TIRED OUT. NE day Miss Lily Macnish heard the door-bell ring. She put down her spelling-book, and asked, "Who can that be, mamma?" Before mamma could give an answer, Jane the housemaid entered, and handed her a note."Why, this is not for me: it is for you, my dear," said Mrs. Macnish, giving the note to Lily. "For me!" said Lily, while her cheeks flushed; for it was the first... more...

CHAPTER I THE TALISMAN I believe it was the old Egyptians, a very wise people, probably indeed much wiser than we know, for in the leisure of their ample centuries they had time to think out things, who declared that each individual personality is made up of six or seven different elements, although the Bible only allows us three, namely, body, soul, and spirit. The body that the man or woman wore, if... more...

PHILEMON AND BAUCIS I Long ago, on a high hill in Greece, Philemon and Baucis lived. They were poor, but they were never unhappy. They had many hives of bees from which they got honey, and many vines from which they gathered grapes. One old cow gave them all the milk that they could use, and they had a little field in which grain was raised. The old couple had as much as they needed, and were always... more...

ENGLISH HOMOPHONES Definition of homophone. When two or more words different in origin and signification are pronounced alike, whether they are alike or not in their spelling, they are said to be homophonous, or homophones of each other. Such words if spoken without context are of ambiguous signification. Homophone is strictly a relative term, but it is convenient to use it absolutely, and to call any... more...

stands for anrcher,Bfor hisBow;CtheCrow that he shot at;—andDfor hisDog. Estands for anEnsign,Ffor aFlag, and aFort:Gstands for aGoat;—andHfor aHorse. Istands for anItalian,Jfor aJug, and forJane:Kstands for aKite:—andLfor aLobster. Mstands forMary,Nfor theNumbers she wrote;Ostands for anOwl:—andPfor a prettyParrot. Qstands for aQueen,Rfor theRose in her hand:Sfor theSword... more...

ELIZA'S HUSBAND "Suppose," I said to one of the junior clerks at our office the other day, "you were asked to describe yourself in a few words, could you do it?" His answer that he could describe me in two was no answer at all. Also the two words were not a description, and were so offensive that I did not continue the conversation. I believe there are but few people who could give... more...

THE NEW FABLE OF THE PRIVATE AGITATOR AND WHAT HE COOKED UP Ambition came, with Sterling Silver Breast-Plate and Flaming Sword, and sat beside a Tad aged 5. The wee Hopeful lived in a Frame House with Box Pillars in front and Hollyhocks leading down toward the Pike. "Whither shall I guide you?" asked Ambition. "Are you far enough from the Shell to have any definite Hankering?" "I... more...

Walter’s Home. The merry homes of England!Around their hearths by night,What gladsome looks of household love,Meet in the ruddy light! Mrs Hemans. “Good-bye, Walter; good-bye, Walter dear! good-bye!” and the last note of this chorus was “Dood-bye,” from a blue-eyed, fair-haired girl of two years, as Walter disengaged his arms from his mother’s neck, and sprang into the carriage which had... more...

THE HALL. The ancientest house, and the best for housekeeping in this county or the next, and though the master of it write but squire, I know no lord like him. MERRY BEGGARS. The reader, if he has perused the volumes of the Sketch Book, will probably recollect something of the Bracebridge family, with which I once passed a Christmas. I am now on another visit at the Hall, having been invited to a... more...

O civilized humanity, world-wide, and especially to the descendants of the Pilgrims who, in 1620, laid on New England shores the foundations of that civil and religious freedom upon which has been built a refuge for the oppressed of every land, the story of the Pilgrim "Exodus" has an ever-increasing value and zest. The little we know of the inception, development, and vicissitudes of their... more...