Year: 1869

From Golden Hours.


What beRgItiful day it was The
front yard was a wilderness of roses,
and all the air was full of June sounds
and scents. Lefty sat in the doorway,
arehed over bya climbing honevsuckIe
Ia fair-faced little girl, with great
brown eyes, and curls that exactly
matched them, and cunning hiding
places for dimpIes all around her rosy
mouth. Beside her was a dainty little
work basket of braided willow, and in
her hands she held bit of gay patch
work. And a very pretty picture Let
tV might have made in that lovely
green frame had not something wrong
been busy down in her heart, drawing
ugly wrinkles through her white fore
head and pulling her red lips into a
Vexed pout.


s'There - said Lefty, with an impa,
tient jerk, Zone, two, three knots right
together, and now my thread is broken
again. hate this over and-OYer sew
ing, and I wish I might never see an
other piece of patchwork as long as
liveF'


There was no one to hear this but
the bees and the birds, but they some
times understand more than people
think. So the bee buzzed louder in the
honeysuckle, as if he were saying,
''Try again, Lefty. Nothing so pleas
ant as being busy, busy, busy !" And
the robin called out of the top of the
elm tree as plainly as a bird could,
"Cheer up, cheer up, my dear Think
of me with four mouths to fill! Cheer
up!"


a little zephyr, too, passing near by,
parted the vine leaves and shook down
a shower of sunlight on Letty's rip
pling brown curls.


But the little girl would neither see
nor hear. The frown on her face grew
darker.


81 don't see why. mamma will make
me sew just so much every day. /
think it's real unkind of her. I want
to go and play with Rover on the
grass"


Then the bee flew away as fast as he
could to the hive, the robin went silent
ly to look for another worm for her
children, and the leaves dropping sud
denly shut out the sun Lefty leaned
her head on her hand and looked very
hard at nothing. By and by the bright
ehintz and muslin fell into her lap, the
curly head sank lower and lower and
the long crown Iashes crept slowly
over the round cheeks. The fretfuI
lines smOothed out one by one.


1t was then that she saw the fairy.
He was dressed in a suit of golden mail,
so glistening that Letty's eyes were
quite dazzled at first. In his hand was
a tiny golden mallet, his eyes were
DTlR4b dS QldL4OnuSg anu his lace wore
such fierce expression that Lefty was
quite startled.


"Where did you come from p said
she.


''Out of your thimbIe," answered
the fairy.


"How can that be when it is on nv
fiDger?" laughed Lefty.


The fairy did not notice her question.


ga pretty child you are ~ he said in
an angry voice. ttAre MT you ashamed
of yourself? 1 suppose you did not
know that it was L who knotted and
broke your thread on purpose to punish
you 7''


'You2" cried Lefty in amazement.
Chow could you be so unkind ?"


"How could you be so cross and un-
grateful? Who took care of you when
you were little weak baby? When
you were i'll who carried you in her
arms often for whole night togetherq
Who is never tired of trying to make
when you are naughty, and keeps on
loving you just the same when you
| grieve her? ? Who worked all last We'd
nesday afternoon with bursting head
ache to finish the embroidery Of veur
blue cambric, lest you should be dfsap-
pointed by not wearing it to MAY
Evans party? Answer me - cried
the fairy with an indignant wave of
his golden maIlet.


1T was mamma," said Lefty in a
faint voice.


"And what have you been saving
and .thinking2 AS If your mamma
would ever willingly set you a disa-
greeable task, or ask you to do any-
thing which is not for your good If
you had worked patiently and diligent-
ly would not you have been ready to