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Mrs. Payne answered for her, that she was sure the girl was far from well, and had been very much tired in nursing. Then he asked what she was going to do; and Mrs. Payne again explained how she was situated, and the doubts she felt. They talked it over. Mr. Morton said he hardly knew what to do for her; her lameness would be much against her getting a place, and there were few to be heard of just now. "If you wished it, you could be got into the workhouse; but perhaps you would not like that?" "Yes, sir," said Olive, "I should be thankful-I should be safe, and see no bad doings, and have no care; but I did not know they would take

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"Of course," Mr. Morton said, you would not wish to be a burden on the parish longer than you could help; but, for this winter, till your health is stronger, and till we see what can be done for you, I think yours is quite a case for it. I will ask for an order for you to-morrow; so you may go in at once if you like, or come here to know if you may go."

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Olive was more grateful than most people would have thought possible for this promise. Mr. Morton then talked to her about her loss, and the solemn thoughts that such a time should bring, and said many comforting things to her.

[To be continued.]

WHAT a simple rule it is, to try to be attentive at Church, in order to be so! and yet we do not observe it. We do not try over and over again in spite of bad success; we try only now and then; and our best devotion is merely when our hearts are excited by some accident, which may or may not happen again.

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You all know what a nice faithful creature the dog is; and perhaps many of you have pet dogs at home, who love you and follow you about, and whom you like to pat and feed. I am going to tell you a story about a faithful dog, who lived a great, great many years ago, with his master, in a castle in Wales. There are very high mountains, large woods, and deep green valleys in Wales, and many ruins of castles which used to be there in old times. Princes and powerful lords used to live in those castles, and sometimes they rode about in the hills and forests near them, to hunt wolves. There are no wolves in England or in Wales now; but at the time I am writing about, they were in such numbers, that every gentleman kept at least two or three very large, strong dogs, to defend their flocks and themselves from the attacks of these wild beasts. Now there was among the great men in Wales, once upon a time, a lord or prince, whose name was Howel, who lived in one of the castles I have been speaking of. He had a little son, not more than three years old, of whom

he was very fond, and a very large courageous dog, of which he was almost as fond as he was of his little boy. The great dog, too, was very fond of the child, would carry him about on his back, and never liked to leave him, unless to go and hunt wolves with Prince Howel, his master. But this he did like very much, and would bark and jump for joy, when he saw the horses pacing up and down before the castle-gates, and the prince in his hunting-dress, with a sword by his side, and a spear in his hand. One morning, very early, the prince_made ready for his favourite sport, and expected to see Luath, which was the great dog's name, run before his horse as usual, to give notice when they came near the place where the wolves were; but to his wonder Luath stood still, looked almost angrily at his master, and shewed, by his manner, that he did not mean to go with him.

The prince, though much surprised, went off without him, and hunted all day, but came back at night very tired to his castle, for his sport was dull without the company of his dog. No sooner was he at the castle again than he ran up stairs to look for a kiss, and play with his little boy; but instead of finding him as usual, with his arms stretched out to his father, he saw the child's bed much tossed and tumbled and stained with blood, and Luath more bloody still than the clothes he was looking at, and with fierce and angry looks standing near what he thought was the dead body of his dear boy. In his grief and horror at this dreadful sight the unhappy prince drew his sword, and reproaching Luath for his treachery and cruelty, stabbed him deeply two or three times. Notwithstanding his hurts, the poor animal crept to his master's feet, licked the hand which had wounded him, and after moaning once or twice, lay down and died.

At that moment Prince Howel thought he heard something stir on the bed, and turning towards it, saw his dear boy just awaking from a sound sleep, and quite well; and then he saw, for the first time, a very large dead wolf near the child. The truth came upon him at once. The noble

Luath had known that the wolf was watching near the castle, to seize the little Howel-had stayed at home to defend him-had fought and killed the terrible creature,and now the father of the child, whose life he had saved, had killed him in a passionate mistake.

It is said that Prince Howel made a grave and a monument for his brave and generous dog; and though he lived many years, and saw his son grow to be a man, it is also said that he was never known to smile again.

This is a very sad story. I think I must tell you one with not so sad an ending. A nursery-maid was once amusing herself by tossing a baby which she held in her arms, while she stood on a bridge by the side of the river Liffey in Ireland. All at once the child made a sudden spring from her arms, and in an instant fell into the river. The screaming nurse saw the child sink under the water, and thought that it would never rise again. At that moment, a Newfoundland dog which was passing by with his master, sprang forward, and looked eagerly into the water. The child just then rose to the top of the water; and the dog immediately plunged into it, and swam round and round the place where it had again disappeared. The child rose once more to the top of the water, the dog seized it, and carried it to land without hurting it in the least. Meanwhile a gentleman came up to the bridge, who shewed great feeling about the danger the child had been in, and admired the dog that had saved him, particularly. A person who had taken the baby from the dog, turned its face round to shew it to this gentleman, when, to his terror, joy, and surprise, he saw the features of his own son. For some minutes he could not speak; but then he fondly kissed his little darling, and patted and fondled the brave dog a thousand times, offering his master a very large sum of money for him; but the owner of the dog was too fond of him to part with him for any sum. At page 155 is a picture of the dog carrying the child from the water, while the nurse and several other people are looking on in anxious hope.

Time.

THE YEAR.

WHEN God set great lights in the heavens, He commanded that they should be for signs and for seasons, and for days and for years. You have heard how the sun marks the day; let us now see how it marks the year, by the time

and place of its rising and setting, by its height above our heads, and the light and heat it gives us.

Towards the end of March the sun rises in the east at six, and sets in the west at six; and the day is just as long as the night, twelve hours in each.

Then it rises every day two minutes earlier, and sets two minutes later, and gets higher at noon-day. All through June you notice but little difference in the time of sunrise and sunset; but the 21st of June is called the longest day. Then the sun rises in the north-east before four, and sets in the north-west after eight; and the day is twice as long as the night. The sun is up so long, and beats down so much on our heads, that we feel its heat very strongly; and the air, and the earth, and every thing on it, gets so warmed and baked, that there is not time in the short night for all to cool again. Nor does the light go quite away; the sky is of a deep grey blue, the stars look faint, and there is often a line of dim red light, shewing whereabouts the sun is, though we cannot see him.

Afterwards the days begin to grow shorter and shorter. Towards the end of September they are of the same length as the night; and by the 21st of December, St. Thomas's Day, which we call the shortest day, the sun rises in the south-east after eight, and sets before four in the southwest; and the night is twice as long as the day. The rays of the sun come so slanting that they have then very little power; and the sun shines for so short a time that the air cannot grow warm; and often the snow and ice, and the hoar frost on the grass, cannot melt all through the day. But it is in the long dark nights, and through the clear frosty air, that the stars look most bright and beautiful.

The sun always appears near the same stars at the same time of year, but we cannot see those that are close to him because of the brightness of his rays; we can see no stars in the day-time. If you watch some particular star, you will find it rises a little sooner every night, and then rises before the sun is down, and then sets earlier every night, till at last you cease to see it, because it is so near the sun. And every year you may observe this at the same time, coming round every year with perfect certainty. So the stars, as well as the sun, mark out the year for us.

But the seasons are not shewn only by the heavenly bodies, but by the effects of the sun's heat upon the earth,

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