their velvety seed capsules, which have 

 but now bursted open ana shot forth their 

 glistening seeds, and whose inconsequent 

 yellow bloom has only just shed its slen- 

 der petals to the winds. A few lingering 

 wild rose haws are withering upon the 

 parent stem, yet glowing like cherries 

 against the wintry sky, but break off a 

 tiny branch and a whiff of Richard Jef- 

 feries' ''sweet briar wind" is wafted 

 across one's nostrils, filling one's brain 

 with visions of the gladdening spring 



time. A gaily plumaged jay dashes his 

 brilliant blue through the branches of a 

 thickly needled pine, and a scarlet 

 crowned "downie" taps diligently up and 

 around the worm-infested trunk of an 

 old apple tree, in search of an unwary 

 morsel, and one comes to the conclusion 

 that after all, winter is not all gloom and 

 grayness, but filled with bits of glowing 

 color and vitality, if only one's eye is 

 set for its beauty, instead of its bleak- 

 ness. Alberta Field. 



HOW A CAT SAVED THE LIFE OF A CANARY. 



In a small town in Minnesota, noted 

 for its several state institutions of learn- 

 ing, lives a widow whose success in the 

 training of a cat has made her quite 

 noted in her locaHty. 



Tiger, the cat, is not famous for his 

 long hair nor for his long pedigree. He 

 is simply a creature who has been loved 

 and petted into a wonderful amount of 

 sympathy for his mistress and he seems 

 to know instinctively many of her likes 

 and dislikes, and he would no more 

 harm Dick, the canary, who lives in the 

 same room, than he would attack the 

 hand which places the saucer of milk 

 before him each day. 



One morning, Mrs. Rogers (as we 

 will call his mistress, though that is not 

 her true name), allowed Dick to take his 

 bath in his tiny tub upon the dining- 

 room floor, while she rearranged and 

 dusted the furniture of the room, leav- 

 ing the door wide open during the time. 

 A neighbor sat by the doorway watching 

 Dick bathe and, not having the faith in 

 Tiger which his mistress held, ex- 

 claimed, "That cat of yours will kill your 

 bird sometime. I know he will." 



Mrs. Rogers smiled very quietly as 

 she stopped to give Tiger an assuring 



pat on the head and a word of praise for 

 his goor behavior, for she believed he 

 understood the neighbor's unkind re- 

 mark. 



'Tiger is a good cat and I'll trust him 

 any time with Dick," said his mistress, 

 turning away from him to attend to her 

 duties. 



A prolonged ''Oh!" like a stifled 

 scream came from the neighbor's lips 

 the next minute for Tiger had sprung at 

 Dick and held him tightly in his cruel 

 jaws. 



"See Tige! See Tige!" exclaimed the 

 visitor. 



But Dick never fluttered a bit and 

 Mrs. Rogers patted Tiger again as she 

 caught sight of a vanishing stranger cat 

 disappearing through an open window. 



"Brave old Tiger! Good little Dickie!" 

 said their mistress, as she took the bird, 

 unharmed, from Tiger's teeth, which had 

 held the bird safely away from real dan- 

 ger. 



Dick flew back to his open cage. Tiger 

 went back to his nap in the sunshine, 

 and the lady visitor learned the lesson 

 that love works wonders in even the 

 creatures that do not speak as we do. 

 Mary Catherine Judd. 



