-self. But the others still sat on their moth-er's
back. So one day when she was out in the stream, and they were
catching but-ter-flies from her back, the moth-er swan--with a fun-ny
smile at her good child--dived, heels o-ver head, and let the lazy
swans fall off. Then up she came and swam off as fast as she could,
in among the reeds, where she stayed all night. By morn-ing her lit-tle
swans had learned their lesson.

                  [Illustration: A GAME OF NINEPINS.]




                              A SOLDIER.


            [Illustration: A REGIMENT OF ROBBY'S SOLDIERS.]
            [Illustration: ROBBY THINKS HE LOOKS LIKE THIS.]
                    [Illustration: ROBBY AT NIGHT.]


Mrs. Nye loves peace and a quiet house. But Robby Nye, her lit-tle
son, loves racket, noise, hubbub, con-fu-sion and war. Mrs. Nye has
to fold newspapers in-to soldier-caps and she has to cut out epaulets
and belts and straps and stars and badges, and her room is strewn
with these things--some-times she has to cut out and pin on whole
suits of armor. And when Mrs. Nye leaves her chair she is likely to
step on a tin soldier and her dress sweeps down whole regiments.
Bang! bang! cries Robby, and charges up and down the room. He thinks
he looks like a great general--in his own mind he swells up to a
tre-men-dous size. But at night this terrible soldier creeps up in-to
his mamma's lap just like other boys.




                       TALK TO ME, TOO, MAMMA.

               [Illustration: "Talk to me, too, Mamma."]




                               PRIDE.

                [Illustration: THE PROUD LIT-TLE DOLL.]


  If I were a rich lit-tle doll
  And rode in a coach my own,
  I would bow when I passed those dolls
  Who walk be-cause they have none;
  And I think I will break a twig,
  Just here on the green roadside.
  And punish your dear lit-tle hands
  To teach you the sin of pride.




                          WHY TIPTOE BARKED.

             [Illustration: AN INVITATION TO TAKE A WALK.]


In ran Tiptoe. Tiptoe had news to tell. But they were all asleep.
Asleep in the daytime, Grandpa in his big chair, Ned on one knee, and
Ba-by on the other. "O what a waste of time!" thought Tiptoe. "They
don't know what I have seen! dandelions in the grass! bluebirds on
the fence! Chickens in Speckle's coop! three lit-tle new cats at the
barn! and the sun shines and the wind blows! and the clouds race
a-cross the sky!" Tiptoe barked for joy, his lit-tle dog-heart was so
glad in him. I am quite sure it was the bright weather with all
things growing and stirring, that made Tiptoe bark for joy.

The barking awoke Ba-by. Ba-by woke Ned, and Ned woke Grandpa, and they
all went out with Tiptoe for a walk, and were so glad and gay they
could have barked too.




                           SYBIL'S CARRIAGE.

             [Illustration: SYBIL GOES OUT TO MAKE CALLS.]


I wish I knew the names of those first two dear lit-tle chil-dren who
thought how to clasp their four hands in a way to make a seat to
carry a child, and where they lived, and how long ago it was. Don't
you? They must have been kind chil-dren.

One rainy day last week, when Ba-by Sybil was not well and cried and
would not play, Jack and Jessie made a carriage with their hands, and
Sybby rode all o-ver the house, and made calls and saw the sights, as
hap-py as she could be. "Trot! Trot fast!" Sybby cried. Then her span
went fast. "Whoa! Slow, slow!" called the lady in the coach. Then her
horses walked. This was Sybil's favorite play.




                    [Illustration: Back cover]
                   [Illustration: THREE MARINERS]


                           THREE MARINERS

                              By M.F.B.

  In the happy days of long ago
  Three mariners went to sea
  On a home made raft so staunch and firm
  Cut from a cedar tree.

  The waves flowed high to their own backdoor,
  They flowed to the garden gate;
  Early the mariners went to sea
  And they stayed till it was late.

  Three mariners came home from sea
  Each with a cold in his head;
  They were given a dose of catnip tea,
  Whipped and sent to bed.