Year: 1870

BY MRS CARA W. T. FRY.


TOMMY had played all through the
beautiful summer. and covered his cheeks
with roses and dimples, and his lips with
smiles, and filled his eyes with sparkles,
and his breath with sweetness, and his
whole little heart and life with happiness
and sunshine.


When it was early fall, Tommy began
to go to school, One bright, warm after
noon, Tommy had learned and recited his
lesson, and began to be pretty tired stay
ing in school. By-and.by, his teacher
told him he might go home, and so he
went, by the meadow path and the little
low bridge over the brook. He stopped
there, and sat down on the bank and
watched the bright, golden water, bub
bling and ripping along with such soft,
cool, quiet sound.


He could see the fishes darting by so
fast, and the round, wet stones looking so
smooth and bright under the water, and
the shadows of the bushes beside him,
waving, waving, SO slowly on the top
of it


Poor Tommy was very warm and very
tired; he had been tired sitting down, and
now he was tired walking his lesson had
been pretty hard for his little mind to
master he even began to think he had
headache; and altogether, Tommy wasn't
nearly as happy as usual. He took off his
shoes and stockings, and put his plump,
little feet in the brook, and laughed to see
the trout come swimming along close by
them, as if they thought them little, white
fishes.


The cool, bright water went slipping
over his tired little feet and felt so com
Portable and good to him that Tommy
wished he was in it all over, and so he
said


40. / do wish was trout"


Pretty soon he took out his feet, and
lay down on the grass, with his head close
beside the beautiful brook and watched
the little fishes, and the same cool, wet
round stones under the water, and the
same little shadows, waving so slowly on
the top of it, and somehow he kept re-
membering what he had said, 90, do
wish | was trout"


He looked into the blue sky, and some
little, white clouds came sailing along, aud
itseemed to Tommy as if they made cloudy
letters.


o, DO WISH!


90, dear !" said Tommy-poor Tommy !;
and he looked down into the brook again
He began to feel very queer began to feel
as if he was growing smaller. He was
sure he had never felt so before.


First, there was n little singing in his
ears; and then he couldn't hear the brook
ripping any longer, for his ears were
gone Then his arms grew shorter and
shorter, and finally they changed into lit.
tie, reddish brown fms, with black and
white edges. Then he couldn't tell where
his clothes were gone; and his beautiful,
white skin began to turn yellow and
brown, with little black marks and red
spots over it. His legs grew short, just as
his arms had, and some more fins and a
tail came, and another long fin on his
back. He couldn't sit in his little chair
in the schoolroom now.


Tommy was so astonshed he snapped
his eyes, or rather he tried to, and then
he found his eyelids were gone. He
knew all his curly hair must be gone, too I;
but he couldn't put his fms up to feel his
smooth head.


The next thing he knew, he was in the
water; and Mrs Trout came swimming
along, and said, in the fish language:


"Why, where have you been, my DEAR
little boy? I've missed you long time,
and hunted everywhere for you"


That made Tommy think how his own
dear mamma would miss him when the
children came home from school without
him, and he could never come again,
because he had wished to be a trout, in
the brook. The tears came into his poor,
little eys, but the ripping brook washed
them away, and nobody, except Tommy
himself, knew how sorry he was, for
fishes eyes don't show the feelings, as
children's do


| Al
"and swim nnder the bridge, in the
shade"


Tommy wondered how it happened that
he could swim so well, until he remem-
bered that he was trout,


He swan along with a sad, little heart
until they were under the bridge, and
Mrs. Trout said that they must stay there
until the children had gone home from
school, for she saw a fish line hanging out
of Alexis pocket, as he went to school
at noon, and he might stop to fish on hi'
way home.


Poor Tommy opened his mouth tC
scream, but there came no sound, and Mrs
Trout said.


"You are gaping, my dear; put YOU
head on this little, cool stone, and take q
nap"


Now, Aleck, was Tommy's big brother
and Tommy was thinking how dreadful il
would be, if Aleck should come fishing
and catch him, their own little Tommy
and carry him home for supper. But, Of
course, Mrs. Trout didn't know this.
+ He remembered how he had felt when
he had wished he were trout; but II
seemed now as if his lessons hadn't beer
We hard, after all, and he hadn't been
very tired, either and, altogether, he was
great deal more wretched, now he was a
trout, than he had been while he was q
little boy.


He began to hope that other little boys
would be very careful what they wished
| He thought, If they could only know o
his unfortunate wish, they could be care
| full and then he began TO wonder what
would become of him in the winter, when
the brook was frozen over.


Just then he heard noise that sounded
| like thunder.


at is the children coming over tn,
bridge" said Mrs Trout. ~ will Jus
catch that little minnow for our lunch
and then we will stay here, as safe as cal
be.S


Mrs. Trout darted out to catch the min
| noxv and in a minuta Tommv aauv har Or