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THE GENESEE FARMER. 



gjnntg $eoyfe'j lap. 



WATCHING FOB PA. 



Three little forms in the twi ight gray, 

 Scanning the shadows across the way; 

 Six little eyes, four black awl two blue, 

 Brimful of love and happiness too, 

 Watching for pa. 



May with her placid and thoughtful brow, 

 Gentle tace beaming w.th smiles just now; 

 VVillie, the rogue, so loving and gay, 

 Stealing sly kisses from sister May, 

 Watching for pa. 



Nellie, with ringlets ot sunny hue, 

 Cosily nestled between the two, 

 Pressing her cheek to the window-pane, 

 Wishing the absent one home again- 

 Watching for pa. 



O how they gaze at the passers-by ! 

 •He's coming at last," they gaily cry; 

 "Try again, my pets!" exclaims mamma, 



And Nellie adds : " There's the twilight star 

 Watching for pa." 



Jack nods and smiles, as with busv feet 

 He lights the lamps of their quiet" street ; 

 That sweet little group he knows full well- 

 May, and Willie, and golden-haired Nell- 

 Watching for pa. 



Soon joyous shouts from the window-seat, 

 And eager patter of childish feet; 

 Gay musical chimes ring through the hall; 

 A manly voice responds to the call— 

 '• Welcome, papa." 



How Far can Crows Count?— A correspondent of the 

 Plattsburg Republican, in discussing this question, nar- 

 rates the following incident which goes far to answer it: 

 A few years since we were riding in a stage-coach with 

 several gentlemen, when the conversation turned on the 

 subject of crows, and many interesting anecdotes were 

 related. One gentleman said he knew that crows could 

 count, at least as far as three, for he had often proved it. 

 Being troubled with crows in his field, he had often at- 

 tempted to shoot them ; but they knew what a gun was 

 as well as he did, and therefore kept out of his reach. 

 He then concluded to put up a small booth in the field, 

 and place some carrion (a dead horse) within gunshot! 

 From this place he supposed he could fire at them when 

 they alighted to eat. Whenever he entered the booth 

 the crows all sit on the distant trees, and not one would 

 come near until he was gone ; then all would alight ex- 

 cept the sentinel, who remained to give warning if dan- 

 ger approached. The gentleman, finding that plan to 

 fail, thought he would deceive them ; so he took his son 

 with him to the booth, concluding that, when they had 

 seen one go away, the crows would think the coast was 

 clear and descend to the bait. But when the son left the 

 booth, a crow sung out, " Caw, caw, caw," (there goes 

 one,) but not a crow would leave his place. The next 

 day the gentleman took two persons with him to the 

 booth, and then let them depart one at a time. The 

 crows on the trees saw the first, and cried out, " There 

 goes one," in their own peculiar dialect. Then when the 

 other went, they cried, " There goes two ;" but they 

 would not alight, for they counted three when they en- 

 tered. The day following, the gentleman took three 

 others with him. When they went out one by one, the 



crows cried, "There goes one;" "There goes two;'! 

 "There goes three." And when these men were out oi 

 sight they all alighted, and the gun of the fourth maA 

 did its work. The gentleman stated that this had beenf. 

 tried repeatedly, and it was evident that the crows couldt 

 count as far as three, but there their arithmetic ended. 

 When theyfwill ascend to the higher branches of mathe-t 

 matics is yet to be ascertained. In the meantime, others 

 can bring on their incidents of mw-nology. 



Self-Control. — A merchant in London had a disputa 

 with a Quaker respecting the settlement of an acco 

 The merchant was determined to bring the account . • 

 court— a proceeding which the Quaker earnestly dej i - 

 cated, using every argument in his power to convince t e 

 merchant of his error; but the latter was inflexib 

 Desirous to make a last effort, the Quaker called at I 

 house one morning and inquired of the servant if h 

 master was at home. The merchant, hearing the it 

 quiry, and knowing the voice, called out, from the top < 

 the stairs: "Tell that rascal I am not at home." The 

 Quaker, looking up at him, calmly said: "Well, friend 

 God put thee in a better mind." The merchant, strncl 

 afterwards with the meekness of the reply, and having 

 more deliberately investigated the matter, became con- 

 vinced that the Quaker was right and that he was wrong. 

 He requested to see him, and, after acknowledging his 

 error, he said : " I have one question to ask you : How 

 were you able, with such patience, on various occasions, 

 to bear my abuse?" "Friend," replied the Quaker, "I 

 will tell thee. I was naturally as hot and violent as thou 

 art. I knew that to indulge this temper was sinful, and 

 I found that it was imprudent. I observed that men in 

 a passion always spoke aloud ; and that if I could control 

 my voice I should repress my passion. I have, therefore, 

 made it a rule never to let my voice rise above a certain 

 key ; and, by the careful observation of this rule, I have, 

 by the blessing of God, entirely mastered my natural 

 temper." The Quaker reasoned philosophically, and the 

 merchant, as every one else may do, benefited by his 

 example. 



The Drt Stream. — "John," said Isaac, to his brother, 

 " do you know that the brook in the sheep pasture has 

 dried up?" 



" No ; I do not know any such thing." 



" It is dry." 



"I saw it running not an hour ago." 



"It was dry this morning. I was going to cross over 

 on the fence, but there was no water in the bed of the 

 stream above or below the fence. I heard father say the 

 brook never failed." 



" I know it has not failed." 



" That comes pretty near saying you don't believe what 

 I say." 



The brothers went on disputing till they got very 

 angry. At first, one was sure the other was mistaken. 

 When they became angry, one was sure the other had 

 asserted an untruth. 



Now, the fact was, that both had spoken the truth. 

 When the stream was low, there was a gravel bank by 

 the fence mentioned by Isaac, through which the water 

 percolated without appearing on the surface. John had 

 seen the water flowing as usual in its channel some 

 twenty rods below the fence. 



Men often dispute about things in regard to which they 

 really do not differ. They look at the subject from dif- 

 ferent points of view. Before you decide that a man is 

 wrong because he differs from you, see from what point 

 he views the matter. — Sunday IScJiool 2'imes. 



