Year: 1870




"OH, dearl Tn sick of having SO many
people sit in me The boys get on my
arms and play horse and then, when the
girls undress their dolls, they stick pins
into my back, Just as if was an old pin
cushion. don't believe any one in the
world has such q hard timel"


"Would you really be glad never to
have any one sit in YOU againp" asked n
little voice right by tie side of the ch air |;
for it was an old green leather chair that
had just spoken.


The chair was very much surprised to
hear the voice 50 near it, and asked:
"Who is talking to me?"
The voice answered;


al am fairy. l have heard all you
have said, and feel so sorry for you that
am going to give you present that will
prevent any one going near you. y pen
The next person sits down YOU shall mtsae
noise like pistol, which will fright %
him away, so that you will never e. - a
of being tired again" ~ ~


The chair thanked the fairy, but Il 81
not speak again. The chair all
lieved that it had been drealJa
voice and what it had said seJNS1l-so
strange.


Soon after dinner old Mr. Lee, the grand
father, thought he would take a little nap
in his favorite seat. The poor old gentle
man had no sooner sat down than bang"
went the chair, with such noise that
grandfather forgot all about his rheuma-
tism, and jumped so high in the air that
he lost off his wig.


"Those bad boys have put torpedoes in
my chair, and they deserve good whip
ping " said he. 81 shall tell their father"


When his son John came home that
night he told him all about II, and Iohn
promised they should never do such
thing again. He went down stairs, but the
boys were not there, so he thought he
would wait until tea time, and then speak
to them.


Being very tired, he threw himself into
The chair, when "bang" it went again. He
di not wond r that his poor oil father
had been frightened.


"They do deserve good whipping, and
no mistake about it |" he remarked.


Going to the door he called Harry,
Walter, Nedr The boys, hearing his
voice, rushed down stairs, wondering what
he could want.


Harry, what do you and your brother
mean nv frightening your grandlather?"
he asked.


"Wby, papa" said Harry, 1--WE haven't
done single thing"


"Don't tell me story, Harry, but go
and sit down in that chsir," said Mr. Lee.


Poor Harry had no sooner sat down
than he was up again, looking terribly
scared.


Their father saw by their looks that
they did not know anything about it. OF
course every one in the house wondered
and wondered what could be the matter.
They turned the chair upside down and
all around, but not thing could they find
that should cause noise.
The next morning Mr. Lee had man
| take the chair apart TO see what the
matter was After working at it long
time, he said he could not lind anything
wrong.


OF course, the chair could not be used
so it was sent up into the garnet, where it
stood for a long time. -.stt,.


One day it began to think how nice and
warm it was down stairs in the library,
among the birds and flowers, and how
much it would like to know what the
family were doing and talking about. At
last, it could not stand it any longer, so it
said to itself:


ooh, how foolish was to be so cross
and very dlscontented. If could only
be down stairs once more, the boys might
ride and whip me as much as they pleased;
and il the girls wanted to put a whole pa
per of pins in my back never would say
a word Any thing is better than being
covered with dust and having mice run
all over you" ..s.t


Il am glad you have learned lesson of
| contentmrnt,' said the fairy voice that it
had he ard once before, "and that you find
that idleness does not bring happiness.
Shall l take my gift bsck again 2"


"Oh, yes, said the chair; and if it had
had eyes it would have cried for joy.
That same day it rained SO hard that
the boys could not go out to play, and as
their cousin Tom had come to see them,
their mother said they might go into the
garret and make all the noise they wanted
to. The boys were delighted, and rushed
up stairs shouting like band of wild In
dians.


After they had played everything they
could think, they saw the old chair, and
thought it would be great fun to have
Tom sit in it. Now, you know boys don't
like to have any one think they can be
| frightened; so, when they dared Tom to
| sit in il he said, Who thinks l am
afraid ?" andmarched up as bold as lion,
and down he sat.
But not sound was heard. The chill
| dTen were at first perfectly astonished, but
after they had tried it all round, they ran
down and told their mamma, who was as
much pleased as any one, and had it
moved right down stairs, to surprise papa
at night.


1t seemed so nice to see it in its old
place again and when little Nellie went
up, patted its back, and said, "Dear old
CHAIR" The chair was so proud that it
puffed out its cushions to be as soft as pos
sible, and wondered how it could have
ever been SO foolish as to think itself
abused.-RurGy Nel0 Yorker.