Gold Beauty. 



125 



" O no 1 mamma," put in Seymour, " the 

 chickadees are here, and the sparrows, and 

 we've hung sheaves of wheat all round the 

 porch, in the orchard and on some of the 

 trees in the woods, Swedish style, you 

 know." 



And that night, when four drowsy heads 

 were laid on soft pillows to dream of com- 

 ing splendors, mamma, candle in hand, 



went the rounds, and as she bent over the 

 dark heads, she thought of these lines 

 from the "Ancient Mariner": 



" He prayeth well who loveth well 

 Both man and bird and beast. 



He prayeth best who loveth best 

 All things, both great and small ; 



For the dear God who loveth us, 

 He made and loveth all." 



Etheldred Breeze Barry. 



GOLD BEAUTY. 



THE STORY OF A BUTTERFLY. 



GOLD BEAUTY'S first recollections 

 were of finding herself in a shady 

 corner of the garden under a lilac bush. 



She supposed she had lived before this, 

 but, try as she might, she could remember 

 nothing about it, and so for all practical 

 purposes it is just as well to say that she 

 began her existence on that particular June 

 morning when she first became conscious 

 that she was alive. 



Gold Beauty learned so many things 

 that morning that it is a great wonder so 

 much hastily acquired knowledge did not 

 bring her down with brain fever; for, be- 

 sides finding out that she was alive, she 

 found out there were many other live things 

 all around her — creatures that lived in the 

 grass, creatures that lived in the air, and 

 creatures that lived in the treetops. Every- 

 where the whole earth was full of living be- 

 ings, and this seemed wonderful to her. 

 And as she looked around the old garden 

 and saw its rows of pretty flowers, and its 

 clumps of blossoming shrubs, its neat vege- 

 table beds, and its thrifty asparagus patch; 

 to say nothing of the wonderful blue sky 

 that hung over it, and the unceasing music 

 that kept it full of melody, she was well 

 content to find herself in the midst of it, 

 and thought the world a charming place. 

 At first she wondered whether the things 



had always been there, or whether they 

 were new Hke herself, but this was such a 

 puzzling problem that she soon gave it up, 

 and just enjoyed everything without caring 

 whether it was new or old. The garden 

 was an old-fashioned one, where beauty 

 and utility were happily combined. Sweet 

 peas climbing up the ugly bean poles, and 

 pansies peeping up among the radishes, 

 while sweet mignonette ran round and 

 round the carrots in the friendliest manner, 

 just as Sunday might run after Monday 

 saying, " Here is some lavender, dear, to 

 put among your clean muslins." 



Gold Beauty thought that such an ar- 

 rangement could not be improved upon, 

 and would have scorned a garden where 

 flowers and vegetables stood jealously 

 apart. Thus it is not surprising, considering 

 the circumstances, that she also developed 

 into a very sociable creature, and felt on 

 friendly terms with every one, and admired 

 everything in the garden, herself included. 



Not that she was vain, oh no! that would 

 have been silly when there were so many 

 other creatures, so much more beautiful 

 than herself, but she took great comfort in 

 her beautiful green robe with its blue and 

 yellow and pink trimmings, and was glad 

 that her appearance was in harmony with 

 the beauty everywhere around her. And 



